Everything Is Love (stylized in
all caps) is the debut
studio album by American musical supergroup
the Carters, consisting of spouses
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and
Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. It was released on June 16, 2018, by
Parkwood Entertainment,
Sony Music and
Roc Nation.[1] During its brief two-day exclusivity window on Tidal, the album was credited to "Beyoncé & JAY-Z"[2][3] before being changed to "The Carters" when the album premiered on other streaming services. The initial batch of the physical release still bore "JAY-Z and Beyoncé" as the official credit.[4] The couple produced the album alongside a variety of collaborators, including
Cool & Dre,
Boi-1da, and
Pharrell Williams. Additional vocalists recorded for the album include Williams,
Quavo,
Offset (both from
Migos), and
Ty Dolla Sign, among others. The
hip hop and
R&B album explores themes of romantic love, fame, wealth, and
black pride.
Plans about a joint album by the couple were announced by Jay-Z during an interview with The New York Times in 2017 when he said that they used "art almost like a therapy session" to create new music. However, since they also worked on their respective albums 4:44 and Lemonade, and Beyoncé's music progressed more rapidly, the project was temporarily stopped. Rumors about the collaborative project began emerging in March 2018 when the couple announced their
On the Run II Tour.[6]
"Like the fifth act of a hip-hop and R&B
Shakespearean comedy, Everything Is Love finds our lovers reunited, their misunderstandings resolved, their vows renewed (Beyoncé: 'you fucked up the first stone/ we had to get remarried'), and their family looking ahead to decades of more peaceful prosperity. Outrageous, multiple-mansioned, diamonds-and-watches-and-
Lambos prosperity, symbolically tied to an agenda of
black capitalism as
racial uplift and
reparations."
According to Exclaim! journalist Riley Wallace, Everything Is Love is a
hip hop album.[9] Mike Wass from Idolator observed a "
trap sound and flashy bravado" on the record,[10] while Respect magazine's Jasmine Johnson said it "involves trap with a hint of love".[11]Alexis Petridis found the music more rooted in hip hop than
R&B,[12] as did Jogai Bhatt of The Spinoff, who viewed it as a departure from "the sort of contemporary R&B traditionally associated with Beyoncé."[13] Craig Jenkins from Vulture said the singer played the role of an "R&B heavyweight" doubling as a "formidable rapper" throughout the album, showcasing her talents for
vocal belting and complex
rap cadences.[14]
The album contains lyrics about the couple's romantic love, lavish lifestyle, media worship, wealth,
black pride and fame; themes that were found to be characteristic of the whole record.[1] Other songs feature the pair singing about their family affairs as well as maintaining their relationship following hardships (i.e. infidelity).[15]Time magazine's
Maura Johnston regarded the album as another "blockbuster duet in R&B and hip-hop"; comparable to
Marvin Gaye and
Tammi Terrell's soul songs from the
1960s and the 1995
Method Man and
Mary J. Blige recording "
I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By"; while incorporating contemporary elements in the form of trap
beats, critical references to the
National Football League and the
Grammy Awards, and playing with "public perceptions of the duo's relationship".[16] Jenkins said it extolled
African-American entrepreneurship while presenting Jay-Z as "a doting father and husband, an entrepreneur and
altruist with ideas about how everyone else should handle their businesses, a king-tier braggart, and a rap legend".[14]
Artwork
The artwork for the album is a
still frame from the
music video for "
Apeshit". It features two of Beyoncé's background dancers, Jasmine Harper and Nicholas "Slick" Stewart, at the
Louvre—Harper is seen picking the hair of Stewart while standing in front of
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.[18]
Release and promotion
On June 6, 2018, Beyoncé and Jay-Z embarked on the joint On the Run II Tour, a sequel to their 2014
On the Run Tour. At the end of their second show at
London Stadium in London on June 16, 2018, Beyoncé announced to the crowd that the duo had a surprise before leaving the stage. Then, the music video for "Apeshit" played on the
LED video screen onstage. Following the conclusion of the video, the words "ALBUM OUT NOW" came across the screen. Everything Is Love was subsequently released exclusively via Jay-Z's streaming service
Tidal and all audience members received a free six-month trial subscription in order to be able to stream the album.[19] The album was also made available for purchase on Tidal's online music store. The release was announced worldwide on Beyoncé and Jay-Z's respective
social media accounts with the artist of the album being monikered as the Carters.[1] On the same day, the music video for the album's second track and lead single, "Apeshit", was released on Beyoncé's official
YouTube channel. It was directed by Ricky Saiz and filmed at the Louvre in Paris.[20][21]
Everything is Love was met with general acclaim. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an
average score of 80, based on 22 reviews.[24]
Reviewing the album for The New York Times, Joe Coscarelli said it "completes the Knowles-Carter conceptual trilogy"—referring to the previous releases of Lemonade and 4:44—"in an expert, tactical showing of family brand management".[1] Music critic Nicholas Hautman of Us Weekly wrote: "It's clear from the very first listen that Beyoncé outshines her husband on much of the record, which really should have been marketed as 'Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z' rather than 'Beyoncé and Jay-Z' (or 'the Carters', in this case). His verses are few and far between in comparison to hers, but it still somehow feels like a balanced body of work from two of the greatest artists of our time."[34] In The Guardian, Petridis believed the album retreads
braggadocio centering around the duo's wealth and excellence, with less musical daring, but still does so with likeable music, genuine wit, and energy.[12] As per The Daily Telegraph music critic
Neil McCormick pointed, "Everything Is Love certainly doesn’t have the musical expansiveness of Lemonade. There are neither
ballads nor bangers, and not much in the way of melodic song construction at all. Rather, these are snappily repetitive beats on which the stars can put across their message as a form of hip hop conversation."[27] For Variety, Jim Aswad described it as "solid and generally satisfying, but not the best from either."[35]
Will Hodgkinson of The Times reviewed track-by-track, stated: "Jay-Z is as dynamic as ever and the new, though Beyoncé demands attention on this
surprise album, [...] despite the ups and downs detailed on Beyoncé's Lemonade and Jay-Z's subsequent
mea culpa4:44. Instead they are coming out fighting, with all that fame and money making them defensive, even
paranoid, while a mix of
classic soul, hard-hitting hip-hop and slinky R&B."[33]Pitchfork contributor Briana Younger wrote that the album "is a compromise between the spoils of Lemonade's war and the fruits of 4:44's labor", and that "within this complex, messy and beautifully black display, the Carters find absolution."[31] Giving the album one and a half stars, Adam Rothbarth of Tiny Mix Tapes stated that everything about the album "feels superficial, from the artists' constant pronouncement of their love for each other to their engagement with topics like fashion". He also added that the "most boring aspect of the album is its centerpiece: the couple's obsession with their wealth".[36]
Everything is Love debuted at number two on the US
Billboard 200 chart, earning 123,000
album-equivalent units, (including 70,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week.[5] The album debuted on the chart after less than six full days of activity on Tidal, and four days of activity on all other digital retailers and streaming services.[64] In its second week, the album dropped to number four on the chart, earning an additional 59,000 units.[65] In its third week, the album dropped to number eight on the chart, earning 33,000 more units.[66] In its fourth week, the album remained at number eight on the chart, earning 29,000 units.[67] In 2018, Everything is Love was ranked as the 70th most popular album of the year on the Billboard 200.[68] On January 14, 2019, the album was certified
gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.[69]
^Golding, Shenequa (December 18, 2018).
"The 50 Best Albums Of 2018". Vibe.com.
Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100".
ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 26.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved April 8, 2019.