Beyonce's Next Album Will Be A Surprise

Although TIDAL has been conspiring to slowly ruin the lives of anyone who isn't willing to pay $20 for exclusive releases that will just hit the Internet anyway, it has been introducing a lot of great stuff to the world. Among that is Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj's "Feeling Myself" music video aka your squad goals for the rest of the year. (That is, if your squad goals aren't better aligned with Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" epic.) "Feeling Myself" is a collaboration off Minaj's album, The Pinkprint, and is every bit as epic as when the two pop stars collaborated on "***Flawless (Remix)." But, if there's one thing the music video did, it was make us long for more music from Queen Bey. So when is Beyoncé's next album coming out? That's a really good question.

It has been two years since the release of Beyoncé's last album, the self-titled disc that was released with no promotion and no warning on iTunes in 2013. She has since released a Platinum Edition of the CD with bonus songs, including remixes and original songs like "Ring Off" and the mind-numbingly popular "7/11." However, a remastered version of an old CD is not the same as releasing a new album, and I can't be alone among the fans who are dying here with only the occasional Beyoncé single to tide me over while I wait. And wait. And wait.

News of Beyoncé working on a new album has been scarce, to say the least. She hasn't exactly been posting selfies in the studio, or tweeting that she's working on any new music. I mean, we kind of assume that she is considering the fact that "Ring Off," "7/11," and the more recent "Die With You" came as total surprises to us, but she's not going to keep us up-to-date on her process. There have been rumors that Jay Z and Beyoncé are working on a joint album that has yet to actually materialize, but those rumors haven't been backed up with, you know, actual song titles or lyrics or even a leak. Plus, those rumors have been going on for months now, and even I'm starting to lose hope that it's true.

In all likelihood, the next Beyoncé album will come exactly like the last Beyoncé album: out of nowhere. At the very least, we can guess that the album will definitely be released in 2015. BEYONCÉ was released two years after 4, which was released four years after I Am...Sasha Fierce, which was released two years after B'Day, which was released three years after her debut album Dangerously In Love. So, on average, Beyoncé releases one album every two years, with EPs and Remix albums sprinkled in between. She's already released both of those, so a new album has got to be on the horizon, guys. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that another collaboration with Minaj will be on it, because those two love working together almost as much as we love benefitting from them working together.

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