Beyonce dropped her Lemonade last night on HBO. I was expecting something good, something with new music, but I was also expecting an exercise in Beyonce Being Beyonce, which is to say… Beyonce has a tendency to believe that every word that comes out of her mouth is profound, and I was expecting a lot of eye-rolly moments of “Water purifies us, YONCE!” But Beyonce actually delivered a stunning hour of television/art/entertainment/gossip/music.
The first few minutes were like an Ivy Park commercial, and I do think some people probably tuned out. But then it got GOOD. Like, for 30 minutes it was Beyonce calling out cheating husbands and side-chicks. People were losing their minds, like “Holy sh-t, Beyonce is going to file for divorce from Jay-Z!” Then came the reconciliation, the faith, the sisterhood, the peace. And people were like, “Oh, she’s forgiven him but his ass is still ON NOTICE.” The new music featured people like The Weeknd (!!) and Kendrick Lamar (!!!). The Lemonade visual special featured cameos by Serena Williams, Zendaya, Blue Ivy, Jay-Z (who looked shaken!), and the mothers of slain black men/boys, like the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown. Basically, Lemonade had everything: politics, race, feminism, gossip, great music, shade and stunning visuals.
There were so many extraordinary quotes from the spoken-word sections and the lyrics. Some of my favorites:
Ashes to ashes, dust to side chicks
He better call Becky with the good hair
If we’re going to heal, let it be glorious
Mother dearest, let me inherit the Earth. Teach me how to make him beg.
She murdered everybody and I was her witness
If you try this sh-t again you’re going to lose your wife
Unfortunately, Beyonce has not released the album on iTunes, nor has she put any of the videos or songs on YouTube. Everything Lemonade-related is on Tidal, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to sign up for Tidal. But Beyonce putting Lemonade on Tidal just shows you that she is still with Jay-Z – that’s his company, that’s money in his pockets.
Get in formation. Watch @Beyonce’s visual album #LEMONADE on TIDAL now: https://t.co/4DA3phYHkQ pic.twitter.com/gEw3sSG5fs
— TIDAL (@TIDALHiFi) April 24, 2016
#LEMONADE Beyonce tryna tell us Jay z cheating … ? Watch the Song here … https://t.co/XhU7jm8h75
— Tek' Noris (@iam_NORIS) April 24, 2016
Photos courtesy of Beyonce’s Instagram, HBO/Lemonade.
It was intriguing, perplexing, powerful and I absolutely loved it.
I loved seeing her get revenge on Jay and airing out all his dirt (Although I kinda wish she’d leave him.) It was interesting to see how her father and Jay have similarities and the strong love she has for both.
I loved seeing Serena, Zendaya, Quevenzhane, Amandla, Chloe and Halle, Blue Ivy… Young black women who have been targeted by racism and nasty comments online or in person for simply daring to be black and excellent. That song was somewhat of an ode to black women.
Loved the songs featuring Jack White and Kendrick.
It was heartbreaking to see the mothers of the slain young black men.
Needless to say, I finally gave in and downloaded Tidal 😩 I’ll probably cancel after the free month trial is over lol… But many of those songs were very touching and I wanted to hear them again.
It sounds wonderful. I’m so glad she met your expectations and thrilled you. I’m old, so bear with me – the only way I can see this is to download Tidal? Forever, or just for a while?
Hulu has it, as well as other websites. If you want to buy it, yes, Tidal has the exclusive for a while.
It really did. Was much deeper/darker than I thought it would be.
You can also see it on HBO if you have that channel. It’ll keep coming on and I believe it’s on On Demand already for Comcast and Verizon users.
@GNAT- the first month of Tidal is free and you can stop your subscription anytime before the month is over. I didn’t get the hype over it at first but I actually really like mine now.
GNAT, I saw it on Vimeo around 1 AM this morning but I just checked and it’s been taken down. I’m not a fan of Beyoncé – as a singer and dancer – and I’m indifferent to her in general BUT this Formation/Lemonade-era Beyoncé is incredible. The visual album is stunning in so many ways and deeply affecting. I only saw my two Black colleagues talking about it on Facebook and some magazines’ reviews but they were enough for me to hunt it down (I didn’t want to go Tidal). I’m so glad that I did and it makes me wonder about my FB friends, who are music industry (musicians, journalists, managers, agents, publicists, etc. )
GOORRRLL this is gonna be worth ALLLLL the Angry Black Woman,/why Beyonce isn’t feminist/why are we not included hurt feefees Bullsh!t Think pieces for this BE QUIET, BLACK GIRLS TALKING ASS YEAR that Beysus is unleashing up on social media
On the one hand I Usually hate her music, or find it super corny even last cd i could rock 4-5 songs this One Im skipping just the Daddy Joint but Im SO IN HERE FOR THIS SONICALLY! last year after the frank ocean and Angel song i said: Watch she is going camp Dark r&b a La Weeknd/frank Ocean and Lord Here we are!
ALSO THE GIRLS OMG She had Amandla, Quevenzhane ( take a frigging second, They called that child a C*NT in public and she gets a camera linger looking like an actual Angel!!) SERENA JUST .. Lesley McFadden, and Sybrina Fulton just… make me burst like I had to stop for a second to have that cry
Also The fact she read that man for FILTH AND THEN HE HAD TO SHOW UP HUGGING HER FEET
the Fact Rachel Roy IG is In SHAMBLES now
The Fact that she talked shit on her daddy
The fact she talked about her P*ssy not just in function of how good it is she talke about her gd Menses FFS this is levels on lecels The Fact That Warsan Shire is a BEAST for all those words and that ahe is getting her due on this album and her words are EARTHSHAKING
i could do this all day but I wont I gotta get this sh!t and Idk if i am gonna Do it Tidal-free just cause
QQ I had REAL TEARS while watching this. Yes people are gonna be upset and hurt and offended. They need to just give up and get in formation. This was unapologetic and I love it.
And the amount of 🍋🍋🍋 of Rachel Roy’s page right now 😩
Almondjoy what is the offensive part? (I haven’t seen it)
It was amazing! I felt like I was watching a Terrence Malick film starring Beyoncé.
The music was great.
The visuals were stunning.
Warsan Shire poetry.
The tea was served scalding.
Basically I feel blessed y’all.
We’re Wwwaaayyy We feel Blesst! Marty
Now I know why Bey was so calm in that elevator. She was like “I got this Solange. Watch me annihilate his ass in a couple of years.”
Fiorella: I believe all those who were offended by the amount of confidence and black pride in Formation will be even more offended by Lemonade.
Marty: yessssss blessed 🙌🏾
I’m not huge Beyonce fan, and so I didn’t watch this. But based on what you’ve just said I feel like I NEED to.
I don’t understand why Jay-Z would promote this if she calls him out? That makes me wonder if that part is based on real life?
I don’t have that channel, probably won’t get it, but I loved her Super Bowl performance. I also love that she is seeming to grow into her power and use it. Good for her. I wish more women would do this.
I don’t see it as revenge. He obviously is okay with her airing it all out. He sees this album and hype as a way to help bolster Tidal’s finances. He’s probably ecstatic about this album and all the press it’s getting and thinking of the traffic to Tidal and potential new subscribers. I don’t think he’s too ashamed of his cheating.
I think she agreed to forgive him provided she does it her way. This was her way and if he wanted to keep their family together, he had to sign off on this. Penance.
Ashes to side chicks is amazing. I wager it will become part of the vernacular in 3…2….1
@Jayna this is exactly what i was going to say.
