Pop ruler Beyoncé released a lively and culture-seizing music video for new single “7/11” seemingly out of nowhere late Friday. The impending megahit is a trunk-rattler from Young Money producer Noel “Detail” Fisher. It’s Beyoncé in her element: forging slang, fearlessly experimenting, dispensing tabloid-grabbing moves (daughter Blue Ivy reportedly makes a cameo here at the 58-second mark), dipping into the genre’s emerging talent market for co-conspirators.
If you were paying close attention, Friday’s thin air release is maybe not that unexpected. The deluxe reissue of 2013’s Beyoncé album is coming Nov. 24, and snippets of “7/11” and another new bonus song, “Ring Off,” reportedly leaked Wednesday. Still, it’s not a moment until Bey drops the visuals.
The video is comparatively low in production value but is hyper-stylized with slick stop-and-go choreography and it compels because of its unguarded nature. Beyoncé is such a surreal, larger-than-life dictator that the downshift toward intimate, carefree, and adolescent exuberance is a curveball. Gone are the lasers, black leather, high concepts, and exotic backdrops. Rather, “7/11” propels on Beyoncé’s charisma (and sure, beauty), a handful of friends that are also elite backup dancers, and a barrage of mirror selfie, pre-night out moves. It’s cool and relaxed, with telephone check-ins serving as lyrics (“girl, I wanna kick it with you”).
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Bonus points for the red Solo cups and dice.
Screengrab via Beyonce/YouTube