Monday, March 18, 2013

Bow Down / I Been On | Beyoncé

Rating: ★★★☆☆

After taking a short hiatus last year to transition to becoming a wife and mother, Beyoncé Knowles has exploded upon her return to music, arriving back in the public eye as the distinguished and honorable Mrs. Carter.

Within the first two months of this year, she has managed to set up a marketing deal with Pepsi, perform at President Obama's inauguration ceremony and the halftime show of Super Bowl XLVII, release a documentary on HBO, and release information on her next studio album and the accompanying Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.



"Bow Down / I Been On" seems to actually be based around the Queen B's hiatus, speaking of her marriage and previous events in her life. However, she always reverts back to the phrase "Bow down, bitches. Bow, bow down, bitches," to signify that this marriage and pregnancy have not softened her conceited attitude.

I really enjoyed the instrumental track of the song. The whole glitchy and computerized sound is extremely in style in music right now, and I completely love it. When the instrumental track does leak from the song, I'm going to be sure to download it, because I could listen to it constantly.

I really wish Knowles-Carter wouldn't have pulled down the pitch of her voice for the second half of the song, which is mainly rapped. That whole idea was already tested by Lady Gaga last year, when she released "Cake Like Lady Gaga" with colleague DJ White Shadow via Soundcloud. I wasn't the biggest fan of the concept when Lady Gaga did it, and considering she's my favorite artist, my opinion isn't going to change when Beyoncé does it. Sure, both "Cake Like Lady Gaga" and "Bow Down / I Been On" have some really awesome, I'm-better-than-you lyrics, but the pitched voice idea just isn't my favorite.

Overall, I guess the song is okay. In no way, shape, or form is it Beyoncé's best song, but I guess it's a small improvement from anything on her last record, 4. However, I hope she has something big in store for this next album to help support her ego, or else she will turn into a Christina Aguilera of sorts: too much self-confidence and not enough substance.

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