Beyoncé is gearing up for her big comeback after giving birth to the second coming, and plenty of changes are afoot. She’s shed some pounds, gone platinum blonde for her upcoming tour and to complete the package, Beyoncé has now released new music… which sounds absolutely nothing like Beyoncé music.
I’m a big fan of Queen Bey’s, musically speaking – she makes some really great pop/hip hop crossover tracks that are catchy, fun to listen and sing along do and generally send a decent enough message to young girls (not that she exists to be a role model, but you know what I mean). But somehow, hearing her sing lyrics like “don’t get it twisted, this my shit/bow down bitches” just seems disingenuous and doesn’t ring true at all. Sure, some people will argue that this is Jay-Z‘s influence on her sound, to which I say: Really? They’ve been together since 2006, so no dice on that one.
The whole thing about Beyoncé is that she’s always been – in my opinion, anyway – rather effortlessly cool. She’s smart, modern and won’t be told what to do in any sense, and I think most of her fans admire that about her. This just seems… incredibly try-hard and kind of makes me cringe. I should mention that the clip is apparently a mash up of two new tracks from her upcoming album. I’ll say this – if it’s a taste of what the entire album’s going to be like, I’ll be pretty disappointed.
Ouch — that was underwhelming. And the more she tries to be edgy – the worse she sounds. she ought to try jazz and R&B — I think her voice is better suited for those genres.
A few things: Beyonce has never had any message for young girls. She wears fur, and her pseudo artistic bio pic was entirely focused on her own feelings and experiences, which isn’t at all bad, but it came across as extremely self-centered, and limited in its scope when it comes to current issues of any sort. She didn’t touch upon anything that was happening outside her life and career, and this struck me as so purposefully isolated and disconnected to the real world. A young girl who grew up in a well off family and her struggles with the effects of fame is pretty legitimate story, only I didn’t see how I can ever connect to that, or care about her, er, problems. There was something very essential that was missing.
Her music. Sure, she is gifted with a great vocal capacity, and she knows how to use it. But while she has some catchy tunes, the rest of her music is at best mediocre.
These new tracks. The beats are awesome. She is going back to her hip hop roots, although admittedly she had never had any in the first place. She’s from Texas. However, the message here is completely stupid. It’s almost greedy, really. It’s me, me, me. I’m the best. Deal with it. Fine, have it your way, Beyonce. I don’t mind, because while I do think she can be effortlessly cool, I don’t find her anything more than that.
Doesn’t she have enough money? FUCK OFF ALREADY. AINT NO BODY BOWIN’ DOWN TO YO HAGGARD ASS. GO PLAY WITH YOUR FAKE BABY DOLL.