Beyonce is a force of nature. Everything she touches turns, if not into gold, then definitely into something even more interesting. The former Destiny Child’s superstar could’ve never even dreamed of creating an album this brash, powerful and determined in the past.
Some critics view Lemonade purely as Bey’s break-up anthem. But seeing it through a single lens misses a broader and perhaps more important message about being an African-American woman in 2016. It has taken the social, political and racial upheaval of 2016 America to summon this perfectly timed masterpiece. Starting off with the tender ballad of “Pray You Catch Me”, Bey lulls us into thinking she’s at ease. What comes next is the smooth island R&B of “Hold Up”.
The moment the second track begins, something changes. Beyonce isn’t here to play. She came to (as she put it herself on the final track, Formation) “slay”. With an array of cameos such as Serena Williams dancing in the video for “Sorry”, The Weekend doing a smooth opening verse on “6 Inch” and Jack White backing up the Queen Bey with raging guitars on the filthy number of “Don’t Hurt Yourself”, B shows us that she isn’t restricted by genres. On the track “Freedom”, she sings “I break chains all by myself. Won't let my freedom rot in hell. But I'mma keep running cause a winner don't quick on themselves." That line defines what Lemonade is. Beyonce was given lemons, and spat back the most delicious, complex, thirst-quenching lemonade known to womankind.
Some critics view Lemonade purely as Bey’s break-up anthem. But seeing it through a single lens misses a broader and perhaps more important message about being an African-American woman in 2016. It has taken the social, political and racial upheaval of 2016 America to summon this perfectly timed masterpiece. Starting off with the tender ballad of “Pray You Catch Me”, Bey lulls us into thinking she’s at ease. What comes next is the smooth island R&B of “Hold Up”.
The moment the second track begins, something changes. Beyonce isn’t here to play. She came to (as she put it herself on the final track, Formation) “slay”. With an array of cameos such as Serena Williams dancing in the video for “Sorry”, The Weekend doing a smooth opening verse on “6 Inch” and Jack White backing up the Queen Bey with raging guitars on the filthy number of “Don’t Hurt Yourself”, B shows us that she isn’t restricted by genres. On the track “Freedom”, she sings “I break chains all by myself. Won't let my freedom rot in hell. But I'mma keep running cause a winner don't quick on themselves." That line defines what Lemonade is. Beyonce was given lemons, and spat back the most delicious, complex, thirst-quenching lemonade known to womankind.