Formerly known as "Bow Down," this was the first song to be heard from Beyoncé's eponymous fifth album. It was released on March 17, 2013 on the singer's Soundcloud along another tune titled "I Been On" and it found her commanding her female adversaries to praise all that she's done. I know when you were little girls you dreamt of being in my world Don't forget it, don't forget it Respect that, and bow down bitches Drawing controversy with the first music released in advance of a new album, is a tactic that Beyoncé has used before. She introduced her 4 album with "Run the World (Girls)," which caused critics to spill a lot of ink concerning its aggressive woman's empowerment message.
"Bow Down" later morphed into this less abrasive version, which still contains the "bow down bitches" refrain but inserts a clarification of the singer's original intention as well as a spoken word passage against sexism provided by famed Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The sample is taken from a message the Half of a Yellow Sun author delivered in a talk at the TEDxEuston called "We should all be feminists" in April 2013.
This was produced by Chauncey "Hit-Boy" Hollis, who is signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label. The record producer was also behind Lil Wayne's "Drop The World" and Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Niggas In Paris" hit singles. He tweeted at the time of the song's release in its original incarnation:, "Haaaa I finally prod for Hovs wife. Beyoncè was the last person on my list to work with. I can't believe I prod for all my heroes by 25. ... I make that music my heroes get to talk they s--t on. Please never compare me to these other guys who could never make a '1 Train' by A$ap then 'Bow Down' for Beyoncé in the same year. Please."
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