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In a clip from Beyoncé's new visual albumLemonade, the singer strides down a street in a yellow, ruffled dress. Elegant as ever, she lights upwardly the screen with her megawatt smile.

And and so she pulls out a bat and starts neat storefront windows and car windshields. It's nil Michael Jackson didn't exercise 20 years agone in his "Black or White" video, merely Beyoncé makes it classy, luring you in with her one-of-a-kind grace.

That's just i face of an album that proves to exist an emotional tour de force. At other points during Lemonade, the singer appears simultaneously incensed, heartbroken, and devastated. With tight cornrows and a fitted gray outfit, she tosses a ring at the screen, making a stern proclamation: "You know I give you life / And if you endeavour that shit again, you gon' lose your married woman."

We're not used to hearing Beyoncé speak then acerbically. Following the one-hr world premiere of Lemonade — which aired Saturday, Apr 23, on HBO and features family unit photos and a cameo from lawn tennis star Serena Williams, in addition to plenty of politically charged imagery — she released the 12-track album, and it's total of scornful tales and lyrics that seem to address her husband Jay Z'south long-rumored infidelity.

"He better telephone call Becky with the good hair," Beyoncé scowls on "Pitiful," ane of several references to Hov'due south cheating ways.

Unlike the pop superstar's previous surprise anthology, 2013's Beyoncé, the music hither is edgy, total of vitriol and R-rated real talk. It's equally aggressive and reflective, and Beyoncé — a bona fide cultural phenomenon — unveils yet another layer of her wide-ranging persona.

In years by, when Beyoncé was still amassing her wealth, she tended to play it safe, making music that appealed to all sorts of listeners. None of it was ever this harsh. Certain, she'd accost "real" issues, but she'd focus more on large pop anthems that went downwardly easy.

Lemonade is a tough listen, tinged in stone, hip-hop, R&B, and electro-soul. Beyoncé opens herself more than, gets more personal. And, as with all of her recent piece of work, she does it on her own terms, embracing the creative freedom that so few people enjoy.

Lemonade is the Beyoncé anthology that most overtly embraces her blackness

Beyoncé has oftentimes been seen as an example of black feminism, suggesting to women of colour that it's best to gear up 1's own course and cadet societal conformity.

Yet her embrace of this prototype is too relatively new (though information technology's been growing for the last several years). Previously, Beyoncé often made pop music that catered to all listeners — single and taken ladies alike, fans of many different musical genres — but never before Lemonade has she offered anything tailored so straight to black, and specifically black female, listeners.

One (minor) example lies in the album'southward mentions of food. On "Formation," the first unmarried off of Lemonade , released in February, Beyoncé trumpeted the hot sauce she totes in her bag, proclaiming her strong Texas roots. (Is that hot sauce actually hot sauce, or a bat? The Lemonade film suggests the latter.)

References to collard greens and cornbread — considered "soul nutrient" past stereotypical standards — pop up elsewhere in the vocal.

Simply Beyoncé's cover of her identity on "Germination" goes across food. In it, Bey also shouts out customarily black facial features: "I like my infant heir with baby hair and afros / I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils."

Perhaps tellingly, some observers criticized Beyoncé'south Super Bowl 50 halftime functioning of the vocal, in which her backup dancers wore Black Panther-style outfits. The claim was that the functioning was "anti-cop," because of its evocation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Merely the larger implication was that by embracing her black, Beyoncé was no longer trading in generic pop.

That's exactly what makes Lemonade such a assuming artistic statement.

Beyoncé hinted that she was headed in this direction in 2013'south "Bow Down / I Been On": "I remember my baby hair with my dookie braids," she recalled. "Y'all know we used to sneak and listen to that [Houston rap group] UGK."

Yet Lemonade goes farther than these sorts of side references. Much like rapper Kendrick Lamar did on his landmark album To Pimp a Butterfly, Beyoncé proclaims her ethnicity with refreshing gusto, offering a raw stance on who she is and where she'southward from, across the hit songs and albums for which we already know her.

Without anything left to prove (and a lot more money in the depository financial institution), Beyoncé is taking her greatest artistic risks yet — and seeing them pay off.

