At the time of writing this, ‘Break My Soul’ was the eighth most popular song on Spotify in the US, behind Harry Styles and Bad Bunny. ‘Break My Soul’, the lead single from Renaissance, peaked at number seven on the Billboard chart, trailing acts like rapper Jack Harlow and singer Lizzo. Her other number one hits as a solo artist all occurred between 20. The last time one of her songs topped the Billboard chart - the traditional benchmark for success - was 2008 with ‘Single Ladies’. This is probably why people are sometimes surprised to hear that Beyoncé has not hit the top of the singles charts in nearly 15 years.

I would challenge you to find a music critic who doesn’t count her as one of the most influential American artists of the past few decades.

She is one of a handful of performers who can fill a stadium on tour. With her 28 Grammy awards, she has achieved the most accolades of any singer in history, and sold tens of millions of albums. The cultural power of Beyoncé is undeniable. I even witnessed one man playing Renaissance loudly through his phone while dining in a restaurant (no one complained). Is Beyoncé still a pop star? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself over the past week as I walked around Brooklyn, where her latest album has been blasting steadily from cars and portable speakers, providing a soundtrack to late summer barbecues and block parties.

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