Beyoncé teased, announced and dropped new music in the span of less than an hour during Sunday's Super Bowl.
"Okay, they ready! Drop the new music," Beyoncé says in the final seconds of a Verizon commercial that aired during the third quarter.
Social media, already buzzing from the Super Bowl action on and off the field (star-studded stands, halftime show and commercials included), went into a further frenzy.
Within minutes, Beyoncé's accounts had made it official.
The star posted a minute-long video to Instagram showing a taxi with a Texas vanity plate ("HOLD-EM") driving through dusty roads, past radio towers and a sign for "Radio Texas."
It ends with a crowd gathered in front of a billboard of her waving next to the words "Texas! Hold 'em," as a song with those words starts to play. The video ends with: "act ii" and the date March 29.
Her official websiteadvertises the same video and date, as well as the name of two songs: "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 carriages." Thirty-second snippets of both songs were posted to Tidal shortly thereafter. Then the full versions dropped on Spotify and YouTube.
The accompanying images show Beyoncé wearing cowboy hats and other decidedly Western wear.
Notably, Beyoncé advertised her 2022 album Renaissance as "act i."
It won the Grammy for best Dance/Electronic Music Album in 2023, a record-breaking 32nd for the Houston-born icon.
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