Hold Up, a song from Beyoncé’s new album Lemonade, is driven by a reggae groove. It follows rival Rihanna’s big hit song Work, which also has a Jamaican flavour.
Hold Up is produced by Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo of Major Lazer fame, who has had great success fusing reggae with pop songs by major acts including Justin Beiber.
This is not the first time Beyonce has dabbled with the Jamaican beat. In 2011, her fourth studio album, contained the single
Run The World (Girls), which sampled Vybz Kartel’s Major Lazer-produced Pon De Floor.
Run The World (Girls) was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 500,000. It peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Two years later, Beyonce enlisted Mr Vegas for the remix of the song Standing On The Sun for her self-titled album.
Lemonade is Beyonce’s sixth solo album. It was released on Saturday via online streaming service Tidal.
The 13-track Lemonade has collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, The Weekend and Jack White. It is released by Parkwood Entertainment, a company owned by Beyonce.