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Beyonce’s ‘Beyonce’ Hits Vinyl as Azealia Banks Shares Busta Rhymes Remix

Beyoncé, vinyl, self-titled album, bootleg, "Partition," remix, Busta Rhymes, Azealia Banks

“All these record labels boring,” Beyoncé declares on Beyoncés avant-R&B “Haunted,” sniffing at the biz like Robyn’s “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do” gone all Saint Heron. When big music companies have been hesitant to release vinyl editions of coveted albums, more swashbuckling entrepreneurs have rapidly filled the void: Frank Ocean’s channel ORANGE and Kanye West’s Yeezus are both available in gray-market pressings. Chance the Rapper’s digital-only Acid Rap even got a bootleg on cheesy ol’ compact disc — which, as the Chicago Reader fascinatingly explains, helped the mixtape crack Billboard‘s album charts.

Add Queen Bey’s million-selling self-titled album, which Hits Daily Double reports is set to retake the No. 1 spot next week, to that select group. The only vinyl you’ll find alongside the “Flawless” and “Surfboard” sweatshirts — did Yoncé forget how to spell “serfbort”? — on the pop queen’s official website is her well-worth-it 2006 album B’Day. But, as Modern Vinyl and The Vinyl Factory point out (via FACT), German retailer Vinyl Digital has listed a double-vinyl edition of Mrs. Carter-Knowle’s December surprise opus.

The listing shows Columbia as the label, that’s probably a misprint, making this Beyoncé another bootleg meeting the growing vinyl demand. After all, wouldn’t you think a “visual album” would seem to lend itself to a more lavish, officially promoted vinyl edition? Then again, nothing about this set’s release has been done by the books, so maybe there’s a tiny chance… We’ve reached out to a Columbia rep for comment.

Meanwhile, Beyoncé’s gallery-meets-club limo-sex stunner “Partition” has received a remix with verses from Busta Rhymes and Azealia Banks. Busta had promised the remix this week, but Banks’ involvement — she even shared it on her Soundcloud page — is a surprise. While Mr. “Woo Hah!” swaps out Bey’s perspective for a more conventionally porny, male’s-view verse, the “212” rapper stays out of the way of the icy production, delivering the ratatat wordplay that brought her to acclaim while wisely avoiding trying to beat either of the track’s other artists for sheer bawdiness. The original song might not need improving, but it’s also not one two adept MCs can really weaken much — flawless is flawless.