“I served lemon, but I made lemonade” Haatie’s (Beyoncé’s grandmother)
Beyoncé’s grandmother told a speech as — what we’re guessing was — her birthday dinner concluded in the [HBO] visuals released for her new album on April 23. The mention of lemons evoked an inspiration behind her new album, entitled Lemonade. However, this album didn’t panegyrize her grandmother. Instead, it gave us an insight on her rocky relationship with Jay-z. The no-brainer bomb dropping lines confirmed that the couple has gone through some tough times. The album also delivered a few tunes to bump to.
As for the visuals, it depicts a historical time in the South. A very ethnic theme of gracious black women repeatedly swaying their way through each film along with some celebrity appearances. Beyoncé also paid homage to Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and other victims who were gunned down by police, as their mothers held pictures of their slain sons with sorrow beaming through their eyes.
Pray you catch me
The first song opens up Lemonade in a very sanctum sound that is harmonized by Beyoncé’s breathing. The gospel-like melody then introduces some lyrics that also indicates the theme of the album “You can taste the dishonesty. It’s all over your breath.” The brow raising opening, left us wondering as she wraps up the song in a whisper “What are we doing my love?”
Hold Up
Bey gets enraged on this light reggae beat, as she opens up with “Hold up, they don’t love you like I love you.” She then asked what’s worse “looking jealous or/and crazy?” Choosing the crazy option, she dives into the song making her Jay-z (who’s obviously cheating) to realize that she knows of his unfaithful ways and “I don’t wanna lose my pride, but I’ma fuck me up a bitch.”
Don’t hurt yourself feat. Jack White
Now, Beyoncé lashed out with some anger like never before. She’s literally screaming majority of her lyrics on a rock, and hip hop infused beat. Accompanied by Jack White, they both get riled up screaming apart of the chorus “Don’t hurt yourself.” The most quoted lines were dropped in this song; “Give my big, fat ass a kiss, boy!” She also reminded Jay “You ain’t married to no average bitch boy! You can watch my fat ass twist boy as I bounce to the next dick boy.” YIKES! Now if you were having any doubts about who this lover may be or thought perhaps it was an ex? Then it’s confirmed with the closing line of “If you try that shit again, you gone lose your wife.”
Sorry
#Sorrynotsorry! This misleading title expresses how many fucks Beyoncé is feeling at this point — which is ZERO! “I ain’t thinking bout you, middle fingers up, put ‘em hands high, wave ‘em in his face. Tell him ‘boy, bye.” Clearly she is calmly standing in formation and is over his bullshit. The song also gets deeper as she drops comments like “Big homie better grow up,”“I regret that night I put the ring on,” ”Me and my baby will be all right, we gone live a good life,” and the infamous “He better call Becky with the good hair” As if things aren’t intense enough, now we are wondering, WHO IS BECKY? Better yet, WHAT IS BECKY’S HAIR REGIME?
6-inch feat. The Weeknd
This track simmers down the heat as it drives us back to a relatable sound of Beyoncé tuning the independence of woman with vocals from The Weeknd. “she work for the money, from the start to the finish” “She grinds from Monday to Friday, work from Friday to Sunday” The encouraging song was written with help from Beyoncé of course, The Dream and The Weekend himself.
Daddy Lessons
Beyoncé explained how/why she’s the woman she is in the first half of the song: “Daddy made a soldier out of me.” The reminiscing storytelling, played on a blues feel the beat, was written by Wynter Gordon, Kevin Possum, and Beyoncé herself. The sounds of people cheering in the background with hand claps open the song. Along with loud trumpets dissolving into a strumming guitar and the continuation of the hand claps. The lyrics later twisted into a reminder of her wavering relationship “My daddy warned me about men like you.”
Love Drought
Beyoncé calmly expresses all the good things she and Jay could do together if they are on the right track; “You and I could move a mountain… You and Me could stop this love drought.” This shows that there is still for the two.
Sandcastles
“Sandcastles” is by far the rawest song on the album — if not the rawest song Beyoncé has put out in a while. Her voice weighed heavy with curiosity, anger, and hurt over a tranquil sound from a piano. You can literally hear and feel the tears being held back as she raises her voice asking “What is it about you?” She then questions “Dishes smash on my counter, from our last encounter?” She wore her heart on her sleeves as she sang this song with hurt; but also, hope. Powerful!
Forward feat. James Blake
This interlude carries a quick tune by James Blake and a brief melody from Beyoncé as they sang, “Go back to your sleep, in your favorite spot, next to me.” It’s obviously stating that it is time to move forward. But the 1 minute and 19 second track was a beautiful tease from the amazing — yet underrated — artist James Blake. You are only left to wonder how it could’ve been more beautiful if they carried a longer tune.
Freedom featuring Kendrick Lamar
It’s rumored that this was a sample recording from a Mississippi State Penitentiary prisoner [whose been incarcerated since 1942]. It gets better! The mixed genre beat that contains blues, gospel, rock and more, was produced by Just Blazed and featured King Kendrick, while Beyoncé flawlessly shouts “Freedom freedom, I can’t move, freedom cut me loose”! I MEAN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? This is simply nothing but a marriage between creativity and madness.
All Night
“All Night” has nostalgic horns, ringing from OutKast’s song “SpottieOttieDopaliscious”! This song is piled with emotions, but it’s a perfect close to the jaw-dropping album. “Nothing real can be threatened,” only proves that Beyoncé is sticking through it all. She finishes off whispering, “How I missed you, my love.”
Formation
Lemonade officially wraps up with “Formation.” A single that is familiar to our ears after being released early February. We all know what’s in her bag — and how the song shook up the media. So let’s not even get back into it.
