Beyonce released her sixth album in her usual surprise fashion tonight, as Lemonade appeared on Tidal after the HBO premiere of the "visual album" of the same name. Unsurprisingly, there is a vast array of mega-talented musicians behind Beyonce's latest work. Those who tuned in likely recognized the voices of Kendrick Lamar ("Freedom"), The Weeknd ("6 Inch"), and James Blake ("Forward"). Aside from those names, Lemonade includes just one more feature, coming from rock star Jack White, who lends his guitar work to "Don't Hurt Yourself."
In the full list of Lemonade credits, though, there are plenty more recognizable names, the most surprising of which has got to be DeAndre Way, aka Soulja Boy, whose classic track "Turn My Swag On" is sampled on "Hold Up." That song is produced by Diplo, Ezra Koenig of the band Vampire Weekend, and Bey herself. Another indie hero in Father John Misty is also credited on "Hold Up."
Led Zeppelin is credited on the Jack White-featuring "Don't Hurt Yourself," which samples the English band's version of "When the Levee Breaks."
In addition to lending his vocals, The Weeknd is also given a writing credit on the Diplo-produced "6 Inch," as is his XO signee Belly as well as Terius Nash, better known as The-Dream. The song also contains a sample of Animal Collective's "My Girls."
Diplo also produced "All Night," which samples OutKast's "SpottieOttieDopaliscious." Other notable production credits include Just Blaze ("Freedom"), Mike Dean ("Love Drought"), and Hit-Boy ("Sorry"). Boots, who was all over Beyonce's last album, also contributes to a few Lemonade tracks.
It was already known that "Formation" was created with the aid of the Ear Drummers, with Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd helping write the song and production coming from Mike Will Made-It and Pluss.
The name of Brooklyn artist/producer MeLo-X appears frequently throughout the credits. He was named as the primary figure behind the Lemonade film score. What an impressive look.
See the entire credits for each song on Lemonade, and tell us if you spot any other artists whose names deserve highlighting.
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