Beyonce's 'Renaissance' No. 1 on Billboard Top 200 albums chart; 2nd largest week of 2022

Beyonce made her blasting comeback with her latest album Renaissance. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter released her seventh studio album Renaissance nearly six years after her 2016 chart-buster album Lemonade. While the new album has invited some controversy, it has now debuted at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

As per Billboard, Beyonce's latest album Renaissance has topped Billboard's 200 album chart. Apart from this, the album has also given the biggest week of 2022 by a woman and the second-largest week of the year overall. As per Luminate Data, the debut figure of Beyonce's latest album was 332,000 equivalent album units.

Beyonce's Renaissance marked the second largest week of the year as it failed to surpass Harry Styles' album Harry's House. Styles' album bowed out with 521,000 units in June. Beyonce's album however managed to surpass its biggest contender BTS' Proof, which debuted at 314,000 units and is now in third place. Kendrick Lamar's Mr Morale & The Big Stepper has stepped out from the top 3 with 295,000 units.

Beyonce's Renaissance tracklist

• I'm That Girl
• Cozy
• Alien Superstar
• Cuff It
• Energy
• Break My Soul
• Church Girl
• Plastic Off The Sofa
• Virgo's Groove
• Move
• Heated
• Thique
• All Up In Your Mind
• America Has A Problem
• Pure/Honey
• Summer Renaissance

Beyonce faces criticism for a song in Renaissance

While Beyonce is currently basking in the success of her latest album, she also landed in some trouble and faced criticism for her track Heated. The singer-songwriter was being criticised for allegedly using an offensive term in her song. Towards the end of the song Heated, Beyonce sings, "Sp***in’ on that a**, sp** on that a**," which invited trouble for the singer.

The ableist slur was derived from the term "spastic", which is considered offensive and is often used as a derogatory term against individuals with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

Following the release of the track, Beyonce faced a massive backlash on social media as fans mentioned how they did not expect this from her. As a result, Beyonce's representative told ET Canada that the slur was not used in a harmful way, yet it will be replaced. The representative said, "The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced. The road to success is always under construction."

Image: Instagram/@beyonce