Irreemplazable

Irreemplazable is the first extended play (EP) by American singer Beyoncé. Comprising Spanish, English and Spanglish re-recordings of songs from her second studio album B'Day (2006), it featured as a bonus disc for the North American deluxe edition of B'Day, before being released separately on August 28, 2007 through Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. It was produced by Cuban American musician Rudy Pérez who also helped with writing the songs in Spanish. Copies purchased from Walmart also contain a DVD featuring a Beyoncé's concert, television performances and behind-the-scenes footage.

This article is about the EP. For the song, see Irreplaceable.

Irreemplazable
EP by Beyoncé
Released	August 27, 2007
Genre	Latin pop R&B
Length	31:04
Language	Spanish English Spanglish
Label	Columbia Music World
Producer	Beyoncé Knowles (exec.) Ne-Yo Timbaland The Underdogs Eduardo Cabra Olgui Chirino Rudy Pérez Jake Cohl
Beyoncé chronology
B'Day Anthology Video Album (2007) Irreemplazable (2007) The Beyoncé Experience Live (2007)
Beyoncé EP chronology
True Star: A Private Performance (2004) Irreemplazable (2007) Heat (2011)

Irreemplazable received a mixed review from AllMusic's Andy Kellman, who criticized its lack of content and the fact that the EP was released several months after the deluxe edition of B'Day. Irreemplazable peaked at number one-hundred-and-five on the US Billboard 200, and has sold 57,000 copies in the United States. It also appeared on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the Top Latin Albums and the Latin Pop Albums charts. "Bello Embustero", the Spanish version of "Beautiful Liar" (a duet with Colombian singer Shakira) was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards (2007).

Background

Growing up in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé was surrounded by the Spanish language, and learned some Spanish as a child, which she later forgot. When re-recording songs for Irreemplazable, Beyoncé's vocal coach provided the Spanish lyrics phonetically, and each line was recorded up to four times for the EP. Beyoncé has stated that she intends to take up Spanish lessons in the future.[1] She said of the EP's recording, "This is such an honor for me to be able to connect with all my fans. I had so much fun singing in Spanish. It reminded me of growing up in Houston".[2] The Denver Post's John Wenzel interpreted the release of Irreemplazable as "an effort to meet the exploding market for Spanish language music".[3]

Release and promotion

Irreemplazable was released as the bonus disc on the deluxe edition of B'Day in the United States on April 3, 2007,[4] before being released separately through Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment on August 28, 2007.[5] iTunes Store began selling the EP on August 27, 2007.[6][7] However, a remix of "Get Me Bodied" was available only on the individual release of Irreemplazable. Beyoncé appeared on Tr3s' television show Mi TRL on August 2, 2007 and showed a behind-the-scenes special, "Making of the Spanish EP".[5] An exclusive DVD accompanied the EP in Walmart stores, containing behind-the-scenes footage and taped performances from The Beyoncé Experience and Beyoncé's appearance on The Early Show, as well as a documentary named "La Evolución Latina de Beyoncé" ("The Latin Evolution of Beyoncé").[3][8]

Music and lyrics

Irreemplazable is primarily a R&B and Latin pop album. The Spanish-language songs from the EP were written by Cuban American composer Rudy Pérez and he wrote the lyrics phonetically to help Beyoncé perform the songs in Spanish. "We spent hours and hours working on it. She wanted to make it perfect. She worked hard. That's why people are saying it sounds like she's fluent in Spanish", Perez added.[9] Pérez changed some of the words in Spanish as he felt it they "didn't fit the music" and "doesn't make sense". He assisted with Beyoncé on pronouncing her r's in Spanish.[10] Irreemplazable opens with "Amor Gitano", a duet with Alejandro Fernández originally from Fernández' fifteenth studio album, Viento a Favor. "Listen", a theme song from Dreamgirls, in which Beyoncé appears, was re-recorded under the title "Oye". The EP's title track is a Spanish version of "Irreplaceable", a song that was highly successful in its English recording.[11][12] Three recordings of "Beautiful Liar" appear on Irreemplazable: a Spanish version (titled "Bello Embustero"), a remixed English version and a Spanglish version. A norteña remix of "Irreemplazable" is the EP's seventh track, while Timbaland's remix of "Get Me Bodied", which features vocals from Voltio, closes Irreemplazable.

Critical reception

Giving it two and a half stars, Andy Kellman of AllMusic said that "there's not that much to the disc," and alleged that it was unnecessary, concluding "if you're a die-hard Beyoncé fan, you'll probably feel jerked around a bit — especially if you bought B'Day when it came out in September 2006 and bought the deluxe edition seven months later, only to find out that the bonus material would later come out on its own (with a track not on the second disc of the deluxe edition!)." Kellman selected "Amor Gitano", "Irreemplazable" and the "Get Me Bodied" remix as the highlights of the EP.[13] The EP led to Beyoncé receiving a nomination for Pop New Artist of the Year at the 2008 Lo Nuestro Awards,[14] and "Bello Embustero" was nominated for Record of the Year at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.[15]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2007	Latin Grammy Award	Record of the Year ("Bello Embustero")	Nominated	[15]
2008	Lo Nuestro Award	Pop New Artist of the Year	Nominated	[14]