Agreed Jayna
This was pure art. And hour of the range of emotions she seems to be going through personally. Lots of black girl magic, politics, police brutality & throwbacks to Malcolm X and Nina Simone. Just visually beautiful and deeply personal. It’s like they went through that rough patch and this was part of her way of working through it and a little vindication by dragging Jay-Z and her father.
Also Rachel Roy is an idiot and she was not ready for the Hive to come for her.
Guaranteed she ripped the whole concept off from some cutting edge starving artist like everything else she steals…
Who, Kanye? When he did the film for MBDTF or Prince for Purple Rain?
This isn’t brand new, appreciate the good work for what it is: good work.
Does she even write her own stuff? I thought she had an army of writers.
ha!
I did get at all . I have to watch again .. I was not impressed
I wasn’t impressed either, but I’ve had never liked her so I’m sure I’m biased. It’s just that to my eyes, even her “politics” and social issues seem like marketing tools with no depth. But at least she is very entretaining
Was once a huge fan, but with the yes I got older n her music didn’t catch up till now. Its her most mature album, I don’t think its amazing, its good but I’m sure her fans r super happy. My issue is if our airing cheating then u can’t ignore the questions when interviewed. Next is her stance for gun control which turns out to be worthless when her tour was all about it. But she has dozens of writers on the album, its no Adele though,only reason I say is I can’t buy it for my girls with lyrics f u c k bitch,riding dicks ,lol. To me, she’s so much more talented than that.
I am LOVING this stage of her music career, THIS is the stage that can finally make me get hyped about her.
Featuring so many talented black celebrity women! She’s been paying attention to who the young and informed are. This video put a group of black women into a project that in anything else they would have been relegated to a single minority post and instead made them the forefront and entirety.
Including the mothers of Trayvon and Tamir was breathtaking. Not relinquishing this discussion and refusing to bow down to those who think it’s simply about targeting the police.
Just unapologetically uncompromisingly black and I ADORE it. Folks are gonna be mad about her message this go around since it’s not a nice safe ‘Single Ladies’ tune that they can parody but she’s earned this.
@Eternal, me, too. She had a message (disappointment/anger, but love conquers all) and she delivered it, without the persistent nakedness to distract from her message. Loved it. And I loved the positive message at the end (I know people think she saying she’s leaving Jay Z, but it’s the opposite- that they went through dark times but made it to the other side).
Eternal rather than write another sacred scroll (upthread) im gonna invite you to my twitters so we can continue Gushing proper (quciferskittles) and als Say that THE WHOLE THING MUSICALLY SPEAKING is So NOT like whatever we’ve seen before this is devoid of the corniness i usually get from her this is so Gritty/modern/aggro/woke/trap in parts, and then the Visuals… Whoooooooooo
Girl I don’t even have a Twitter because I know myself too well and I’ll say something slick to the wrong person and end up on the shaderoom, but I’m about the hop on your page right now and watch you LIVE it cause I’m FEELING it today.
Sunday is the Lord’s day, yes.
Finding you on Twitter so I can join the fun RIGHT NOW.
I’m going to her concert on Wednesday, and I am reeeeaaallly looking forward to it now!
WAIT IZZY IM GOING TOO!!!!!!! We must Talk !!
QQ, I think I just Tweeted at you!
Also, this whole thread is about to get hilarious and ridiculous.
You know, I’ve never really cared for Beyonce. In fact, I’ve always felt that she’s massively overrated, but has a great marketing team.
That said, I caught some of this special by accident, and was mesmerized. I still don’t really like her music (sorry, guys), but it’s really cool that she’s being so ambitious about the creative direction of her career. I like that she’s exploring, artistically, and going beyond the “pretty, with generic pop songs” thing. It’s powerful and cool, and something that sets her apart from every other pop star out there. While I might never be a big fan of hers, I respect the hell out of her for being unapologetic, ambitious, creative and unafraid.
she’s breaking through. Maybe it’s marketing-driven, or maybe I’m being overly cynical, but I like this direction.
ESE, you know I love you, but I am disagreeing on this one. I don’t think there is anything empowering about saying that essentially your man is a cheating ass, but oh, you will take him back, and lay all the blame on the other woman. That is the opposite of empowering and if this were anyone else, you ladies would all be saying “dump him”. No comment on the music or artistry because I don’t like it, and that has nothing to with quality, it is a personal thing. But I don’t see how this jibes with all her feminist empowerment talk. At all.
Agreed
Didn’t have high expectations, but dayum, this was good. Gutteral. Powerful. Real. Big up to Beyoncé for this one.
P.S. It’s on demand (HBO).
I hear it’s going on iTunes at midnight tonight.
her Therapy
Havent listened to her in years, i’ll hear some one day, on THE radio…if my jazz station Will play her music..
I loved her song with Jack White.
OMG, Kaiser! Rachel Roy is BECKY. Check out her instagram. Who is stupid enough to out herself as a side-chick. OMG. You dumb dumb chick, Rachel. She didn’t even mention you
Beyoncé, if you can see this please leave that husband of yours and flourish. I don’t believe he helped your career if anything you helped his. Cristiano Ronaldo is single right now and he’s rich as fuck and he lives vacations too. Oh Rachel Roy, you idiot. The hive are gonna make sure she goes down like Keri Hilson.
And KimK weak attempt at stealing the spotlight was paid dust.
Uhh…I didn’t see it, but if she’s making a video (that I’m going to guess he was involved in at at least some point?) I highly doubt she’s going to leave him.
But it sure makes for good gossip, doesn’t it?
#masterofpr
I saw that on ig too! I also remember when people said the whole elevator incident with Solange and Jay had something to do with her catching him with Rachel or finding out about him and Rachel. Crazy.
what I read (who knows if it’s true) is that she already knew about them (cuz she was involved w/ his clothing line) but didn’t know she’d be at the Met Gala AND that she was flirting w/ him there (!!!).
@Trillion,
Per her “Ring the Alarm” lyrics of 2006, he’s been a sh1thead for a loooong time.
I feel stupid as hell, I kept reading your comment as ‘Rachel Ray’ and was confused as f like “The cooking lady?!?!?!”
Smh.
Lol. Not Rachel ray. Rachel Roy, the budget designer and Kim Kardashian BFF. She was at kimye’s wedding. Kaiser, please do this story justice. Kim also hopped on Instagram posting some trash pictures and was rightfully dragged for trying to steal attention even Elle Magazine called her out. I just hope The hive doesn’t go too crazy on Roy. Let her be irrelevant in peace please. Beyoncé had every right to write and sing about her pain without Roy making it about her. She could have ignored it peacefully seeing as She wasn’t even mentioned but the Coachella attention wasn’t enough and now there are bee emojis all over her instagram and she’s deleting comments left, right and center
Don’t feel bad. I thought the same. I was like Omg JZ and the celebrity chef. What?!
But then she doesnt strike me as the type of person to out her cheating husband especially when rumours of said cheating died down since last year. That’s unnecessary like that Streisand effect thing. So maybe it’s really about her parents but she also embellished it because some women like that kind of thing. (ride or die)
But then that doesn’t make sense again cos Rachel Roy basically (stupidly) outed herself as “Becky with the good hair”. They used to be friends and if there’s anything black women hate, it’s friends that creep on your husband ( she also made it out like she’s unapologetic about what happened if it happened)
All in all, Jigga now has 100 problems and a bitch is all of them. I’m giving you the benefit of doubt, Jay. Come out and tell us your own side of the story.
MME: Pretty sure husband jacking is frowned upon amongst all women, not just WOC.
MME, maybe she’s deep in thought about how her father’s a cheater and so is her husband. There’s a lot to mull over in that.
