Leading up to the tour announcement, Beyoncé was praised and criticized over her new song and Black Panther-influenced costume for the Super Bowl halftime performance. As a result of this, the hashtags "#BoycottBeyonce" and "#IStandWithBeyonce" begun trending on social media platforms such as Twitter. A group of protesters also planned to stage an "anti-Beyoncé" rally outside of the NFL's headquarters in New York City on the day general sale of tickets went for sale. However, the planned rally was met with zero protesters and instead dozens of Beyoncé supporters who held a counter-protest. The tour's associated album Lemonade was released four days prior to the start of the tour.
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The concept was described by streaming service Tidal as "every woman's journey of self-knowledge and healing."[4] Lemonade was widely co-produced with many well-known artists, and includes guest vocals from James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd and Jack White. Lemonade was made available for online streaming on April 23 through Tidal, which Beyoncé co-owns, and was released for paid purchase through the service the following day. It was later launched to the iTunes Store and physical retailers on April 25 and May 6, respectively. The record has since garnered widespread acclaim from many music critics and was considered by many to be a surprise release. The record was preceded by the release of the single "Formation" on February 6, 2016. In April 2016, Beyoncé embarked on the Formation World Tour to promote the album itself.