For the next couple of weeks, when you hear someone say the word “lemonade,” they most likely won’t be talking about the cold beverage. They’ll be referring to Beyonce.
Saturday, April 23rd, Beyonce premiered her long-awaited album, “LEMONADE,” to the world through HBO. Before the hour-long compilation of her new videos actually premiered, no one actually knew what was going to be shown. Many believed it was a documentary, while others remained completely clueless.
“To be honest, I thought it was a memoir or something,” said sophomore Taylor Brown. “but when I saw it I was completely amazed.”
I can truthfully say that this has to be one of the best projects that Beyonce has ever worked on.
Beyonce started this video immediately with her song “Pray you catch me” which led into beautiful poetry written by Warsan Shire. This poetry was given through out the entire presentation going along with the songs and their meanings.
The songs on this album were presented in a way that made it seem as though Beyonce was telling a story. It started off with insecurities about her relationship, which led to revenge, then slight depression, to acceptance and finally forgiveness. The way she used colors and musical devices to give off these emotions was absolutely amazing.
Familiar faces were shown throughout this whole entire piece. Appearances from Serena Williams, Amandla Sternberg, and Zendaya were all made and many other young African American girls were presented showing a true sign of black empowerment as well as girl appreciation.
‘LEMONADE’ is an album dedicated to the struggles and achievements of black women and well as a personal story of her own.
Along with the many black women that were included in this piece she included specific women that really touched the hearts of many, the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. They were included in the song entitled “Freedom” which alluded to the injustice that this women have faced and are still facing to this very day.
This album has also caused many rumors of Jay-Z cheating to arise because of the lyrics presented in the songs. Specifically in her song “Sorry” she states “you better call Becky with the good hair,” which caused many people to believe that Jay-Z may have had an affair with this “Becky” girl.
Beyonce has proved to everyone that instead of speaking about her personal life in interviews, she would rather speak to her audience through the art of her music. Simply, through this presentation she included the past, present, and future of the black experience.