I have absolutely no idea who Rachel Roy is (I’m not from the US), but damnnnnn her Instagram is FLOODED, and I mean FLOODED with hateful comments calling her a slut and a hoe every 5 seconds. I’d call this extreme but knowing how crazy the Beyhives can be…..ugh. For someone who had no idea who she is and her relationship with Beyonce n Jay-Z, I thought her caption was an innocent one, I really don’t see anything wrong with it. But maybe that’s just me
Yeah I think the Hive are pathetic and super immature with too much time on their hands. They are a bunch of internet bullies. I swear some had the audacity to a t like Kim K had no right to post pictures while Bey’s show was airing. Good Lord those peoplle are sick.
Um, she inserted herself into the story for attention and boy, did she get it.
Well, I agree that cyber bullying is bad and dangerous.
But part of me feels like she deserves this (the tacky part of me). I am married. If my husband cheated on me and I used art to heal from that – talking about the woman, but hiding her identity – and she then essentially gave me a middle finger via her Instagram, I would probably lose my mind. B is famous, so her fans are defending her honor (albeit in a really aggressive and childish way). But as I have said, part of me is rather enjoying it. I feel so ashamed (hangs head).
FYI, her Instagram post was not innocent. She directly referred to the lyrics and showed a picture of herself and her friend laughing. Pretty mean girl stuff if you ask me. Passive aggressive too.
The Daily Beast posted an article about it.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/24/did-rachel-roy-just-out-herself-as-beyonce-s-becky-in-lemonade.html
Damnit! Her IG is private now!
She made her IG private
Isn’t Christian Ronaldo gay, or is that just rumors? I’d rather have her with some billionaire like Mariah Carey landed.
Rumors and pretty much Rihanna’s fault, she said that after he supposedly turned her down when he was dating Irina. Before her comments there weren’t gay rumors as he was considered a womanizer
Why does she need to be with anyone? She’s a talented woman she can make her own money. No need for a billionaire; no need for a man’s support. She’s good.
If she truly loves Jay-Z and they’ve worked it out, more power to them. If she decides she’s done with him, then I hope she stays single and enjoys playing the field, or finds a man she loves for his personality and loyalty and not his money and power.
Exactly. Well said.
Oh please Beyonce loves being part of THE black power couple, a white probably gay soccer player not likely.
Now if Jay Z loses to much money on Tidal who knows.
Beyonce and Jay Z are NOT a “black power couple”. They are a POWER COUPLE period. They are both superstars, mega earners and together have consistently been either top or second highest paid couple in all entertainment. Yes, beating every other white couple in contention. So step off with that “black” qualifier.
As for your theory about her wanting to be part of a couple, lol. Beyonce would have no trouble finding a powerful man of any race to complete this hypothetical power couple. She has been with this guy since she was 19, has a kid plus a miscarriage with him, and you can’t see why she may fight for this marriage besides this nonsense power couple theory? This probably says something about you and your life’s motivations
That will probably never happen, but if Beyonce and Ronaldo got together I would just die (in a good way)! Two of my faves!
Yeah, I mentioned “Becky” in my comments but did not want to mention who she was and how she outed herself, but since it is not officially confirmed, I did not want to add fuel to the already very hot fire. She had her wiki hacked already and she had to turn her IG private.
What did Kimbo do? I missed that part of the drama. So far I have caught up with the hive hacking her wiki, she has to make her Instagram private, and now the hive is going after her daughter (not cool). I can’t figure out why “Becky” outed herself. Is she that stupid? She just ended her career, made herself a social outcast and so much more. Not because she shaded the Queen B or whatever. But because she cheated with a married man and when his wife talked about it and did her a solid by hiding her identity, she mocked the wife. Classy and dust it is. LOL
I think they are all trashy for airing this out in public.
They will never divorce, they make too much $$ together. Business first I see and it will always be that way with them.
Cyber bullying is never justifiable. Jay Z is the asshole who cheated on Beyoncé and he is the one she should be calling out, not whoever Becky may be.
Nice feminism there by blaming the other women and not your unfaithful husband.
Ronaldo? What does he have to to do with this? He’s looking for a new beard while on vacation probably.
If this confirmation from her that Jay-Z cheated?
The rest of the world seems to know so it’s about time.
She confirmed it in the last tour in a performance and let the buzz run wild while on tour with it that they were divorcing and never denied it. And did other little things to play up that rumor. Then, of course, they were all lovey dovey after the tour was over, no divorce.
It, by the end, felt so contrived, nothing from the heart. Just a marketing ploy to hype their tour.
Most likely but it has been an open secret. I don’t think anyone ever thought he wasn’t. I just wonder what next then?
It would be awesome if she actually wrote her own lyrics…she doesn’t play an instrument, doesn’t write her music..it’s doubtful she put this “HBO special” together with her own ideas…I just don’t get her hype. I am a music lover, but..this..no…
Write me some music, teach me to dance and put millions of marketing behind me..this could be me or any one of you…
I think she has the best creative and PR team in the business. She’s at this stage of her career where almost anything she does will be worshipped and seen as greatness. I can’t blame her for it, she has worked hard and paid her dues. I wish she would leave JayZ though, but I highly doubt she will, it doesn’t fit the narrative she’s worked tirelessly to tell.
You need to see it to pass off that statement seeing as She co-WROTE EVERY SONG and produced every single one of them too and there’s not a single track with more than 3 producers. And she played the piano flawlessly on another track. Did you even see it? I doubt. You flew right to the comment section to say she doesn’t play an instrument or write her songs. oh and she’s also an executive producer on the whole body of work and directed some videos too. What were you saying again?
Beyonce is famous for demanding a co-writing credit but only changing a few words around.
But so what? Are we saying that a voice is not an instrument? Because Beyonce is very clearly not just a vehicle for someone else’s vision, but has put together something amazing here. We are clearly seeing her inner voice and vision at work here.
I’m sure she can say whatever she wants about being a writer or producer, whether she did any of that or not, and the real writers and producers will go along with it, so they can stay on the gravy train.
It is well known in the business she demands not only writing credit but producing credit as well. She just shows up in the room and approves of the mix. Boom producers credit. She adjusts a line or sits in the room with the writers. Boom writing credit. She is an executive producer because it’s her money that made the record. That is all that title means. This does not mean she isn’t a good singer and entertainer, it merely means, that she doesn’t write her own songs, nor does she play the instruments, engineer the sessions, mix and master the tracks.
Those writers on the record are happy because they are getting paid. PAID. The music game is hard these days so I fault no one for really talking about what goes on behind closed doors.
She isn’t alone, most popular acts don’t write their own material, in fact even indie acts bring in writers.
Music by nature is collaborative, however we the public tend to only see the face and voice without realizing how big of a production it is making music that succeeds these days. So yes with the right team of writers, producers, the right voice and the ability to entertain this could be anyone. Today it’s Beyonce, tomorrow it will be someone else. Either way the gossip this woman brings is fantastic…
She plays piano and has been for awhile now… I’m guessing you didn’t watch it, huh? 🤔
No, and I won’t either. I think she needs to take a break for a while so people can miss her.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Yes and I agree. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But if your opinion clearly disregards facts and is uninformed or comes from a place of simply disliking a person, people will more than likely call you on it.
And others are entitled to call out the bulls hit in your opinion. She’s been away for close to 3 years except for when she has to do her job. If that’s too much for you then don’t rush her posts to say she has to go away. Maybe you need to control the urge to open her posts and chat shit. Don’t go screaming about how it’s your opinion when you get owned. You should watched on just looked at the credits, girl.
I don’t call her BeYAWNce for nuthin, but the people behind this. I liked. I truly wish they got credit.
