"Déjà Vu" is a song by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles featuring rapper Jay-Z. The 70s-inspired funk song was produced in 2005 for Beyoncé's second solo album, B'Day, and was the album's opening track. "Déjà Vu"'s live instrumentation is varied; including bass guitar, conga, hi-hat, horn and 808. It was part of Beyoncé's vision of making records out of live instruments, parallel to Rodney Jerkins, who co-produced the song, and John Webb's aspiration during the pre-production of "Déjà Vu". The song's title and lyrics refer to a woman constantly being reminded of a past lover.
The track was released as the album's lead single in July 2006 to mostly negative reviews from music critics. While it failed to match the success of Beyonce's 2003 single, "Crazy in Love", "Déjà Vu" entered the top ten on most charts, topping many of Billboard ' s component charts and also reaching number one in the United Kingdom. Although the single received several award nominations, the quality of its accompanying music video displeased fans, thousands of whom petitioned for it to be re-shot.
