Mortal goddess/alien superhuman Beyoncé has been performing a powerful medley of some of her older hits while on her global Formation Tour these past few months. Last night, she blessed her Barcelona fans with the Spanish-language version of “Irreplaceable,” a cut from the deluxe edition of B’Day. Watch the crowd go off below:
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Queen B has performed “Irreemplazable” numerous times over the years, most recently on her last tour stop in Barcelona and during the Mrs. Carter World Tour in Monterrey and San Juan. “Irreemplazable” is one of several Spanish-language cuts from the deluxe edition of B’Day; the record also includes en español renditions of “Listen” and “Beautiful Liar.”
Back in 2007, when Bey still graced the press with her goddess presence, she spoke to People en Español about what motivated her interest in recording in a different language. The superstar cited her longtime love of Selena as a major influence. Growing up in Texas in the 80s, she “listened to Selena all the time,” thanks to her best friend Barbara, a Chicana girl who put her on to the Tejano superstar (shout out to Barbara though).
Though plenty of mainstream artists have recorded Spanish-language versions of their songs, for many Latino fans, it often feels like an empty marketing ploy that reeks of hispandering. But when she released the song back in 2006, Beyoncé seemed to express a genuine interest in studying the language and recognizing her Latino fans – a commitment that paid off, given her impeccable accent. “I want to give something back to all my Latin fans but I want to do it right,” she told People. “I don’t want to just pass through it. So I did these songs phonetically, sentence by sentence. And I spent a LOT of time on it making sure it was perfect because I didn’t want to disrespect the language because it’s so beautiful.” Bey even brought her Cuban friend into the studio to make sure her accent was on point. Ten years later, it’s still making waves; even synth pop producer Empress Of has given Yoncé props for her accent.