Beyoncé surprised dropped her visual album ‘Lemonade’ on HBO this past Saturday,
but the real surprise is how deep and personal the album is.
In a mix of 12 videos, deep lyrics, and spoken words it left viewers asking what Beyoncé herself asked outright in her own video about what we assume to be husband, Jay-Z, “Are you cheating on me?”
In what seems like a full blown confession to the entire world, Beyoncé takes us through her stages of grief.
Beginning with the segment “Intuition” Track 1. “Pray you catch me”
Produced by Beyoncé and Kevin Garrett, this song is eerie, haunting, and slow. She sings “You can taste the dishonesty, it’s all over your breath.” The slow piano plays in the background, she stares into the camera, makeup-less and teary eyed. It seems to be quite the dramatic start for the album.
“Denial” – Track 2. “Hold Up”
Beyoncé convinces herself that “They don’t love you like I love you.” and continues with “what’s worse – feeling jealous or crazy?” She looks jealous and crazy, actually, walking down the street, with a bat, smiling as she breaks parked car windows. The beat is fun, cute, uplifting, but can’t escape from it’s creepy undertone. I predict this one will be a fan favorite.
Also, it can’t be denied that the yellow dress she is wearing is an instant classic.
“Anger” – Track 3. “Don’t Hurt Yourself” (ft. Jack White)
This is where we remember Beyoncé from her “Ring the Alarm” days, in this track she screams “Who the f**k do you think I am? You ain’t married to no average bitch boy!” The guitar riffs, White’s scratchy voice, and the screaming make this one of the edgiest tracks on the album.
“Apathy“ – Track 4. – “Sorry”
Another Beyhive favorite, and definitely a catchy break-up song. The bridge, “Tell him boy bye, middle fingers up, I ain’t thinking about you.” explains it all. This isn’t the Beyoncé who waved her ring finger hand to us back in 2008’s “Single Ladies”, all we see is a playful apathetic F-U now.
“Emptiness” – Track 5 – “6 inch” (ft. The Weeknd)
This song is the story about a badass woman who grinds for her money all day. Is Queen B talking about herself? Yeah, probably. The Weeknd adds a sweet tone, while Beyoncé keeps it sexy.
“Accountability” – Track 6 “Daddy Lessons”
Surprise everyone, Beyoncé is singing country! An homeage to her home state, she repeats “Texas, Texas , Texas,” adds a little harmonica and makes the song her own. The album’s theme of infidelity, sneaks into the song, when Beyoncé mentions that her daddy tells her, “Baby girl, he’s playing you.”
The album continues into Reformation, Forgiveness, Resurrection, Hope, and Redemption.
The rest of the tracks ‘Love-Drought’, ‘Sandcastles’/Forward’ (ft. James Blake), ‘Freedom’ (ft Kendrick Lamar) ‘All Night’, don’t stray away from the formula, each paired with their own video.
Her glorious project ends in what seems to be her and her man reconciling. Beyoncé speaks “So we’re gonna heal. We’re gonna start again.”
Then comes ‘Formation’ the song that was released prior to the album, where Beyoncé does what she does best, she slays.
The full album is available for pre-order here and will be released on May 6.