Anyone who drops an album with no warning and then casually Instagrams vegan cupcakes has to be on another level than the rest of the world. Pop world Queen Bey did just that, and then let the world obsess over her while she slept like royalty.
From the album name to the lyrics, Beyonce takes a whole new spin on self-confidence. She is Beyonce, but what does that mean? Is she a talented singer and performer, or is it just the name that raises her above what she can do? Why is it that this woman can release an album with no warning, shutting down wireless servers and causing chaos among fans?
After listening to this album, I realized what it is: It’s her confidence that screams, “Here I am. I’m proud, and if you don’t like me, I don’t care.” But that shield of confidence and feminist display doesn’t seem genuine to me. She sings about female power, but it comes out as wanting world dominance for herself, not females in general.
Regardless of my wariness, the album is something to take in completely. The visual aspect of 17 videos goes beyond the musical aspect and takes you into a world of expression through Bey’s finest talent — dance. She shows her ability to encompass emotions that sum up her year of success and the struggles.
The album go beyond satisfying the pop sound and transcend into Beyonce’s world — the personal, the sexual, the love and the pain. She does not hold back her feelings or her desires.
Let’s take “Drunk In Love,” for example. The woman shakes her body and expresses her longing for the magic she and Jay Z have together. While she is expressing the sexual power she and her spouse have over one another, she is also doing this one for her. She hones the sexual energy she has and turns it into a celebrated sense of confidence.
Other songs in “Beyonce” convey the same sexual expressionism through lyrics and dance. But she also gives us the satisfaction of knowing we are closer than we could imagine; even the queen has imperfections. We see this in the emotional song “Pretty Hurts.” Here she captures the insecurities of women in this world, whether they’re beautiful in society’s eyes or not. It gave me a sense of empowerment as a woman and I can barely call myself a fan of Bey. She connects her female listeners to their inner goddess and makes them want to belt out the pain of living up to the standards of “beauty” that people expect of women.
Sensuality and pain aren’t the only honest emotions Beyonce gives the world in her fifth album. She continues opening up to her audience by explaining difficulties in relationships in songs such as “Mine.” This personal testimony of her love life gives the fans the exclusive interview TMZ and E! News have been wanting for weeks as they talk about the couple’s possible split.
Even though I love listening and watching this album, I’m not convinced she should be declared Queen or crowned the best. Songs such as “No Angel, “Blow” and “Ghost” turn me off from the Beyonce love fest and show me a world of painful noise labeled as music. She has a strong voice and way of telling her story through art, but not all of them produce stimulating sounds.
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Follow Ashlie Benson on Twitter: @ashlie_corina
As published in the Jan. 16 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
