"Flawless" (stylized as "***Flawless") is a song by American singer Beyoncé from her fifth studio album, Beyoncé (2013). The song was written by Beyoncé, Rashad Muhammad, Terius Nash, Hit-Boy (Chauncey Hollis), and Raymond DeAndre Martin, and it was produced by Beyoncé and Hit-Boy. "Flawless" incorporates the first part of the two-part hip-hop track "Bow Down / I Been On" that Beyoncé had released in March 2013. It features an excerpt from the speech "We Should All Be Feminists" by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a TEDxEuston conference.
"Flawless" is built on an abrasive trap beat, and its feminist lyrics are about Beyoncé rejecting others' projections onto her and boasting her self-confidence. Upon release, "Flawless" was one of the most-discussed tracks from the album; critics generally acclaimed the production and lyricism and deemed it a highlight. The music video, directed by Jake Nava, is shot in black and white and features choreography by Les Twins and Chris Grant. It was released via the iTunes Store as part of the visual album Beyoncé on December 13, 2013.
A remix featuring rapper Nicki Minaj was released on August 12, 2014, as a single from the Platinum Edition of Beyoncé; the solo version was also subsequently released to radio. Music critics generally lauded the collaboration, and several publications included it in their lists of the best songs of 2014. "Flawless" peaked at number 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Beyoncé included "Flawless" in the set lists of the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour (European leg, 2014), the Jay-Z co-headlining On the Run Tour (2014) and On the Run II Tour (2018), and the Formation World Tour (2016).
Background On March 17, 2013, Beyoncé released an audio track titled "Bow Down / I Been On" as well as a picture of herself as a child standing in a roomful of trophies on her official website. Hit-Boy produced the first half of the track, "Bow Down", while the second half, "I Been On", was produced by Timbaland. Hit-Boy stated in 2022 that he was "basically trying to make a 'Niggas in Paris', female version. With that bounce, with that synth." A sample of "I Been On" was also prominently used in an advertisement for O2 and The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in February 2013. The release "shocked fans and fellow singers alike", as the song caused some controversy over its lyrical content. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly commented that Beyoncé seemed "to be attacking straw women a generation behind her who dismiss her as little more than Jay-Z's wife." The song was criticized by Rush Limbaugh and Keyshia Cole, among others.
In December 2013, Beyoncé explained the idea behind "Bow Down" on iTunes Radio: "The reason I put out 'Bow Down' is because I woke up, I went into the studio, I had a chant in my head, it was aggressive, it was angry, it wasn't the Beyoncé that wakes up every morning. It was the Beyoncé that was angry. It was the Beyoncé that felt the need to defend herself. And if the song never comes out…OK! I said it! And I listened to it after I finished, and I said, This is hot! I'mma put it out. I'm not going to sell it. I'm just going to put it out. People like it, great; they don't, they don't. And I won't do it every day because that's not who I am. But I feel strong. And anyone that says, 'Oh that is disrespectful,' just imagine the person that hates you. Imagine a person that doesn't believe in you. And look in the mirror and say, 'Bow down, bitch' and I guarantee you feel gangsta! So listen to the song from that point of view again if you didn't like it before."
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie praised the song, stating that she "likes the idea that Beyonce's song might make girls feel that they can ask to try to do these things", and further saying: "I have had young people in Nigeria who probably would have never heard of my TED talk without Beyonce and who are now talking about feminism."
Composition "Flawless" was written by Beyoncé Knowles, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Chauncey Hollis and Rey Reel. The song was produced by Hit-Boy and Knowles, co-produced by Rey Reel Music, with additional production by Boots. It is "a staccato, trap-flavored track" with a dirty groove and a clattering beat.
The song begins with a sample from a televised talent contest Star Search, with Ed McMahon announcing the performance of Knowles' girl rap group, Girl's Tyme. Then, the song incorporates a portion of "Bow Down / I Been On", with Knowles singing about "the pressure women feel to be perfect and to think of marriage as the main goal of their life" — "I took some time to live my life/ But don’t think I’m just his little wife."
A series of samples from "We Should All Be Feminists", a speech delivered by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a TEDxEuston conference in April 2013, starts at 1:24 and forms the second verse of the song:
The third verse features lyrics such as "You wake up, flawless/ Post up, flawless/ Ride round in it, flawless/ I woke up like this/ I woke up like this." The song ends with another sample from Star Search, in which McMahon announces that Knowles' group lost the competition. In a video commentary to the album, Knowles explained that in her mind [as a nine-year-old], she would have never imagined losing as a possibility, and it was the best message for her. "I feel like something about the aggression of 'Bow Down' and the attitude of 'Flawless'—the reality is, sometimes you lose. And you're never too good to lose, you're never too big to lose, you're never too smart to lose, it happens. And it happens when it needs to happen. And you have to embrace those things", she added.