Rachel Roy did the most questionable thing by outing herself on her instagram. I remember there being some rumors about Rachel and Jay a few years back, but she sped up the “finding Becky” process by being shady on Instagram.. Now her comments are a mess and she’s trending on twitter.
Oop links people! Or say what she said in case she deletes it!
Here you go. She’s getting ripped a new one and then some.
https://instagram.com/p/BEkyToHr6ZV/
here’s the instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/p/BEkyToHr6ZV/?taken-by=rachel_roy&hl=en
caption for those who won’t bother: @rachel_roy: “Good hair don’t care, but we will take good lighting, for selfies, or self truths, always. ✨🙌🏽 live in the light #nodramaqueens 🙄🔱🚯”
It’s deleted now, but damage is done. Screen shots everywhere of it and her newest posts are being trashed. I don’t like people posting nasty things on her other stuff, but you can’t tell me she really didn’t know what would happen…really?
Why aren’t the beyhive attacking Jay Z for the cheating? Who cares about some no name on Instagram. He is the one who stepped out and more than once.
Off to go look for screenshots but my goodness, why do people act brand new on the Internet.
Smh, I sincerely hope she is Becky and wasn’t just trying to be casually shady cause life just gave her a buttload of lemons all up on her page.
@nin919 I was wondering the same thing
Nic919
I agree it’s so petty and disgusting. Here we are attaching the other woman, yet the ma. who made the commitment and said those vows somehow is exempt from the backlash.
Nic919, Tate and Jean Grey: Yes Jay is just a guilty as Rachel. I’m guessing the Hive isn’t attacking him because he didn’t post a flippant, no worries “I’m proud of myself for what I did” type post afterwards. And also they don’t have a way to personally attack him because he isn’t on Instagram. But I’ve def seen a lot of posts about what people think of Jay and what they’d like to do to him.
Pretty funny the way the fans are attacking the alleged “Becky”, while giving a pass to the real cheater in the relationship, who is laughing all the way to the bank at the way the fans are buying up this latest project confirming his cheating!
Giving major sad eye at Beyonce for airing her personal life so publicly. In the short term this may feel empowering and she’ll make book, but slamming her child’s father in public is gross and damaging. Guess she’s decided that slut shaming the other woman gets her more success than posing as a feminist.
“Guess she’s decided that slut shaming the other woman gets her more success than posing as a feminist. ”
Oh please. Singers sing about their relationships all the time. Saying that someone cheated isn’t slut-shaming and it doesn’t make someone a ‘fake feminist’ either. Most of her criticism is directed at the cheating husband anyway. But when people want a reason for someone they don’t approve of to not be included in their political group or religious group, they’ll always find it, even if the reason has nothing to do with what it means to be a part of that group- whether it’s feminists or Christians. The cyberbullying stans, on the other hand, are responsible for their own misogyny.
Aaaah the good hair, don’t care post? Eww it’s so tacky. I can’t believe she posted that.
I wish the phrase “good hair” would die (not directed at you – in general).
Yeah THAT is gross, if you’re gonna try to respond to something you think you’re being accused of (or in this case put your name out there when no one was thinking about you) don’t respond with racism.
Sorry but that post so cryptic I can’t believe people immediately linked it to Beyonce’s verse
Melior
It’s because in one of the songs Beyonce sang she mentioned her man going off to ms. good hair and not too long after Rachel posts a pic about good hair don’t care and being unbothered?
Without the original context of the song it seems dubious but with it it seems too coincidental.
Can someone explain WHY RR did this is? Is her business tanking so the attention was worth getting annihilated by the Beyhive? #trashy
EDIT; Funfact, Rachel Roy is friends with Kim Kardashian, the latter whom Beyoncé is obviously not a fan of.. but let me not reach lol.
Hmmm and Kim Kardashian DID post pics of her and Kanye in intimate poses all through the Beyonce special…but let me stop, lol
Not sure why all the hate for Tidal. I use it and love it. Prince also gave Tidal the exclusive rights to his music, so there’s that, too.
So Prince’s music is not on iTunes? Just Tidal?
No he’s on iTunes too.
As well as Amazon
I see people are already being negative about what she does and doesn’t do and what she should do. Beyonce isn’t my favourite, but give credit where it’s due. Geez.
I just never know what to think of her…through performance and music, she puts off that she’s a strong badass woman, but off the stage, she looks so submissive to Jay, desperate even, and in interviews she sounds pretty dumb. This visual album makes me sad for her…that she’s repeating a cycle (mom/dad) and staying with a serial cheater.
I don’t think she is strong, just sad. Any women who keeps on announcing to the world her husband is a serial cheater and then stays with him is not a role model.
Agreed. The whole thing feels disingenuous given the facts. And the cynical side of me just sees it all as yet another calculated money grab. The one redeeming thing is the sense of empowerment some women in her audience are feeling on a personal level through the songs and visuals. Hopefully, they will take that sense of empowerment and actually transcend Beyoncé’s apparent choices.
I think she, or her team, is smart. This feels like a grab and I’m not watching an hour video where I need to dissect it all. I don’t have time for this. I went to school, grew up in Houston and and I’m her age. I’m done. It’s a piece done so there are classes on Beyonce coming soon.
This is what I don’t understand either. He cheated and she chose to stay with him, fine. That’s absolutely her choice. But by making an entire album about it and dragging it all out into the open when she stayed with him makes it seem like she hasn’t really forgiven him at all. She may as well have paraded him through King’s Landing with a bell shouting “SHAME”
And for those of you saying that other artists do this, it’s true, but the difference is that most songs are cryptic and about former relationships, not current ones. But I guess Jay’s happy enough as long as it’s only on Tidal.
lordy, not the DUMB brigade again. Mention one person who still pushes the envelope when it comes to (releasing) music? just one. one person who makes releases an event and actually stops the world? just one (and no changing hair colour and image is not the same as being innovative and creative. She’s not dumb. If you look past everything she’s achieved just to call her dumb then you’re the problem not her.
Beyoncé is a big girl and she can take care of herself. Show me a clip of Bey being desperate for Jay and I will show you 10 of him being desperate too. We don’t know their dynamics and if staying with her husband makes her happy, then let her. You don’t make the rules on what marriages should be like
Lordy, not the beehive brigade again! Wow, calm down. I actually am a fan of Beyonce’s work. I think she’s an incredible dancer, a good singer and a well rounded entertainer. I am just perplexed by her on stage vs. off stage persona.
You can be open and strong at the same time.
All that cheating and resentment but she won’t leave him? I mean it’s not like she’ll be destitute if she does? It’s always disappointing to me when I see a supposedly strong woman stay and endure that kind of behavior. It’s like when she sang Ring the Alarm and made it seem like she wouldn’t leave because she’d be damned to see another woman on his arm, getting the attention and rocking all of the material gifts and possessions that would be lavished upon her.. (This was around the time the Rihanna rumors were running rampart)
Agreed, but I appreciate her being open and raw about it to share with the world. She’s opened so many can of worms (see side bitch Rachel Roy) and it was for her art. She was singing her pain and it feels real and honest. This is the ugly side of marriage.
I love Beyonce, but she’s just trying to sell records. She’s knows women love songs about cheating boyfriends/spouses and her fans and causal fans will flock to her latest album. She may be hurt by Jay-Z’s cheating. No one deserves to be cheated on. She may be honest, but this is also a way to sell albums.
But that’s life.
There is no perfect answer for every single person. I’ve seen marriages come back from cheating and be stronger than many others. I’ve seen couples that never cheated but just resent each other and are stuck. I think it’s more so about being honest and trying to figure out what option is the best than the seemingly easier answer of ‘just divorce him’. I used to feel that way when I was younger and now I feel like every individual knows what their relationship is like better than me and they know what they have to be worried about that I don’t even know about.
