Beyonce Celebrates Her 35th Birthday by Releasing ‘Hold Up’ on YouTube

Beyonce’s s video for “Hold Up” has arrived on Youtube.

Previously available only on iTunes and Tidal, and originally premiering in April as part of a one-hour magnum opus for the album Lemonade, it has been made available on YouTube to coincide with her 35th birthday celebrations.

The video opens to an image of Beyonce sinking underwater, until she’s totally submerged in her palatial bedroom. A minimalist but menacing soundscape provides the backdrop to her spoken-word rendering of visceral lines from British-Somali poet Warsan Shire. She leads us towards the music like a cat stalking its prey, pouncing on the whispered words: “Are you cheating on me?”

The music takes over with a plucky instrumental sample from Andy Williams’ 1963 hit “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” and our Queen turns her swag on, throwing open the doors of her watery prison, and emerging triumphant and barefoot in a rush of water and Cavalli couture.

Beyonce cut an equally striking figure at Philadelphia’s Made in America festival, where she celebrated her birthday alongside a crew of family and friends that included Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and a very tactile Jay Z.