Commercial performance

Irreemplazable debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number one-hundred-and-five on the chart dated September 15, 2007,[16][17] selling over 6,000 copies that week.[18] It remained on the chart for three weeks.[19] On the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the EP made its entry at number forty-one the same week,[20] and spent five weeks on the chart.[19] Irreemplazable performed better on the Latin charts, debuting at number three on the Top Latin Albums[21] and number two on the Latin Pop Albums.[22] The EP stayed on the charts for twelve and thirteen weeks, respectively.[19] As of October 6, 2010, Irreemplazable had sold 57,000 copies in the United States.[23]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Amor Gitano" (Alejandro Fernández featuring Beyoncé)	Beyoncé Knowles Jaime Flores Reyli Barber	3:48
2.	"Oye"	Knowles Henry Krieger Scott Cutler Anne Preven Rudy Pérez	3:41
3.	"Irreemplazable"	Knowles Mikkel Storleer Eriksen Tor Erik Hermansen Espen Lind Amund Bjørklund Shaffer Smith Pérez	3:48
4.	"Bello Embustero"	Eriksen Hermansen Knowles Amanda Ghost Ian Dench Pérez	3:20
5.	"Beautiful Liar" (Remix) (with Shakira)	Eriksen Hermansen Knowles Ghost Dench Pérez	3:01
6.	"Beautiful Liar" (Spanglish Version)	Eriksen Hermansen Knowles Ghost Dench Pérez	3:21
7.	"Irreemplazable" (Norteña Remix)	Knowles Eriksen Hermansen Lind Bjørklund Smith Pérez	3:51
8.	"Get Me Bodied" (Timbaland Remix) (featuring Voltio)	Knowles Solange Knowles Kassem Dean Sean Garrett Makeba Angela Beyincé	6:14
Total length:			31:04

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic and Irreemplazable's liner notes.[24][25]

April Baldwin – artists and repertoire Aaron Brougher – artists and repertoire Eduardo Cabra – production Olgui Chirino – vocal production Max Gousse – artists and repertoire Juli Knapp – artists and repertoire

Beyoncé – executive production, production, vocal production Mathew Knowles – artists and repertoire, executive production, management Ne-Yo – production Rudy Pérez – production, remix production, vocal production Timbaland – production, remixing The Underdogs – production

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
scope="row"	US Billboard 200[26]	105
scope="row"	US Top Latin Albums (Billboard)[27]	3
scope="row"	US Latin Pop Albums (Billboard)[28]	2
scope="row"	US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[29]	41

References

1. Erichsen, Gerald (April 5, 2007). "Beyoncé adds Spanish tracks to hit album". About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
2. "Beyoncé has a Special Gift for MTV Tr3s Fans" (Press release). New York: Music World Entertainment. August 1, 2007. Archived from the original on August 29, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
3. Wenzel, John (August 19, 2007). "Marketing's child: Beyoncé". The Denver Post. MediaNews Group. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
4. "B'day [Deluxe Edition]". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
5. Ben-Yehuda, Ayala (July 31, 2007). "Beyonce To Release 'Irreemplazable' As Wal-Mart Exclusive". Billboard. Los Angeles: Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
6. "Irremplazable – EP by Beyoncé". iTunes Store. (US) Apple Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
7. "Irremplazable – EP by Beyoncé". iTunes Store. (Canada) Apple Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
8. "Irreemplazable (with Exclusive Bonus DVD)". Wal-mart. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
9. du Lac, J. Freedom (August 31, 2007). "Rudy Perez's two romance languages: Spanish, music". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
10. Cobo, Leila (January 20, 2007). "Translation Tricks Rudy Teaches Beyoncé Spanish". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 119 (3): 12. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
11. "Irreplaceable – Beyoncé". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
12. "Beyoncé – Irreplaceable". Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
13. Kellman, Andy. Irreemplazable at AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
14. "Nominees for Premio Lo Nuestro 2008 Announced". People. Time, Inc. December 13, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
15. "Beyonce, Fergie Get Latin Grammy Nods". CBS News. CBS. August 29, 2007. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
16. "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 119 (37): 111. September 15, 2007. ISSN 0006-2510.
17. Irreemplazable at AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
18. Kaufman, Gil (September 5, 2007). "'High School Musical 2': Head Of Billboard Class; Hustlenomics Fails Yung Joc". MTV News. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
19. "Irremplazable – Beyoncé". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
20. "R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. September 15, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
21. "Latin Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. September 15, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
22. "Latin Pop Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. September 15, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
23. Grein, Paul (October 6, 2010). "Week Ending Oct. 3, 2010: America's Most Popular Inmate". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
24. Irreemplazable at AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
25. Irreemplazable (EP). Beyoncé. Columbia Records. 2007.CS1 maint: others (link)
26. "Beyoncé Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
27. "Beyoncé Chart History (Top Latin Albums)". Billboard.
28. "Beyoncé Chart History (Latin Pop Albums)". Billboard.
29. "Beyoncé Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.