Rachel Roy doesn’t strike me as a woman who would be content to just be a hookup, and I think that’s the big difference. Just me?
No, not just you. She may be a true threat and thus Beyonce unleashed her most powerful weapon, her fans.
Yes it makes one think that Beyonce married Jay Z knowing precisely what the deal was going to be from the start, this is not new, people have married for reasons other than love from the beginning of time and now she is acting like the poor hurt wife when for all we know she has her own lovers stashed away somewhere. Maybe Jay Z will explore that material his next album.
If nothing else who would argue these two don’t carefully calculate every single move they make and people lap it up every time.
She plays victim well. Does anyone think this isn’t a marriage of power? She is talented but why do people get all up in arms over her? Like Jack White said, she’s not God. I do hope people find a good message, though.
I am not a B fan. I don’t particularly like her public persona or her music. But I have hardly seen her play the victim in this saga. She has been dignified given her status. She could have named the side chick publicly and have her fans handle the mess. She has never done that.
Also, for those asking why no one is going after Jay. From my perspective, both B and J appear to be handling this together. Neither of them is discussing the other woman. He is obviously a dog, but his wife seems to want to give it a try. The other woman, on the other hand, was mocking B, even though B did not name her. Shameless. So yeah, she needs to take a seat, even if helped to the chair by the Internet.
I have mix feelings about her outing her cheating husband. On one hand, if Jay is a cheating as**** I’m glad she is getting him roasted in public. On the other, as we say in Mexico “la ropa sucia se lava en casa” (“dirty clothes must be washed at home”) which pretty much means not to ventilate your intimate problems in public because it usually does nothing good for that situation, and also as someone stated in a previous post, Jay Z should be also getting all the backlash for being disloyal and not just that other Rachel woman (whoever she is).
Lemonade was everything. So beautiful. A real journey.
Rachel Roy’s IG is imploding.
Rachel Roy just took down the “good hair” pic 👀
And made her account private!!!
Smh, must have been born with the new day cause that was dumb as hell. Who wakes up and outs themselves as something AND then tops it off with a little casual racism??
Now she made a comment saying she respects love and marriage. B.S. Notice that she didn’t deny a thing though!
Can we just take a quick second to discuss how “Don’t Hurt Yourself” is all I will ever need for the rest of my life!!!!!
It’s going to take ALL the Jamaican Black Castor Oil and probably a legit bucket of Sweet Almond Oil to help my edges recover.
I’m literally screaming laughing right now. Yes we need all the JBCO, evoo, coconut and jojoba oil we can get at the moment 😩 Massage gently and add satin bonnet. This is the ONLY way we can recover.
TIFFANY!! let us pray our edges together In Beysus name The waters of lake Minnetonka itself and all the hot argan oil wont ever be enough to restore our scalps to Justice after this
LMAO!! Haha preach Tiffany!
Shoot ya’ll keep praying I know when I’m whooped.
Eternal starts browsing for wigs and patting the sides to see which ones will cover the snatchtitude.
Like when they tap out in the ring I’m gonna just get this wig game on point and be humming songs from this album all day!
Y’all are cracking me up laughing! I’m wearing a scarf on my head right now. Just put some argon oil in my hair. 😊
I love Beyonce. She’s talented and incredible and Formation moved me. The part of Lemonade where we saw Trayvon’s mom made me cry like a baby….and I loved seeing so many powerful black women included in her piece. I wish this had been around when I was younger, this more prominent blackgirlmagic, when I used to spend hours, sweat, blood and tears to straighten my natural hair and would listen to my grand-mère to not stay outside very long least I get darker (ironically my mixed self is already fairly light, but her self-hatred spread to all of us).
But….I was not feeling the Jay and Bey message. The wedding clips, etc. clearly pointed towards much of it being about her own marriage (she’s a media genius) and inviting the public to see and judge. I felt like it romanticized trouble, like when she sang something like “show me your scars and I’ll heal you.” Like what is the message here…I get that love is complicated and people can work through affairs…There’s a certain grace in forgiveness, but this is beyond that….People normally don’t cheat because they are “scarred,” they cheat because they lack impulse control or they are unhappy with their relationship but don’t have the guts to confront the problems and/or leave. It’s not the beckys and the side-chicks or the scars, it’s him needing to learn to be honest (which she did say at one point) and learn how to keep his pants zipped.
Anyway, to sum it up preferred Formation and Freedom to the cheating I’ll forgive him type of stuff.
+1000
“People normally don’t cheat because they are “scarred,” they cheat because they lack impulse control or they are unhappy with their relationship but don’t have the guts to confront the problems and/or leave.”
I think it’s all of the above tbh. People cheat for SO many reasons and it can simply be impulse control or wanting to leave the relationship but it’s also people not knowing how to properly function in a relationship (did you grow up in a happy household, do you understand committment even when things aren’t sunny) and sometimes people trying to express their own self-loathing through actions that end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don’t deserve this happy relationship, she’s too good for me, I don’t know how to function in this happy marriage. So they do little things to sabotage the relationship even if they do love the person.
It’s not just cheating. I’ve seen my fellow girlfriends do this to their SO’s with suspicion, jealousy, insecurity. If we all operated like normal functioning machines the world would be a better place but sadly we take the flaws from our last and untreated problems and use them to hurt ourselves and people we really care about.
@The Eternal Side-Eye
Valid and well said, I just thought parts of Lemonade tended to lay blame more at the scars and the side chicks and the “can’t believe he’d do that when I love him” and not give enough weight to the rest of the factors like inability to face the music in his marriage, control, etc….especially because a man in his late 40s who has done this repeatedly is probably doing it for more reasons than just to self-sabotage.
Regarding Jay’s cheating, it’s just not that deep. He cheats because he can. The man told you so himself on Big Pimpin “Me give my heart to a woman? Not for nothin, never happen. I’ll be forever mackin”. Unfortunately a lot of us women see that as a challenge and think our love is strong enough to change him. Or think that at least with time and maturity he will change. I’m afraid sometimes it just is what it is.
@jean grey
Beyoncé broke up with him and he rapped that he understood and that he hoped that in time, when she is older, they would get back together. There are so many women he could form a relationship with or he could have done a Leo and just date young girls in rotation. Unlike most of his peers who not only cheat but cannot keep a relationship for long he chose to be in a longterm relationship with a workaholic that did not want to have his children until she was good and ready. That was never a secret. He’s been with Beyoncé for so long, he must see something more in her than just a ‘chick’ he doesn’t care for.
From his later work, it’s clear that he loves her for her work ethic, her beauty and the fact that she is an icon. There are many facets to their relationship just like with any longterm relationship, there must be after 15+ years.
In his own words, the difference between Big Pimpin and a real relationship (in relation to his song ‘Lost One’ about their brief break-up):
These lines are about trying to have a real, serious relationship with another ambitious professional. In a lot of ways, this is the flip side of the songs in my catalog like “Big Pimpin’,” where women exist almost completely as predators or objects. This is about how difficult it is to respect a lover as an autonomous human being, with separate needs and goals and timelines than yours. It’s one of the hardest things about a real relationship of equals. But it’s worth it.
He saw Beyoncé as his equal, not just another chick that meets his basic primal needs.
I don’t care what his rap lyrics say, if he is cheating on her then he does not see her as an equal or enough to meet his needs. If they do have an open marriage where they agreed from the outset that he can step out, then it is totally bs for her to call out side pieces in her work. I seriously doubt she agreed to an open marriage so he basically just disrespects her continually and she puts up with it. That is not love.
But if it sells records then I guess it is okay? Please.
