Now that Beyonce and Jay-Z’s long-awaited joint album, Everything Is Love, is available on Spotify and Apple Music in addition to their own Tidal app, their fans can truly begin to digest the royal rap couple’s work in earnest. There’s plenty to unpack from a lyrical standpoint, as the pair address some of the more prickly aspects of their marriage as touched upon in their prior works, Lemonade and 4:44.
Aside from the lyrics, it’s always interesting to take a look at which producers they tapped to helped make their groundbreaking release feel as monumental as their fans anticipated when it was announced they’d be going on their On The Run II tour earlier this year. Fortunately, the production credits were helpfully provided both by Tidal and by Beyonce’s website. Let’s take a look below.
1. “Summer”
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Cool & Dre. Co-produced by El Michels
The haunting arrangement, replete with church organs, sweeping strings, and groovy horns, was co-produced by long-established production duo Cool &; Dre and funk and soul musician El Michels. Additional writing was provided by none other than music industry James Fauntleroy, who has appeared on songs by the likes of Frank Ocean, Jhene Aiko, Vince Staples, and more. The vocal segments at the beginning and end are provided by Stone Love Movement’s Rory. Stone Love is a major Jamaican “sound system” or DJ crew consisting of around a dozen members established in 1972.
2. “Apeshit” (Featuring Offset and Quavo of Migos)
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Pharrell Williams
The first official single from Everything Is Love is produced by Pharrell Williams, who previously worked with Jay on hits like “Change Clothes” and “Give It To Me.” If the ad-libs running throughout the song sound reminiscent of Migos, it’s because they are provided by Offset and Quavo of that group, with the original demo version surfacing online just days after the release. While they provide an additional lift to the bouncy beat, the absence of Takeoff is only going to add fuel to the resilient meme that the third “amigo” is the most overlooked.
3. “Boss”
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and D’Mile. Co-produced by Mike Dean, Derek Dixie, and Melo-X
Built around a simple vocal loop, “Boss” features production from D’Mile, a songwriter from Brooklyn, New York, who’s provided songs for Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Janet Jackson, and Diddy. Most recently D’Mile has produced extensively for Ty Dolla Sign, who appears here as a co-writer and additional vocalist. Mike Dean, Derek Dixie, and popular DJ Melo-X (who provided songwriting and production on Beyonce’s last two albums) contribute additional production as well.
4. “Nice” featuring Pharrell
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Pharrell Williams
Pharrell returns for another bass-heavy beat, contributing his vocals to the hook alongside Beyonce. The loop features a simple piano tune atop a sample of barking and howling dogs and Beyonce references a scene in Dave Chappelle’s cult classic stoner film Half Baked in her first verse. Pharrell also gets a short verse, one of the only guest verses on the album.
5. “713”
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Cool & Dre
“713” is a hard-hitting truck rattler contributed by Cool & Dre with vocal references to Dr. Dre’s 2001 hit, “Still D.R.E.,” which Jay wrote on. Jay also takes references from Common’s “The Light” and borrows the hook structure from Kanye West’s “Monster,” while the beat contains two samples from Hiatus Kaiyote — “Sphinx Gate” and “The World It Softly Lulls,” which provides the overall melody.
6. “Friends”
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Boi-1da, Nav, and Sevn Thomas
For “Friends,” Jay and Bey headed north of the border, recruiting regular Drake collaborator Boi-1da and rising star Nav to cook up a low-key, trappy banger along with Sevn Thomas. Thomas previously worked with both Drake and Jay on “Pop Style.” Jay references his role in the Free Meek Mill movement as well as his longtime friends and business partners in Roc Nation like Jay Brown and Ty-Ty Smith, who’s popped up in Jay’s verses since “Dead Presidents II” back in 1997.
7. “Heard About Us”
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Boi-1da, Vinylz, !llmind, and Jahaan Sweet
The second Boi-1da appearance on Everything Is Love is accompanied by some additional production from Vinylz and !llmind, who’ve both been around for a good long while, providing beats for both stars (in Vinylz’ case, Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Jeremih, and Big Sean) and underground mainstays (!llmind has contributed to projects from the likes of KRS-One, Diamond D, El Da Sensei, Redman, Kool G Rap, Joell Ortiz, and Skyzoo). Jahaan Sweet, who helped create “Drowning” for A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and three tracks on Aminé’s debut album, Good For You, also co-produces.
8. “Black Effect”
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Cool & Dre
“Black Effect” kicks off with a sample of Flower Travellin’ Band’s “Broken Strings” looped up by Cool & Dre, who show off some truly deep crate digging. Flower Travellin’ Band was a progressive rock back from Japan formed in the late ’60s, that broke up in the early ’70s to pursue solo careers. “Black Effect” continues both Jay and Beyonce’s now longstanding trend of celebrating Blackness and advocating for social justice. Jay calls back to his Kalief Browder and Trayvon Martin documentaries in his verse, while Beyonce shouts out the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement.
9. “LoveHappy”
Produced by Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Dave Sitek
On the album’s concluding track, Jay and Bey trade bars with an in-and-out flow over a jubilant beat provided by David Andrew Sitek, who previously worked heavily with TV On The Radio, among other bands. While he’s not known for his hip-hop work, TV On The Radio did appear with Wale on his debut album in 2009, as well as linking up with Aziz Ansari to produce a hip-hop-inflected tape that same year.