Just speaking of money in the banking concern…

Beyoncé rewrites the music manufacture's rules with her every release

Music doesn't sell in today'south music industry; even people who don't follow it closely know that. Illegal downloading and streaming services similar Spotify and Pandora take fabricated information technology all but impossible to sell millions of records.

Before the net, albums required months of promotional hype — singles, in-store appearances, radio and Tv interviews. And most importantly, they required a release engagement, which heightened apprehension past giving fans a specific day to look forwards to.

You lot can probably guess where this is going. On December 13, 2013, Beyoncé released Beyoncé, a total album, complete with videos for all 14 songs, without promotion or whatever prior announcement. Social media would take care of that for her.

The Queen @Beyonce simply dropped her album and @RevoltTV has the news for y'all outset!!! http://t.co/3sNNXZZZZ1 #Beyonce

— Sean Diddy Combs (@iamdiddy) December 13, 2013

Beyoncé sold more than than 600,000 copies in 3 days, smashed iTunes sales records, and ushered in a new era of the "surprise release" from artists with like gravitational pulls. Artists like Lamar, Drake, and Rihanna have since released albums without warning, and in late January, the practice even fabricated the leap to television, when comedian Louis C.One thousand. released a surprised comedy series, Horace and Pete, on his website.

"Role of the thought behind launching it on the site was to create a bear witness in a new way and to provide information technology to you directly and immediately, without the usual promotion, banner ads, billboards and clips that tell you lot what the evidence feels and looks like before you get to see information technology for yourself," C.K. wrote in explaining the approach.

Lemonade didn't take the same benefit of surprise, at least non fully. Music fans knew Beyoncé was up to something, given the HBO special — which was announced a week prior to airing — and pending earth bout, announced during the Super Basin in February.

But Lemonade breaks industry rules in subtler ways. Beyoncé released it on Tidal, the music streaming site her married man owns, which has been on a massive run as of late. Kanye West's ever-changing latest album, The Life of Pablo, was launched as a Tidal sectional, and Prince's discography is only bachelor for streaming there — something many fans only realized in the wake of the music icon's death.

Lemonade was only a Tidal exclusive for about 24 hours — information technology's as well on iTunes now — but Beyoncé is still making sure that music fans, or anybody wanting to be function of the cultural conversation, fork over their money for information technology, by making it the simply platform where Lemonade is bachelor to stream.

Tidal is one of the more than expensive streaming services out in that location, with no free advertising-supported tier. (The standard service is $9.99 per month; the premium service is $nineteen.99 per month.) As such, it lags in subscribers, with only 3 million to Spotify's 30 one thousand thousand.

Simply Tidal isn't aimed at the lowest. Instead, it aggressively targets music fans. It boasts an all-star roster of supporters; its start commercial featured a who's who of musical talent — from Jack White and Daft Punk to Alicia Keys and Nicki Minaj. Plus, information technology remains the best option for listeners who desire music at a higher audio quality.

Thus, making Lemonade a Tidal-streaming sectional is both an economic ploy and an attempted creative statement. If you don't desire to pay for a Tidal subscription, your only option for hearing and watching Lemonade is to purchase the album. The result is an insistence that this album has worth, has creative value that tin can be measured monetarily, has merit beyond turning upwards at random in a playlist.

Of form, there'southward ane ironic facet to this arroyo. Though Lemonade is built around Jay Z's infidelity rumors, Beyoncé still released the album on his streaming service.

"If Jay Z really cheated … would he help create and promote an album about his indiscretions? … It's a little hard to believe," wrote Hollywood Accept'south Robin Lempel. "Cheating rumors sell … would the Beyhive exist quite equally obsessed if the master theme was marital bliss? Nosotros'd venture to guess NO."

The visual one-half of Lemonade proved to be a game-changer in a different manner. Forget MTV and YouTube, Beyoncé dropped her videos on friggin' HBO — the cable network that, for decades, has given its Saturday night over to Hollywood blockbusters. In fact, the Sabbatum premiere of Jurassic Globe, which earned $ane.6 billion at the worldwide box office, was bumped back an hour to brand room for Lemonade.

That's who Beyoncé is right now. Whether via social media swarm or the delay of CGI dinosaurs, we adjust our lives for her. Damn anything else you were listening to or watching or doing this past Sat. The world stops when Beyoncé appears; you proceed your optics on her, no matter how long she's in your sight. And she'due south only showing us exactly what she wants us to see.

