Three Things Beyoncé Taught Us In 2014

Following the spontaneous release of her fifth solo album in 2013, Beyoncé Knowles was destined to have an epic 2014. No doubt her most explosive year yet, EmptyIceCreamTub looks back at what Queen Bey has taught us over the last 12 months...

1. How To Throw A Party

Ringing in the new year with an uber stylish bang, the Carter-Knowles clan threw a New Years Eve party to shut down all others. Hiring the Versace mansion, the dance floor at the soirée was filled with some of the world’s hottest supermodels, musicians and fashion designers. Beyoncé and husband Jay Z then made a sleek exit from their bash on a scooter where they headed to P Diddy’s extravaganza.

2. Composure

In May sensational footage surfaced which saw Solange Knowles launch a vicious attack on her brother-in-law Jay Z as they departed a Met Gala afterparty via a lift. Standing in the middle of the fight, the 33-year-old kept her cool and did nothing as her younger sister turned violent. Upholding her royal standards, Queen Bey merely pulled her dress aside while her bouncer played the role of Olivia Pope. Months after the ordeal Beyoncé addressed the fight in the remix of her single Flawless, where she asserted: ‘Of course sometimes s**t go down, when it’s a billion dollars on an elevator!’

3. Dancing In A T-shirt & Knickers Is Cool

Rounding up the year on a high, Beyoncé proved she wasn’t done yet with the release of 7/11, which made dancing in knickers and oversized jumpers and T-shirts officially cool. Not only that but the visuals also taught us that hotels make for great music videos and we never ever have to worry about tidying our rooms again but most importantly to never drop that alcohol!

*Bonus* Fringes Don't Always Work
Even as the Queen the crown may sometimes slip and one may fall short of perfection. This was certainly the case in October when Beyoncé touched down in London for Frieze Week. Accompanied by hubby Jay Z and their daughter Blu Ivy, there was a collective sigh from hairstylists throughout the globe as the Flawless singer showed off her new barnet. A couple inches too short and in serious need of John Frieda's Frizz Control, Beyoncé's bangs sent the Twittersphere into frenzy as fans and critics alike tried to get their heads around the short fringe. But regaining control it didn't take long for Beyoncé to realise her hair no-no and she quickly returned to her sleek long locks.

2012 So Far...

Whitney Houston

The music world stood still again last Saturday when it was announced that Whitney Houston had passed away. The I Will Always Love You singer was found submerged in her bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel by a member of her entourage and pronounced dead on the scene, she was only 48-years-old.

Whitney leaves behind her 18-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina and a stack of hits for us music lovers who will be mourning the loss of a music great. With her death comes much negativity regarding the role a painful drug addiction had to play in her life, and until we know for certain the cause of her untimely death let's remember Ms. Houston for the music she blessed us with - R.I.P. Whitney Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012).


Whitney Houston - It's Not Right But It's Okay

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Blue Ivy Carter

At just over one month old Blue Ivy Carter has to be the world's most famous baby, kicking her rival Harper Seven to the curb the princess of music icons Beyonce and Jay Z has arrived.

First time parents welcomed their bundle into the world on January 7th but kept the world on our toes as we waited for a glimpse of the heir to throne, but then on February 10th the power couple released five very intimate snaps of their pride and joy.

Opting out of the traditional million dollar magazine spread they posted the pictures of their daughter on Tumblr site dedicated to her - helloblueivycarter.tumblr.com

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Just as she finally got rid of that horrid red thing and went to seek refuge with a brown weave, Rihanna has let me down again by deciding to get involved in a blonde mess...



Which just reminds me of...

Wait! Do you see it now...

 No?

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Not a massive Madonna fan myself but I did really enjoy watching this performance, although as she's 53-years-old I don't appreciate seeing so much of her skin.

Other than the fact she lip synced during the entire performance I do feel she gave it her all, I thoroughly enjoyed the way the tracks were mixed during the 13 minute show and the fact she brought my home boys LMFAO on stage to party rock with her put a massive smile on my face *shuffles*

For the halftime spectacular she also "sang" her new single 'Give Me All Your Luvin'' alongside Nicki Minaj & M.I.A. which overall was pretty awful, nothing can save that song but M.I.A. managed to amped up the lacklustre performance by flipping the bird to millions of viewers - good times.

Finally Madonna wrapped up the showing with Ceelo Green who in my opinion saved the entire thing because his vocals on 'Like A Prayer' were so on point.

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Nicki Minaj - Stupid Hoe

It's official Nicki Minaj has lost the plot! However you have to admire the hype she continues to generate as she managed to make history on Vevo with her latest video which gained over 4.8 million viewers in 24 hours but all I have to say on this is ... NEXT!!

Fresh From The Editing Suite...

***UPDATED***

This post is dedicated to my little Sister - Happy Birthday!

I've gotta admit I'm quite pleased with myself with this edition of 'Fresh From The Editing Suite'.
It's like playing 6 degrees of seperation, the only artist who's missing from this is Beyonce.

Rihanna - Cheers

Although I do believe these are the laziest type of videos an artists can make I love them. Nothing beats seeing behind the scenes footage of all that goes on when these stars are on the road, especially when you're actually interested in what they get up to. 'Cheers' is yet another release from Rihanna's Loud album, and the video documents all she's been up to in the last few months. The video also shows her sporting her new hairstyle and colour which I'm really feeling; finally the red is dead and buried.



