‘Renaissance’: Meet Nova Wav, the Songwriting and Producing Duo Behind Half of Beyoncé’s New Album
variety.comEllise Shafer Two years ago, songwriting and producing duo Nova Wav first chatted with Beyoncé over pizza about what would become her seventh full-length album: “Renaissance.”Released on Friday, the 16-track record is filled to the brim with infectious, danceable tracks, and Nova Wav — made up of Brittany “Chi” Coney and Denisia “Blu June” Andrews — are honored to have a hand in eight of the songs.
The duo, who has produced and written for Jay-Z, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Kehlani, DJ Khaled, H.E.R., Jazmine Sullivan and more, first met Beyoncé in 2014.
In 2020, they struck gold as writers on Beyoncé’s single “Black Parade,” which went on to win a Grammy for best R&B performance.
So when they got the call to work on “Renaissance” in the midst of the pandemic, the duo was more than ready to dive in. “She wanted people to feel like they were escaping,” June tells Variety of Beyoncé’s vision for the album. “We’re outside again, and even if things are still iffy right now in the climate of the world, she gave us something to dance to and something to feel good about.”Below, Nova Wav breaks down a few of the songs on “Renaissance” — including writing “Cuff It” and “Summer Renaissance” after a trip to the strip club — gush over Beyoncé and share what the album means to them as women in a male-dominated field.Before we dive into the songs, tell me about how Nova Wav came to be.Chi: In 2009, I had someone hit me up on Facebook, a rapper, and he was like, “Yo, I heard your beats on MySpace, could you send me some?” … I was like, “OK, cool.
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