Beyoncé is opening up more than always before

Up to this point, we've but seen bits and pieces of Beyoncé's personal life. She rarely tweets and posts occasional pics on Instagram. Bey gives fans just enough to chew on, leaving them wanting more. You love her because yous can't quite get a hold of her.

In 2013, Beyoncé released an autobiographical documentary chosen Life Is Just a Dream, but critics derided it for being too controlled. She has always been a tough read, largely elusive. Sure, you lot'll see her at an NBA game or an awards show, but the pop goddess has this manner of remaining out of sight, at a remove, shrouded in mystery. Beyoncé knows nosotros desire more than music, more concerts, more media appearances. Merely in this era of instant gratification, she's a throwback to yesteryear, only showing up when the lights are brightest, when the stage is biggest, when the stakes are highest.

With Lemonade, Beyoncé makes herself the ultimate reality star, giving united states of america gossip and fodder for news cycles and dinner party discussions, without cheapening her art. Instead, she's digging into issues to which nosotros can all relate — love, hurting, heartbreak, and family. The album allows Beyoncé'due south fans to connect with her on existent levels.

"You can taste the dishonesty. It'south all over your jiff as you laissez passer it off so condescending," Beyoncé groans on "Pray Yous Catch Me," Lemonade's opening salvo. She's never been so nakedly emotional and angry. We've all been thrown by love, merely near of u.s.a. don't have the ability to hone it like this.

Of class, that'south assuming that any of it is, y'know, existent.

Nosotros don't know if Jay Z actually cheated

Jay'southward not talking. Expect anywhere on the spider web, and y'all'll read rumors of his connection to fashion designer Rachel Roy, whom some whisper was too the reason Beyoncé'due south sister, Solange, attacked Jay Z in an lift in 2014. Some say the friendship between Jay and Roy had gotten besides close at that indicate, and Lemonade (and Roy'southward social media posts in the immediate frenzy of its release) take given those folks plenty to discuss.

And yes, we go it: Beyoncé's word is law. Her lyrics make forepart-page news. She's a star of the highest lodge, a beacon of light for us all. Just building up her star power so much obscures her true artistry. She'southward also a creative writer with imagination. She'll likely never address the adultery rumors straight, but on Lemonade, she artfully dances around them, leaving room for interpretation.

"Yous ain't married to no average bitch, boy," she exclaims on "Don't Hurt Yourself," a rock-infused number. "And continue yo' money, I got my own."

So there's "Daddy Lessons," which seems to outline what her father, Matthew Knowles, thinks of her husband. "My daddy warned me 'bout men like you / He said, 'Baby girl, he'due south playing you.'" Beyoncé and her dad are largely estranged, just in listening to Lemonade, you hear strong connections to family unit and her Southern upbringing.

As she presents herself on Lemonade, in her middle of hearts, Beyoncé is a depression-key soul who craves uncomplicated things: lakefront views and wheel rides in yard spaces. Given her otherwise lavish life, information technology seems the singer dreams of calmer environs.

Similar almost things Beyoncé, it's tough to tell what's real and what'due south fantasy. Are these existent stories or nah? It's all grand theater, and Beyoncé remains the ultimate chameleon, leaving us guessing what she'll do next.

via GIPHY

Here'south what actually matters: Lemonade is Beyoncé's most artistically successful album

Don't let gossip ruin the art. In the age of hot takes and clickbait headlines, information technology's easy to become caught in the hype surrounding Lemonade. Information technology'due south easier to digest rumors and speculation, but Beyoncé has once once more pushed herself frontwards.

Lemonade is a challenging listen that requires your undivided attention. It's a solid project that holds up despite its premise, music that'll final long afterward the blogs motion on to their next target. Much like she'south done previously, Beyoncé sets the course for what we eat and how we consume information technology. In this instance, though, she's offered something a little deeper, something rich and layered that proves, above all, that she'due south a musician in the truest sense, an artist with a strong perfectionist streak.

Beyoncé is still the ultimate performer, but on Lemonade, she's opened her personal diary for the earth to see, and it doesn't really matter whether it'south based in reality. Beyoncé is the sun of her ain universe. Everyone else orbits around her.

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Source: https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518702/lemonade-beyonce-explained

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