Nicki Minaj - Fly (feat. Rihanna)

Once upon a time I was a massive Nicki Minaj fan but since her "fashion" sense upgraded to crazy I've switched off. In this video she does well to rock a couple crazy looks, none of which help to put across the potentially inspiring story behind this song. The video isn't really anything special, and I'm really struggling to understand the bit when she goes all ninja on some dudes. And am I the only one who thinks the video was located on the exact same set as Chris Brown's video 'Next To You'; very coincidental.


Lil' Wayne - How To Love

So Tha Carter 4  is here. Anyway. Yeah the hype around Weezy is pretty much gone, and 'How To Love' isn't exactly the best song to use to try to resuscitate the hype. I know it's meant to be one of those deep tracks that make you think but I want a song I can dance to man. The story in the video good but it's been done before, that's not to say that any video treatments nowadays are unique but it could've been done in a refreshing way.


Jay Z & Kanye West - Otis

Ok, my hands are up, I was not excited about Jay & Kanye getting together to make an album because their bromance is a tad bit annoying. But it'd be rude not to appreciate the great music that they make when they hit the studio. 'Otis' unlike 'H.A.M.' is very enticing to the ear and also typical Kanye, and the added element of Jay Z makes it that much better. The video's fun to watch, like who doesn't want to see rappers "discreetly" show off how much money they have by making a video that doesn't have a lot to it.


J. Cole - Work Out

'Work Out' is definitely my favourite song in this bunch, what should I say about the brilliance that is J. Cole? Maybe I'll just start by saying he has smacked it, this is the feel good song of the summer (even though it's more or less over), this track makes going back to the office that bit more bearable, and it 100% gets you ready for the weekend. The video to accompany the track is pretty standard for Cole, not too much going on but you still wanna watch it to see what goes down. Looking forward to the album, which I shall be pre-ordering...COLE WORLD!!

And just in case you missed my six degrees of separation let me break it down for you:

Rihanna obviously features on Nicki Minaj's track, Nicki's part of Young Money which is Lil' Wayne's clique, Wayne and Jay Z have collaborated on tracks together and are the Mr. Carters, and then finally J. Cole was the first artist to be signed to Jay Z's label Roc Nation #SICK

Really Ouick

Baby BJ

Beyonce's done it again! No - not made an album full of monster hits, from which every single is destined for the top spot (that's the norm for this lady). What she done last night was even bigger...

She's announced that her and her husband (Jay Z - for those of you who might not have heard of him) are expecting their first child. Now we all know that bigger than two mega-celebrities getting hitched is two mega-celebrities breeding mini-mega-celebs...Shear madness!!

This is really exciting because Beyonce seemed like one of those women who really wasn't trying to get involved in all the baby-making. In fact, I recall her once saying she wasn't going to have children after witnessing the birth of her nephew. However, I guess it was one of those things you say when you don't see it happening, but boy is it all unfolding now.

More exciting than that is it seems that with the release of her current album, Beyonce's been keen to show us that she is actually a human (not the robot diva I once thought she was). Since the release of '4' we've seen her cry on stage, speak openly about her relationshipb with Jay Z, and she even said "I love me some Jay Z". Also we've seen alot more skin and less of those granny type skin colour tights that she loves. But yes, in proving that she's human having a baby pretty much tops the list.

In closing, I can't wait to see who's features the baby adopts, and more nail biting what are they gonna have? A boy? A girl? Twins...I'm thinking twins, one boy and one girl...On a serious note, I do wish the couple all the best at this glorious time.

Peep her latest video, which I have to say is probably my favourite Beyonce video yet, because I love the visuals:



Beyonce - 1+1

(I guess 1+1 = Baby - sorry I had to *covers face*)

Fresh From The Editing Suite...

Frank Ocean -Novacane

If you don't know about Frank Ocean by now then I really have to ask where have you been?
This guy dropped one of 2011's sickest mixtapes a little while back, and he has managed to keep a pretty low profile which has kept us all wanting more. This song 'Novacane' is definitely one of my favourites from 'Nostaglia/ULTRA', and I'm so happy he decided to put some visuals to the words.
The video is nothing less than odd, but hey he is part of OFWGKTA, so what did we expect. I like that the video pushes the feeling of the high he experiencing in the song. The video also has a pretty cool ending too. I'm hoping a video for 'Nature Feels' surfaces soon, because that's my jam.



Kanye West - Monster ft. Rick Ross, Jay Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver

So footage for this single dropped about four months ago but it just didn't seem finished. Turns out I was right, the video wasn't complete. Above is the official video for Mr. West's biggest banger to date 'Monster'. This track is in itself a monster; it features too many heavy hitters, who each grace this track with some wicked verses. The video is classic Kanye - genius. I've probably said this before but he hands down has the best videography out there. The only criticism I have for this video is Nicki Minaj's lace wig - girl!

Nicola Roberts - Beat Of My Drum

There's no doubt that I prefer this debut single to those of Cheryl's and Nadine's. I like that Nicola is embracing her own style and her sound (unlike the other two it isn't outdated or fake). Now to get stuck in...There are three things I dislike a lot about this song and video (1) Diplo bumped her because certain beats in this song sound way too similar to those from Beyonce's latest single 'Run The World (Girls)'. (2) Nicola doesn't yet seem like she's all that comfortable making a video without four other girls. (3) Finally Nicola needs to leave some of the dance moves she attempts alone - bye girl, fly girl!

Be sure to leave comments and let me know what you think of this song, laters xx