By Goitsimang Moshikaro
Last we tuned into Beyonce, and Beyonce tuned into us. Her sixth album, Lemonade, is a powerful and emotionally driven project - rolled out with a deluxe release and visual film. Come July 2022, Beyonce releases a pop-rock bath bomb of an album with a sizzling and messy image of love, sexuality, individuality, and vulnerability.
Album cover of Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE, from Genius
The album has a transformative theme, like the life cycle of a butterfly. In “I’M THAT GIRL'', Beyonce presents herself as her ideal version, one free to love, lose, and learn throughout life, as she further emphasises in “COZY''. Beyonce takes the listener from their cocoon with an experience exemplifying herself. In “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA '', vulnerability towards love is unapologetically romanticised. “HEATED” is a crack of shell in its spunky and erratic closing, purely uncontained and elemental. “AMERICA IS A PROBLEM” spells out the overloading demand and desire for Beyonce's image. “PURE/HONEY” pushes this message to be your own “Beyonce”, highlighting the power of authenticity. By “SUMMER RENAISSANCE”, Beyonce celebrates the blooming of a new self to continue building on your own.
The instrumental of “IM THAT GIRL” opens up, setting the atmosphere of a near-hour dimension in a few minutes. "B*tch, please motherfuckers ain't stoppin' me." The opening sample from “Still Pimpin” is Princess Loko's confidence that fizzes throughout the track on a loop to affirm her achievements, future potential, and legacy. Throughout the album, Beyonce amplifies samples more than the other way around as she expands and internalises the message, feel, and roots of the originals that come to certain declarations. A contained static buzz follows, this confidence echoing from Beyonce, where the listener is in the presence of some great power. The sharp, hollow synth encloses you, illuminating but gentle, bringing a hint of vulnerability and intimacy. A sticky stomping afro-beats at a minimal rhythm tie in the continuous pride in identity with the cultural context of Black music. A punctuating beat stumbles in and over itself with waves that are lined up and loose - a stream of confidence that is free in its composure. The echoing wails crack out between the steady vocals, releasing themselves toward freedom as Beyonce does this with Black, queer, and feminine expression—the buzzing static returns in closing like an electrifying bee peering to sting. The first track is an amalgam of genres clarifying how she uses genres to express certain emotions, whether rap in its confidence, ballads in its vulnerability, or reggae and jungle in its fierce attitude.
“COZY”’s heavy bass spills itself into the house genre. Beyonce’s breathly adlibs emulate a trumpet's legendary appraisals. Vocals laid back and relaxed deepen the pride of her losses that have only made her stronger. A vulnerable yet unstoppable force. “I'm dark brown, dark skin, light skin, beige. Fluorescеnt beige, bitch, I'm Black”. The use of TS Madison’s speech as a Black trans woman spotlights intersectionality and the collective impact of owning and embracing multiple identities. Genius annotations point to this song’s political message in forwarding activism for the Black identity as police brutality, and its target on the Black community was at a prominent forefront during 2020’s covid pandemic. The thing with Beyonce as such a largely international celebrity is that her status and success overwrite her problems and humanity. The long-running discrimination of anti-Blackness and sexism doesn't deflect even from someone seen to have it all, so the importance of celebrating identity comes when it's constantly reduced in critical matters. The Black Lives Matter movement emphasises that it's always about race and that it will always be Black tears, joy, and anger.
“RENAISSANCE” inspired a perspective towards the intimacy of investing the personal self into one's craft that is shared with others. As an artist who sources the world around me, I strive to put out a non-conforming image constantly. Continuing your craft at challenging moments displays the passionate strength of self-expression from all angles. Despite her privacy, Beyonce's image and individuality continue to touch generations in meaningful ways. The album is a genuine raw piece of pride that shows how it's draining and delicate to hold back humane flaws and authenticity. Rather it's more special to grow with what you put out.
I was deeply touched by the way that queer influences, figures, and references are present in celebrating the brash loudness and anchored identity of the LGBTQ+ community. Giving tribute to Donna Summer, Big Freedia, Moi Renee, her uncle Johnny and more, RENAISSANCE pays homage to prominent influences throughout her life and herself, presenting the scope of how far everyone has taken themselves, defining legendary by simply being, living, and existing.