Has the curse of Friday the 13th struck Beyonce?
Initially, the video for Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” was to go live at 12:01 a.m. EDT May 13. Then it was pushed back to 8 a.m. Now, Vevo is running a statement that says, “OK, bad news: ‘Run the World (Girls)’ won’t be out on Friday like we thought. No new date yet. Beyonce is perfecting it.”
The song, the first from Beyonce’s new album, “4,” has had a troubled life so far. The tune, which features a tribal, militaristic beat and a sample from Major Lazer’s “Pon de Floor,” debuted at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has moved in the wrong direction ever since. Last week, it fell to No. 48 and this week it plummets to No. 65. We have no inside information on this one yet, but it’s possible that Sony has decided to pull the plug on the song and attendant promotion all together and move on as if it never happened. It wouldn’t be the first time a label decided to cut its losses, although given that the bulk of the video seems done, we imagine it will still come out in some form or fashion. If not timed to the single, it may be temporarily shelved and saved as an extra on a DVD or some later compilation. We have a message into Beyonce’s publicist to see if we can get any information.
As you know, even though Interscope did release the video for Lady Gaga’s second single “Judas,” as it was apparent that the song was tanking, the label followed up three days later with a third single, “Edge of Glory.” Whether it’s smart to have already burned through three singles before the album is released is a topic we’ll address in another post.
In the meantime, enjoy the trailer to “Run the World (Girls).” It looks like a helluva video.