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Beyonce has announced her ninth studio album will be released on March 29 as the second addition to her Renaissance trilogy, titled Act II. This announcement came during the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast when the singer's commercial for Verizon played.
The ad finds Bey setting up several creative sequences that rely on her music and career, in an attempt to break down Verizon's new 5G internet network.
The video eventually ends when she broadcasts a live performance from space but Verizon's 5G network remains unfazed.
Beyonce decides to try and break the internet one more time, by stating:
"Okay, be ready. Drop the new music"
A few hours after this advertisement ran, Beyonce released two posts that confirmed her new album would be infusing her rhythm into country music.
Along with her posts, the singer officially released two songs from the upcoming album on all streaming platforms via Parkwood Entertainment LLC, under exclusive license to Columbia Records.
Texas Hold ’Em was co-written by Canadian artist Lowell with credits on the song's production given to Killah B and Nathan Ferraro. 16 Carriages credits Dave Hamelin and Ink as producers on the song.
Everything we know about Beyonce's 'Renaissance Act II'
Soon after her Verizon advertisement aired, Beyonce revealed the cover art for two songs, TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and 16 CARRIAGES, on her Instagram as a two-slide post.
The first slide finds the singer posing in a revealing outfit while wearing a black cowboy hat, with the words "TEXAS HOLD ‘EM" written at the top.
The second slide is a close-up black and white photograph of Beyonce in a cowboy hat, with the words "16 CARRIAGES" written on the bottom left.
These pictures were released once the songs officially hit all streaming platforms, with a caption that read:
"TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and 16 CARRIAGES out now"
Just a few hours later, she dropped the first teaser trailer for the song TEXAS HOLD ‘EM. The trailer showcases Beyonce driving a Taxi when an old-school country song begins to play on the radio just as she drives past a sign that states she is entering "Radio Country" land.
The visuals then switch to various men walking towards a particular area, drawn to something in the sky. It's revealed that the attraction these men were looking at was a yellow billboard of an animated Beyonce, wearing a bikini, pink boots, and a cowboy hat, with the words "TEXAS HOLD ‘EM" written across it.
This trailer was posted to her Instagram with the caption:
"NOW YALL KNOW IVE BEEN DOING THESE COUNTRY RIDES FOR A WHILE - waiting for this MOMENT"
The video ends with a black screen that confirms Act II, will be released on "3.29".
Supporting the newly released singles, Bey also dropped two visualizers on her YouTube channel. The first video uploaded was for TEXAS HOLD ‘EM and finds Bey walking towards the camera.
The video is creatively edited to showcase her left hand as a live weapon since smoke appears out of her fingertips, mirroring the barrel of a gun.
The visualizer for 16 CARRIAGES, is a black-and-white clip of the singer walking toward a mirror before putting on a cowboy hat. Check out both the visualizers here:
More about Beyonce's 'Renaissance' trilogy
When Renaissance was released back in July 2022, the singer confirmed the project was a three-part series.
In the Instagram announced post for Act I: Renaissance she explained how the COVID-19 pandemic led to her exploring greater depths in her creativity. She stated how creating the first act gave her a place to dream and escape the "scary time" the world was facing.
She explained her intention to create a "safe place" free of perfectionism, by stating:
"A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are."
A statement from New York Times pop culture reporter Kyle Buchanan, back in 2022, reportedly confirmed a few more details about the other two acts from her Renaissance trilogy.
"Before Twitter goes down, instead of making you follow me somewhere else, I'll just tell you what I've heard about the other 2 acts of Beyonce's 3-part "Renaissance" project, (2nd act is an acoustic album, 3rd act is a collaboration with Jay-Z)" the reporter stated in a tweet.
As per his statement, the second act would be an acoustic project and the third and final album in this trilogy would be a collaboration project with Jay-Z.
It appears Beyonce was hinting at this new country era when she was spotted wearing a white cowboy hat to the 66th Grammy Awards, where her husband, Jay-Z, received a "Dr. Dre Global Impact Award".