@Nic:
That’s such black and white thinking. I’m not going to defend Jay or anything, he’s said things about women that are despicable. But one thing that’s real in his life, seems to be his family. Men don’t always cheat because they don’t love or respect their wives. That’s a myth to make it more easy to understand/explain cheating.
The nicest, most loyal men who would never leave their wife or carry on a full-blown affair visit prostitutes (seriously, there are blogs from prostitutes out there and just read some books about it). They are not dirty scumbags, they are real people with both complex and simple reasons for their reasons. This is one of the reasons why it’s so hard for sex workers to believe in ‘true love’, you see a range of different men cheat for sometimes no real reason so what’s the point of monogamy or being in a relationship at all?
Love is complex, if it was that easy, we would not bother with it. I think Lemonade is a great work of art that explores the different emotions of what it means to be cheated on and what choices we make and why we make them. It would be too easy to see Jay as some one-dimensional cheating d-bag without taking into account they have broken up before but decided to get married and have a child after more than a decade of being together.
.”People normally don’t cheat because they are “scarred,” they cheat because they lack impulse control or they are unhappy with their relationship but don’t have the guts to confront the problems and/or leave. It’s not the beckys and the side-chicks or the scars, it’s him needing to learn to be honest (which she did say at one point) and learn how to keep his pants zipped”.
+1
Yes he cheated and yes she forgave him and is still with him. She standing in her truth, her marriage isn’t perfect, she’s not perfect. She’s basically admitting via song that she struggles with staying too. I loved it. We put her up on that perfect woman pedestal and she’s telling us, she’s not perfect. It was so real and painful. Ugh and then she made those mothers look like queens, so amazingly dressed and loved. I cried. This was amazing.
I did like the whole overall thing about how life and love can be messy and painful AF but it can still be beautiful and good and that none of us are perfect. The lines about Jay’s scars though…didn’t dig it and kind of threw off the message about them. Gotta give it a third listen lol
She was also putting the cheating in context. Yes, this nearly destroyed her, but look at these mothers whose children were murdered. It is very powerful
I haven’t been much of a fan as of the past few years, but I LOVED this! So touching/powerful/beautiful/edgy/meaningful/stylistic. No doubt she’s elevated herself as an artist, into the stratosphere.
I don’t really get the big deal re: calling out Jay Z. She’s been doing it very publicly since Ring The Alarm. It’s all talk, he never actually stops cheating. Honestly I find it all pretty pathetic at this point. One time, moving on is strength and grace. A couple of dozen times and ‘you’re going to lose your wife’ is laughable. There’s little that’s more annoying than a woman who continually lets herself be completely disrespected, yet who sees herself as a strong woman calling the shots because she occasionally yells some empty threats about it.
I just don’t see how beyonce benefitting by showing her her relationship problems is any better than the rest of celebrities milking their problems for publicity.
I don’t like her but she is a great performer and entertainer, she doesn’t need this and in my opinion she’s been looking really desperate for attention in recent years.
I don’t know. The message I got out of it is that there can also be strength in forgiveness and choice, but, bottom line, it shouldn’t be a position a woman should be put in in the first place. The men shouldn’t be treating women this way over and over and the side chicks shouldn’t be helping ’em. To have respect for yourself.
I have a problem with the gender dynamics of this whole thing. I grew up with these attitudes, where you read your man, you call out him and his side-piece but ultimately put up with it for years and years if not the rest of your life. I grew up watching my mother and sister go out at night and drive around looking for my father and whatever woman he was spending time with, and then all the screaming fights that followed. But ultimately my mother stayed with him because she was expected to and because she couldn’t see a life for herself beyond staying married to him. And I hated that. I hated the idea that I was supposed to keep an eye on my man and put him on notice and warn off other women if I wanted to hold onto him. Why would I want to hold onto someone under those circumstances? I’m not on board with anything that validates that mindset.
Yes!!! Enough on the cheating scandal and let’s talk about all the black women who got their chance at being beautiful and being told they’re beautiful. I won’t even go down the list, but it looks like it was all shot in the south. Very southern Gothic vibes, all the clothes and hair and symbolism!!! She’s been working for this her whole life. Forget remaining a basic pop star, she’s using her 30’s for dramatic and racy (no pun intended) music. She’s evolving all the time and being original and coming out with new music is hard period.
The.
Southern.
Gothic.
Is.
Everything.
I love how she’s really making her songs into a cultural experience. It’s not about a moment or a trend. It’s about a progression of history, of taking the biggest names in our culture and giving them spotlight not as a token in a crowd but as a United force of blackness and power. Young or old all those women have been told in some way to be ashamed of their blackness and Beyonce got them all together to just be in formation.
I applaud her for doing this and showing the transformation regarding betrayal and the aftermath and forgiveness
BUT her last tour with Jay Z they did the whole song, duet, where he’s a cheater, and the world was buzzing they are divorcing after the tour. And she played it up over and over, until I realized I was being played. It wasn’t that she just told Jay Z, look, I’m doing this, and too bad if you don’t like it. It was the whole calculated PR shtick to it that was such a turn off and the world kept buzzing, he cheated, she’s letting him know she’s calling him out on stage in performance. She was quiet as a mouse with all that buzz swirling while on tour, and I thought, wow, they probably are getting divorced.
. Then the tour is over and they are photographed off on vacation together, laughing at the gullible public, I guess. The way she used his infidelity in such a calculating manner for hype turned me off last tour, and I lost any sympathy for her..
You are not alone in that assessment. In fact, it’s a recurring theme she’s had going on since her Ring the Alarm days.
Thank you, Jayna! This is what I was trying to say upthread. It feels disingenuous — as powerful as it is — because I feel we all got played during the last tour. The fact that this is all available on Tidal reveals the truth. But if even a handful of women feel empowered to make a different choice, then so be it.
I agree with you. I like parts of it but it comes down to what my problem has always been with her. She’s speaking her truth but with his approval. It takes the strength out of the message.
Fyi- a lot of the spoken word in Lemonade comes from an AMAZING writer named Warsan Shire, she has a book out and I highly recommend her work because it is fantastic!
Thanks for info.I will Google her.
I loved It.Now I have to learn the lyrics before I see the Formation Tour here in Houston,May 7.As for the infidelity theme I believe she was talking about the experiences of many women in her life,mother,sister and of course herself.
I am happy she showed her pregnant stomach to shut up the idiots who claimed she faked her pregnancy with Blue Ivy.
I just said in my post that I know people will take the simplistic view that it’s all her and Jay but I really think she channelled a lot of her mother’s pain into this. She and her sister seem fiercely loyal to their mother (I love Ring Off). But I’m so glad that so many people are seeing the bigger picture here. This is the story of black women and their happiness and pain in all its different forms. From the mothers who have lost children in painful ways that speak to the ugliness of society that kills based on colour to the woman who has been cheated on. And through it all she shows us in glaring views that she, they, us are black blackity black. And no. We will not hide nor apologise for it. Oh and if the message is not enough let’s get into how the lyrics and musicality are excellent. Her voice is an instrument. This better win album of the year.
Omg Cee. You GET IT. Love your comment.
Oh my gosh if this doesn’t win Album of the Year I don’t think the Grammys will be able to recover whatever shred of legitimacy they have left.
I felt pure power, hurt, anger love, regret. I felt 44 years of being a woman. I felt like she saw my world and I saw hers. Ours. I cannot believe anyone would be offended by a story about life. About the life of a woman. About the lives of black women in all of their incarnations and facets. Yes, she put her and Jay in it, yes she put her Mom in it. But what happened to Tina happened to my mom. What happened to Bey has happened to us all. The lies, the cheating, that sad hope it’s all there.
