Beyoncé marked her 45th birthday on Sept. 4 by releasing a remastered, expanded 20th-anniversary edition of "B'Day," her 2006 sophomore album — a reissue that folds in previously unreleased tracks and two headline-grabbing duets, one of which has reopened an old debate over how a late icon's music gets used.
The centerpiece of that debate is "Irreemplazable (Como La Flor)," a reworking of "Irreplaceable" that interpolates Selena Quintanilla's 1992 hit "Como La Flor." Beyoncé's label, Parkwood, said the pairing came together with formal approval from Selena's estate, which the company noted rarely licenses her music for this kind of use. The estate said in a statement that its "resounding approval for Beyoncé" made possible "this timely and meaningful duet." The reissue also pairs Beyoncé with the Colombian singer Maluma on "Cuerpo Tumbao (Get Me Bodied)," which samples Celia Cruz's "La Negra Tiene Tumbao" and marks their first collaboration.
A widower weighs in
The Selena track drew a mixed response from fans online, with some questioning whether the estate should have granted access to her voice at all. Selena's widower, the musician Chris Pérez, initially celebrated the release on Instagram as "two icons doing what they do," then returned to the comments to push back on critics directly. "Say what you want. Shout out to Beyoncé for showing respect to an ICON," he wrote, adding pointedly, "In my opinion, nobody will ever, CAN ever, top Selena's performance." He went on: "Can't you just appreciate that another iconic/amazing artist chose to highlight Selena in this way? ESPECIALLY in today's musical climate? All love." Complex was among the outlets to report his comments in full.
Beyond the two duets, the reissue restores several songs Beyoncé recorded for the original "B'Day" sessions but never released, including "Creole," "Back Up," "Lost Yo Mind" and "Can I Watch You," the last featuring Pharrell Williams, who worked on portions of the original 2006 album. Rolling Stone and Billboard both noted the album arrives in standard and deluxe vinyl and CD formats, the deluxe vinyl edition packaged with a 60-page booklet and two collectible art prints. Beyoncé previewed the reissue on July 4 with a new song, "Morning Dew (DONK)," written with Pharrell, The-Dream and Darius Dixon.
"B'Day," recorded quickly in the run-up to Beyoncé's 25th birthday and originally released two years after her debut solo album, "Dangerously in Love," is generally regarded by critics as a harder-edged, more percussive record than its predecessor. Two decades on, its anniversary edition has become less a nostalgia exercise than a fresh flashpoint over how, and by whom, a departed artist's catalog gets revisited — a question the reissue's reception suggests is far from settled.