After wrapping up her role as Deena on the upcoming film Dreamgirls, Knowles had "bottled up so many things, so many emotions, so many ideas" that she decided to leave her vacation early to record the album in a timespan of two weeks, recording three songs a day. She did this without telling her father/manager (Matthew Knowles) or her record label. At that time Knowles had booked the whole Sony Studios, simultaneously recording with an "all-star team of producers", including Rodney Jerkins, Rich Harrison, Pharrell, Stargate, Cameron Wallace, Walter Milsap and Swizz Beatz. Rapper T.I. also joined the sessions to record a verse for "Upgrade U", but like Lil Wayne he did not make the cut on B'Day.
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The track "Resentment" is a cover of a song originally recorded by Victoria Beckham. The track, which was also covered by Jazmine Sullivan in 2004, appeared on the The Real Beckhams DVD release as a bonus song. The track features altered lyrics (and thus a writing credit) for Knowles.
Chart Success
The album debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first week sales of 541,000 copies (224,000 more than her previous album Dangerously In Love), and at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.
The first single off the album was Deja Vu, an uptempo classic Beyonce beat, with her beau Jay-Z. The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Ring the Alarm, the second single, peaked at #11 in the Hot 100, and #3 in the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Irreplaceable has rapidly climbed up the charts, and is currently at a peak of #2 in just a month. What is rather unexpected is her second B'Day collaboration with Jay-Z, "Upgrade U", is climbing up the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, based solely on airplay. The current peak position is 16.[6] The song has also peaked at number 78 on the Hot 100 chart.
Samples
"Upgrade U" samples Betty Wright's "Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do"
