<P> While recording in New York City, the previously released "Bow Down" was incorporated into a track that became "Flawless". During its composition, Beyoncé chose to interpolate a portion of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk "We Should All Be Feminists" into it as she identified with her interpretations of feminism . Organic approaches were taken when writing and recording "Drunk in Love" and "Partition". When working with Detail and Timbaland on a beat that became "Drunk in Love", she was inspired by what she described as pure enjoyment, as both she and Jay - Z free - styled their verses for the track in the studio . Similarly, the bassline of "Partition", which Beyoncé found reminiscent of hip hop music during her early romance with Jay - Z, influenced her to accompany the track with sexual lyrics . She took to a microphone without pen and paper and rapped the first verse, finding herself initially embarrassed by the explicitness of the lyrics . When composing "Partition", a rap known as "Yoncé" was used as the opening of the track, the beat of which was built by Justin Timberlake banging on buckets in the studio . </P> <P> Only four songs were not recorded entirely in New York studios: "Superpower" and "Heaven", which were partially recorded in California, as well as "No Angel" which was composed in London and "XO" in Berlin and Sydney . Although the demo of "XO" was recorded when Beyoncé had contracted a sinus infection, the vocals were never re-recorded as she felt their imperfections fit more appropriately . In October, the album began taking shape and "Standing on the Sun" and "Grown Woman" were removed--songs which had been previewed in 2013 on television advertisements--from Beyoncé to fit in with its minimalist approach . During Thanksgiving week, the vocals on the album were edited and producers were notified to submit their final cuts . Beyoncé spent less time on vocal production than she had done with her previous projects, instead focusing on perfecting the album's music . Beyoncé was mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City . In total, eighty songs were recorded for the album . </P> <P> Beyoncé first considered the idea of creating a "visual album" in June 2013, when only three or four songs had been completed . Explaining her motivation, she said she would often connect images, childhood memories, emotions and fantasies to songs she was in the midst of composing, and that she "wanted people to hear the songs with the story that's in my head as that's what makes it mine". She highlighted the immersive experience of Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982) as the principal influence for creating a body of work that "people would hear things differently and (...) actually be able to see the whole vision of the album". </P> <P> The videos were filmed between June and November 2013 in various countries as the singer traveled on her world tour . Todd Tourso, who directed the videos for "Jealous" and "Heaven", served as the creative director for the entire project . Much of his role concerned liaising between Beyoncé, who for most videos already had concepts, and the respective directors who also had propositions . As most videos were shot outside of the US, the crew surrounding the videos was small, consisting only of Tourso, the director of photography and producer, as well as Beyoncé and her stylist, make - up artist and security . When filming in public, Beyoncé would wear in - ear headphones instead of having the music played out loud, in order to maintain the secrecy of the project and prevent any songs leaking . By the time of post-production, the songwriting process began to converge with the content of the visuals and Beyoncé would watch unedited footage to fit the music to them . "Flawless", "Rocket" and "Mine" were noted as having been changed by their visual counterparts, Tourso commenting that "she would rewrite some lines, or she would add certain audio, or she would add bridges" and believed that "it would complete the picture of where the audio needed to go". </P>

When did beyonce's first album come out