“This was a song that impacted Beyoncé tremendously and it was like, 'This is my statement as a human being on earth.' I wanted to capture that as much as possible.” Despite being the album’s one ode to full-on schmaltz, “I Was Here,” donated for World Humanitarian Day in 2012, is an important statement, representing Beyoncé starting to more publicly use her fame to shed light on social justice issues. “ is where she shifted away from radio in a sense,” Tedder told The FADER via phone, going on to explain that “I Was Here” was the last song finished for the album, completed on a private jet chartered by Beyoncé's label somewhere over America. Swapping the elegant bluster of songs like “Halo,” it feels tactile, close.Įven the fairly straight ballad “I Was Here” - co-written by Diane Warren and Ryan Tedder - features a raw vocal that feels like it's about to burst with emotion.
The pre- Channel Orange era Frank Ocean co-write “I Miss You,” meanwhile, sets a lyric about being far apart from someone you love in the sort of low-key ballad context Beyoncé hadn't touched before. Even the loved-up New Edition throwback “Love On Top” acknowledges love's struggle ( Nothing's perfect, but it's worth it/ After fighting through my tears), while “I Care” bubbles with the kinetic energy of someone who's just walked out of an argument. (As she'd later say on BEYONCÉ's “Ghost,” perfection is so.ugh.) So, rather than deliver an album of glowing love songs about two ludicrously rich and famous megastars, 4 is peppered with the ebbs and flows of a real human relationship, delivered with sincerity. I think she even managed to squeeze in a couple of business meetings too!”Īt some point between I Am.Sasha Fierce and 4, a strive for perfection which had been instilled in her since a young age through pop troupe Girl’s Tyme (which she joined at the age of nine) and Destiny's Child, was replaced with a desire for emotional directness. “I remember one day we worked for 36 hours straight, and she cut six entire songs with leads,, and comps. "She can knock a song out in an hour, and it will sound incredible,” Swivel said. “Ideas would come in and she'd say 'OK, that's great, but let's add live drums to this part,' you know?.” She also wanted the album to capture her own sense of urgency. "B was the main producer, as every idea had to pass her approval and the bars that she set,” 4's recording engineer DJ Swivel told Sound on Sound in October 2011.
While she had always executive produced her solo albums, 4 brought a renewed sense of ownership.
With their help, Beyoncé drew from the musical influences ( Prince, '90s R&B, vintage soul) that had shaped her musical history but that hadn’t always bubbled up to the surface in her music. 4 placed sonic experimentation front and center, with a myriad of collaborators - The-Dream, Tricky Stewart, Shea Taylor, André 3000, Kanye West, Switch, Babyface - to help facilitate that.