BEYONCÉ

So two weeks ago, Friday, in the small hours, after being drop kicked by Shonda Rhimes in the winter finale of Scandal when I was sat in the dark, rocking back and forth wondering how my life would go on, Beyoncé reaches out and pulls me back up with her tour de force of an album BEYONCÉ. YES!! YES!!! F*$K YES! I would just like to say that I was the first person in London to listen to it because I am the only mad person who will stay up until 3am to watch Scandal live with America soooo…I mean just saying. But back to this album. IT IS EVERYTHING I have been waiting for from Beyoncé in a long time. I used to be a super fan then I became a fan because I wasn’t really feeling anything from her since Get me Bodied, Irreplaceable etc. and you are either a super fan or a fan. Beyoncé brings people together regardless of age, race, class, sex etc. when people gather to listen to a Beyoncé song its always a good time. And this album puts her head and shoulders above the rest. FACT. Beyoncé will now be a reference point in music history not just one of the others. She is her own musical genre.

The execution of this launch was FLAWLESS, It was just chucked at us on iTUNES, no word, no tweet, no emails no gimmicks, no drama…NOTHING just BOOM iTUNES. Eat that.

She didn’t have to distract us with twerking or hire a plane and take a grand world tour causing a raucous and what now…nope Beyonce put them all in the dust with this album release. Hats off.

There is a video for every song and some extras…pretty groundbreaking non? Some of my favourites;

Pretty Hurts- A cautionary tale that is so poignant for our time, this whole focus on image and what’s on the outside the leaves us feeling hollow, striving for perfection. Its also a reflection on Beyoncé growing up, pressures on her and the sacrifices she made to become the person she is today. The trophies, the competitions, the pageants…in her words ‘I just want to blow that shit up.’ Pretty Hurts definitely blows shit up.

Drunk In Love- this is possibly my favourite track on the album, possibly because Jay Z ruins it with his ignorant rap. Personally he didn’t have to be on the record but that’s just me. It’s about getting wild and out with your man waking in the morning thinking DAMN how did that happen. Its about making love that shakes the earth out of the two of you.

This song NEEDS to be on the fifty shades of Grey soundtrack…without the Jay Z rap because he reference Ike and Tina Turner’s abusive relationship which is just so damn pointless, like seriously did he look that up before adding it in there…it ruins an otherwise perfect song. But I guess we all know how Beyonce and Jay Z get down when the curtains are drawn. Mm Hmm.

This song is also a MAJOR SIDE EYE to Kanye and the crap Bound 2 crap. Whatever the hell that was.

Jealous- about relationships and insecurities, man this song rings so true when one is in that kind of situation, the words the actions…everything is so relative when you are in a space where you feel powerless and out of control jealous.

XO. Another favourite and another tainted song because the video was directed by Terry Richardson that scum of the earth. This one is Bey’s message to the fans I suppose, it was shot on Coney Island, fun vibrant, upbeat. Its got everything for the perfect summer jam.

Partition- this is a badass tune and yes its about sexing your man in the backseat… its raw and raunchy. “Driver roll up the partition please…” its a very fierce song, one of those that if you’re walking you feel the need to sway to your own beat…”Forty-minutes to get all dressed up and we ain’t gonna make it to this club…” Go on with your bad self Yoncé

I could go on and on but you get the gist of it, this is a beautiful album that sees Beyonce give everything and then some more. She doesn’t hold back she talks about losing her child in Heaven, about her little girl Blue in Blue, takes a pop at the industry and its banalities in Haunted, the grind, the whole cycle of the mundane that leaves your mind in a fog. She makes a reference to the lack of diversity in quality, the sameness of everything, the boringness of the industry. A side eye to the popular music bullshit out there…In Flawless she includes excerpts from Chimamanda Adichie’s speech at TEDxAUSTIN on feminism, a mash up, a fantastic juxtaposition. I could go on and on about this album because it is such an album to go on and one about, its so good that I have not listened to anything else since its release…its pretty damn fantastic and if you do one thing this year in relation to music you should definitely buy this album its worth all £13 of it.