All My Thoughts on the New Beyoncé Single

Dear Fan,

Thank you for being here.

There I was, about to skip out on writing today’s newsletter, when Beyoncé dropped a surprise single. Since I can only assume this is a direct result of me complaining about the lack of new Beyoncé music, I feel it’s my duty to tell you my initial thoughts on the single and what it may mean for the upcoming album.

The single, titled “Morning Dew (Donk),” is apparently not actually part of act iii (which makes sense since it is not at all rock, the purported genre of the elusive third act). According to an official press release, this new song is going to be included on the 20th anniversary reissue of B’day, but I still think we’re getting a little hint at what’s to come in act iii. At least, I really hope so.

“Morning Dew (Donk)” is a pretty straightforward R&B track celebrating, in traditional R&B fashion, sex – specifically morning sex. It’s catchy, with its “donk-ay donkay donk” refrain and it has some excellent vocalizing à la “Virgo’s Groove.” It’s also about water, like so many Bey songs are. She has a real tendency to use water as a symbol of femme power and sexuality, and “Morning Dew” plays into that theme, even bringing in some fire imagery to represent the complementary masculine sensuality in the form of the sun rising (and, dear reader, it’s not really the sun that’s rising, if you know what I mean). And, importantly for those of us obsessed with both artists, it begins with a Prince reference. The lyrics start off “as we sip champagne watching Purple Rain” and then I just start yelling excitedly.

Those of you who know me well know that I’ve been screaming about how much I want act iii to be Prince themed for years now. This started out as just a pipe dream because Renaissance’s “Cuff it” featured Sheila E., longtime Prince collaborator, on percussion, but there have been some clues since that may point to a lot more Prince-fluence on the upcoming album. It’s no secret that Beyoncé has always been a big Prince fan, and their iconic performance together at the 2004 Grammys was, in my extremely biased opinion, the first time we saw Bey exhibiting true rock star energy. The inclusion of Sheila E. on Renaissance isn’t the only nod to Prince we’ve seen to far. On “I’m That Girl,” the lyrics “it’s not the diamonds / it’s not the pearls” are a clear reference to Prince’s album Diamonds and Pearls, the visuals for the same song feature a microphone shaped like a gun, a signature of Prince’s, and “Summer Renaissance” references “Sexy MF” explicitly (in every sense of the word).

Since Renaissance, the Prince references had kind of cooled (although I do think American Requiem has a distinct early Prince sound to it), and then Halloween 2024 rolled around and Beyoncé posted a photo of herself dressed as the purple one himself, artfully sprawled upon the hood of a little red corvette. She also dressed up as Apollonia, one of Prince’s muses, lead singer of Apollonia 6, and co-star of the Purple Rain film.

More recently, in April 2026, Beyoncé posted a series of photos of herself wearing a decadent purple dress that features huge puffed shoulders and ruffles as far as the eye can see. It looks so much like something Prince would wear that it feels unrealistic to say the dress isn’t an homage to him.

And now, here we are. We have a single that straight up mentions Purple Rain! And this may be reaching a little, but “Morning Dew (Donk)” feels related to Prince’s own ode to morning sex, “Breakfast Can Wait.” Maybe these are all just fun little nods to an important artist, but I’m really hoping they’re part of a bigger story that will peak with an act iii that is an in-depth love letter to Prince from Beyoncé, which would feel like a very specific gift just for me. And don’t I deserve it?

[love symbol],

Rose

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