Critical reception "Flawless" was met with mostly positive reviews, while its lyrics were widely discussed and acclaimed by the public. Los Angeles Times'''s Carolyn Kellogg wrote that the inclusion of Adichie's talk was an "astonishing" thing. Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian commented that by using Adichie's TED talk as a feminist spoken word interlude in the middle of "Flawless", the singer put "Bow Down" into a different context. Andrew Hampp and Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine wrote, "When we first heard the Hit-Boy produced track in March it didn't contain the content of the full-version, only to come off abrasive. 'Flawless' though, with the insightful commentary of feminism by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, carries power and highlights camaraderie amongst women."The Guardian's Mikki Kendall wrote, "In 'Flawless' (a track that leaked as 'Bow Down' over the summer), Beyonce quotes from author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TedX talk 'We should all be feminists', adroitly addressing the idea that she is somehow anti-feminist for not fitting into the boxes others project onto her. It's clear that like a lot of black American women, the mainstream middle class white feminist narratives with which we are so familiar aren't necessarily compatible with Beyonce's view of herself. This album makes it clear that her feminism isn't academic; isn't about waves, or labels. It simply is a part of her as much as anything else in her life. She's pro-woman without being anti-man, and she wants the world to know that you can be feminist on a personal level without sacrificing emotions, friendships or fun."
However, Catherine A. Traywick of Foreign Policy magazine criticized the singer, commenting that "On a track called 'Flawless', Beyonce samples Adichie's April 2013 Ted Talk, which is a thoughtful, amusing examination of subtle sexism in everyday life. Beyonce bookends Adichie's words with distinctly less thoughtful lyrics of her own: She shallowly trumpets material wealth and physical beauty and, working in a few lines from her spring single, advises others to 'Bow down, bitches.'" She continued, "Beyonce gives us a heavily-edited, watered-down version of Adichie's speech that aligns with the singer's banal brand of beginner feminism: She reduces Adichie's powerful message to an overly simplistic, inoffensive pro-girl anthem that does little to challenge trenchant gender ideals." In the annual Pazz & Jop mass critics poll of the year's best in music in 2013, "Flawless" was ranked at number 72. The following year, "Flawless" was ranked at number nine on the same poll for the best music of 2014, tied with DJ Snake and Lil Jons "Turn Down for What". Pitchfork Media named it the 7th best track of 2014. Slant Magazine listed the single as the 23rd best one of 2014,url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-25-best-singles-of-2014 while Tiny Mix Tapes also considered the release one of the best songs of the same period.url=http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2014-favorite-50-songs-of-2014?page=4
Chart performance Without being released as a single, "Flawless" managed to appear on several music charts. In the US, it peaked at number 13 on February 15, 2014 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart which acts as a 25-song extension of the main Billboard Hot 100. The same week, on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the song peaked at number 32 in its fourth week of charting. Elsewhere, it peaked at number 157 on the UK Singles Chart on March 8, 2014 and 77 on the Irish Singles Chart on March 13. Following the performance at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, "Flawless" debuted at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 and moved to a peak position of 25 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for the issue dated September 13, 2014. Selling 29,000 digital copies, it entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at number 48. Following the first week of the remix's availability as a digital download as part of the Platinum Edition release, the song reached new peaks of 41 and 12 on the Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, respectively; it sold 67,000 that week, 91 percent of which were of the remix.
Music video
A music video for "Flawless" was directed by Jake Nava. It was released on December 13, 2013 on the album Beyoncé on the iTunes Store, which contained a video for every song. Beyoncé worked on the choreography for the video with Les Twins and Chris Grant. "We had done half the video, and we watched it, and Beyoncé knew that it needed a dance moment that would be iconic, that people could pick up on. And then we went back and reshot that part. Because after seeing the video, and after the song coming together, she was like, 'This needs a cool dance that anybody can do'", said Beyoncé's creative director Todd Tourso.
The video opens with original footage from Star Search, with young Beyoncé and other members of Girl's Tyme being announced by McMahon. It transitions to other scenes shot in black-and-white, showing Beyoncé headbanging and moshing with members of a punk subculture, as well as dancing with a team of street dancers in a graffiti covered alley. Throughout the video, she is seen lip-syncing the lyrics of the song and moving in accordance with its melody while the camera focuses only on her. Many of the scenes are also shot using the slow motion filming technique. It ends with McMahon announcing the winners of Star Search, Skeleton Crew, which receive four stars from the judges of the show, while Girl's Tyme receive three stars, losing the competition.