@kri-
Yes, yes, a thousand times, YES!
It moved my 50 year old self so much. Loved every aspect, every second of it.
*hbo/dvr here I come*
I still can’t believe people still accuse her of faking the pregnancy.
Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Truly a work of art.
Not that Bey was ever not proud of being a black woman, but I am living for her so explicitly and clearly celebrating black women with Lemonade and Formation. Even as a white girl, it is very inspiring for me to see. Get it Bey!
It is a full-realized concept album and has visual art to it.
Lady Gaga was supposed to be the deep visual artist. You would expect a concept album from her or such a huge undertaking as the visual artistry to this. And the HBO special showcasing this album in that fashion was genius. She’s leaving Gaga in the dust.
Ugh, I know, so many fakers get celebrated. I love when someone comes out and blows them out of the water, shows them how it’s really done.
Frikking looooooooved it! So much gossip in those songs to go over! Loved the song with the weekend and the one where she was taking jay to task in the parking garage with the braids.
I love her! She took Kelis’ “Caught out there” to a new level.
Marketing, PR and foolish viewers is a lucrative combination. Its all in the game.
Love every drop of it. I know it will inevitably lead to simplistic theories and judgement on her marriage but it is so much more than that. She simply uses that as the basis for the broader dialogue. This is an ode to black women. A love letter to our muck, mire, highs, lows, frustrations, beauty, difficulties, ugliness, dichotomies, simply everything we are. Our essence and how we exist in the past and present. It is everything that people like Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels examine in their work basically put to music and made realer than anything I have ever experienced in pop culture. I love her for this bravery and unflinchingly real ode to black women. This project could have been titled Diary of an Angry/crazy/hopeful/loving/strong/vulnerable/beautiful/ugly/perfect/imperfect/caring Black Woman. It. Is. Everything.
Completely agree! Absolutely loved it and adored the women all throughout. People are going to jump on it they like did Formation and that’s so childish to me. Why can people not understand that not everything is for them? Especially men…I hear guys complaining about her feminism angle all the time bc it makes them uncomfortable. It’s like…ummmm and she doesn’t care bc it’s not made for THEM
GET IN FORMATION, ladies!! I loved Lemonade, it slayed me. I am trying to stay off of Tidal, but now with Prince AND Beyonce, I might give in.
This-is serious business. I like it.
@AlmondJoy I can’t seem to reply to your comment directly, but yes I absolutely get it and it may seem like hyperbole to some but I can’t adequately express how important this album feels to me. Im all the way in South Africa and yet the messages in this music and the imagery resonates so strongly, I feel like she’s literally tapped into most woc psyche, dragged every thought, feeling and emotion to the surface and set it to music.
I haven’t always been a Bey fan. Her music was always good and I enjoyed her but post Glastonbury I couldn’t deny her. What I get most from her is this feeling of invincibility that she seems to impart. And sure it’s subjective but for me as a fan that’s almost always my final takeaway through her music. Even when there’s vulnerability in her work I am still left with that feeling of resilience. I truly think that’s her real talent. And it resonates a million times more with this album.
And like I’ve said too… The actual music, her voice and how she is topping her own vocal prowess 6 albums on is also pretty spectacular. She and Boots are magic.
Beyoncé is an Industry Creation. She is moderately talented as a vocalist, but can’t write her own material, either lyrically or musically. She can’t act. Her speaking voice is just uncomfortable to listen to. Just bad. She is NOT a great beauty. She’s a nice looking woman. She can’t dress for siht cuz her Momma thinks she’s a designer and puts her in these sad 80’s throwback ice skater outfits. Not cool, not street, not at all. Jay and the Industry spend a million buying phony downloads and bam her album is Number One. Then the fools who believe its hot go out and spend their money thinking people want it. It’s all marketing. Truly sad she resorts to all this BS trying to stay relevant. I’ll be deliriously happy when all the fake auto tune hyped out losers go away and we return to real artists. Musicians who can freaking play an instrument and sing without a computer, photoshop, other artists, and a corrupt press behind them. Goodbye to the Beyonces, the Madonnas, the Kanyes, the Jay Zs, are all at the top of my goodbye list. They are all pushin 40 anyway, except Jay who is 53 if he’s a day.
@ Goobie, it perplexes me why someone so salty sour stalks the source of their jealousy… Move on with life and set goals.
I’m not a Beyonce fan. Never been. And I know all the criticism about how she’s manufactured, but I’m gonna say that I’m on my 6th rewatch of Lemonade on Tidal, since last night, and I don’t even care if she didn’t write a word of this or come up with a single concept: it’s amazing and at the least, I would and will respect her as having the knowledge and guts to be the vehicle for it. It’s so personal, though, I’m gonna go with the theory that she has taken more control and this is very her. Either way, much respect to her. As a feminist, I’m touched on many levels and all my support is behind it, even if these aren’t all my experiences she’s speaking to. There is shared womanhood here that awes me with its power. As for her acting, she sure as f&ck seemed to act the sh*t out of these videos. I believed every word.
Watched it last night. Some of it was very powerful and insightful, other moments were corny and contrived. I suppose this is her way of showing the world she can choose to leave Jay Z if she wants to and that she suffered greatly when she found out about his infidelities (what woman in her position wouldn’t?). I suppose this was her way of publicly putting him on blast but I hope she leaves him eventually. He disrespected her already so much, staying with him only seems that she is not respecting herself… But I know cheating isn’t always black and white.
One thing we learned is that Beyonce really was pregnant with Blue since we saw a full bare pregnant belly from her home videos. Hopefully this will shut down the ridiculous conspiracy theories!! And we saw a glimpse of her wedding dress (had we seen it before?). Not a huge fan of it.
She grew up with her father who cheated on her mother all the time and saw her mother stay and pretend to be happy. The two main male and female examples in her life gave her the blueprint for her future relationships. The album is about her father just as much as it is about her husband. Therefore, I don’t think she’ll ever leave UNLESS he does her really dirty like her papa did her mother dirty (making babies with other women).
Although she did have a boyfriend when she was a teenager, Jay is significantly more important since he was with her when she was really famous (and really lonely as she fell into a depression at one point). She probably thinks he’s the only one who truly understands her. He’s been ‘preying’ on her since she was 16 and he was an adult with plenty of experience. I don’t doubt he used that to his advantage to make her commit to him through marriage. She left him only once and when they got back together, they married so I don’t think she’s ‘strong’ enough to leave him another time when she would be giving up not only a marriage but also conventional parenthood. Beyoncé seems traditional as hell (just like Gaga, Madonna and all other unconventional celebrities) so she won’t give up that idea unless Jay does something so public and awful, she is forced to.
Considering the reaction of many men who talk about Beyoncé (hottest celebrity to sleep with, hottest black woman etc etc), she must know most people don’t even see her as a human being with feelings. At least Jay knows her as performer, mother, lover and wife. But he doesn’t appreciate it though…
LOL her wedding dress was awful. It’s so basic and ugly.
That was deep Artemis.
I agree that it wasn’t just about Jay Z. And had to look up his age too- I knew they had dated for a long time, but didn’t know it started when she was a teenager.
Side-eye
Uh, thanks? 🙂
@fairy
Well they were friends when she was a teenager. With Destiny’s Child I think she was just too busy and too young to give Jay a chance. I think they officially got together when she was 19 but they say they met when she was 18. Pretty sure there are images with her and Jay floating about when she was younger than 18 but okay…
1999 apparently: http://www.misspetitenaijablog.com/2012/07/wow-photo-of-first-time-jayz-saw.html
Oh and Jay said he knew her for 10 years and that was in 2007. He knew her via business and was impressed by her talent.
http://globalgrind.com/2013/04/03/beyonce-jay-zs-wedding-anniversary-date-april-4-love-story-told-interview-songs-videos-photos-list/
Either way she was just a baby when they started dating!
Funny how Jay once said he made her ‘gansta’, guess he never wished he done that lmao!…
I just watched and while the imagery, and concept was impressive, I am not impressed with the message particularly coming from her. At the beginning, I thought YES she is putting him on blast, discussing generational abusive patterns and then.. nope.
It is very well known that he has laid hands on her and more than once and that he had cheated on her..more than once..
It is also well known that while she was having fertility issues (miscarriages, using a surrogate) he was spreading his seed and there have been two DNA proven children outside his relationship/marriage to Beyoncé. One of the women ended up dead.
True love does not hurt and disrespect you.
All this said, I like her playing around with her vocal range and genre styles.
Well. She just showed Jay that she can save Tidal when no one else could. And even if Tidal goes down, she won’t be going down with it. She doesn’t need him. He needs her. And now the world knows. Good luck, Shawn. You have your Final Notice. As for “Lemonade”..nothing left to say. Not sure what to say. It is her best work ever. After years of watching Beyonce, I finally see her. After years of being entertained by Beyonce, I finally feel her. And after years of talking and criticizing and judging her Star Status, I finally feel like she is is showing herself. I’m all in. #IDrankAllOfHattie’sLemonade. I’m in.
I need to rewatch it. I was distracted while trying to and might have missed a few things. I have never honestly liked her music much except for Crazy. She got lost in the pop music auto tune over produced ladies so I dismissed her usually. The rumors of his cheating and how subservient she seemed just made me shut her out completely.
Then she dropped Formation and I loved the fallout and scrambling, I loved how uncomfortable she made some of the world and that she caused some conversations that have been avoided forever. Beyonce as a lightening rod is interesting and of course it’s marketing too. But that only makes her more interesting. She is taking the game and owning it better than the rest and, that isn’t easy or everyone would be Beyoncé.
People say she’s average in every area but again she took what she had and elevated it to this. Stupid people are incapable of sustaining this level for this long.
It’s like she’s saying I’m in my 30s now and I’ve found my voice and I’m not afraid to use it. I like this new version of her.
I’ve loved her music for years but this whole “I’m staying with Jay-Z” thing despite his numerous, well-publicized (hello, elevator) side activities makes me lose TONS of respect for her.
Girl, you are one of the MOST CELEBRATED artists of our time. Might as well be the female Michael Jackson…and you’re staying with a man who doesn’t respect you enough to be faithful in marriage?
F^ck that.
Get up out the door.
Hillary Clinton has done the same though. Hillary is amazingly smart, but she stayed with a cheating asshole just so she could have better access to power.
Not a great example for women and probably why many women aren’t automatically supporting her. “stand by your serial cheating man” should not be something any woman emulates.
But yeah, let’s go after one of the Jay Z side pieces because she dared to confirm she was one of them.
It helps that Bill and Hillary clearly have an arrangement and don’t put a great deal of effort into pretending otherwise. Even when he was caught in a lie with Lewinsky, she never really acted betrayed by the cheating. They played up the fact that he’d ‘let her’ defend him and how THAT upset her, rather than make her put on a big show like his wandering dick was news to her.
A lot of the lyrics on this new album feel pretty disingenuous, given that Jay Z has been publically cheating since day one. They didn’t rush into marriage either. She knew exactly who she married. At a certain point you either admit it’s a marriage of convenience or you leave. To still be acting like it’s a shock after more than a decade of this behaviour…you just start to seem wilfully ignorant, or else manipulative.
Someone can please explain a middle eastern why Rachel’s caption is racist? I don’t understand 🙂
There was a long standing idea in the AA community that there was good and bad black hair. Good hair was silkier, less textured, and closely resembling whites (and in many cases the result of white DNA somewhere in the ancestry) whereas ‘bad’ hair was kinky, nappy, textured and more normal for blacks. There was also the effect of good hair being more rare (because it usually only existed in conjunction with mixed DNA and typically lighter skin) that made it seem prized while the more available hair and deeper skin was seen as lesser.
So this idea has been in the culture for a very long time and recently has been talked about in various media, probably most well known to many people is the Chris Rock film ‘Good Hair’ (which itself is sort of a flawed product but it gets the conversation going).
So when Rachel responded about good hair don’t care she was basically saying “Yup, I have this feature that makes me better than you because as an AA woman your hair is naturally lesser, I (allegedly) slept with your husband, and I don’t care.” – which is where the drama came in.
Now THIS just makes me grasp for air…in 2016, really????????
Now the beyhive is dropping abuse on Rachel Ray’s social media because they are confusing her with Rachel Roy 😂😂😂
Poor Rachel Ray, lmao, I can only imagine how confused that poor woman is not even knowing the deal.
I have to admit before I put my thinking cap on I was shocked thinking Jay Z was getting his muffins baked by Miss. Ray. Which is sad since I own shoes and jewelry from Roy.
I am dying over the mental image of Rachael Ray and Beyonce being in a feud.
Dont gotta tidal just convert it. I didnt watch bc i was out, but it’s good to hear she’s becoming an artist and not just the sexy female vocalist she’s been known for. Yeah it was back handed with a spread of truth.
I am not a big fan of hers usually. But this was profound and new. Not just new for her, but there was some incredibly experimental moments. The lyrics are outstanding.
Sounds like she came out the other side stronger. But Becky is in big trouble no that she decided to out herself. The Hive is coming for her. Girl, you in danger.
The cheating/heartbreaker loved man is a recurrent theme on her songs. It’s been like this since Dangerously and it’s here as well. I don’t think she is as strong and independent as she wants to be, just like most of us. It seems no one is too good to escape from the pain of being in love.
I think when you’re raised in this environment where divorce is considered so bad that you’d put up with any number of indignities to avoid it (e.g. Tina), it’s really hard as an adult to lose that fear. It really takes an act of bravery to stand up for your worth and file for divorce. If you’re not really religious, and I don’t think Beyoncé is, there’s just no reason to hang in there with a man who lies for years on end.
I can’t deal with Tidal right now but I think it will eventually be the best because it will have all the best music from the best artists–many of whom are black. I love seeing them get theirs. I love that I’m living to see an era in which the disenfranchised really can get theirs. Especially a woman under a man’s thumb….Beyonce’s getting hers, even if it’s not the way you or I would do it.
All about THE money..
HOW could mr. Tidal except THIS if he’s not making lots of cash?
Who outs their dirty laundry like THIS?
Stay together and stay private, seperate and air THE dirty L.
But make money of iT, means arrangements have been make. HOW calculating.
Forgivness, uhu?
I dont think so..
She doesn’t write her own music. This is like giving props to David Lee Roth for everything Van Halen did.
Well it’s true she doesn’t write her own music, but she does give a voice to those words. I think some people problem with it, is the that fans and other people are giving her credit for the lyrics that someone else wrote.
Remember when Britney shaved her head, attacked the paparazzi with an umbrella and started talking in a British accent? I kept hoopin she would channel that into some real, raw, personal music, but that never happened. I feel like this makes up for it. This is the most artistic, personal thing Beyoncé has ever done And I love it. The Jack White collaboration is unexpectedly brilliant. I always think artists are at their best when exorcising their demons, and Lemonade is a perfect example.
More angry, rocker Beyoncé, please!
I love that comparison and I couldn’t agree more! I always wanted some real dark introspective music from Brit but she was so far gone mentally that once she was stable she was medicated through the roof and every move watched over by the conservatorship