Beyonce Giselle Knowles is an African American singer, dancer, and record producer who is regarded as one of the best musicians of her generation due to her incredible music artistry and vocal abilities. Beyonce was born in 1981 in Houston, Texas and enrolled in dance classes at St. Mary’s Montessori School in her hometown, where her artistry and vocal abilities were discovered by her dance instructors. Her interest in music artistry and performing continued to develop after school when she joined Arne Frager’s Star Search TV Show in California, the largest talent show program in the region at the time. However, Beyonce’s group, the Girl’s Tyme, failed to win at the talent show program, and the group lost the contract with the TV show. However, the group was revived in 1996 by Grass Roots Entertainment and recorded their first album in the late 1990s. The group changed its name to Destiny’s Child and recorded several singles with Columbia Records, like “Killing Time” and “No, No, No.” The group was split, and Beyonce used her incredible music skills and talents to release her first album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. From this time, her talents as an entertainer and songwriter, coupled with her incredible vocal abilities propelled her to stardom. Her musical lyrics focus on women’s empowerment, romantic relationships, sex, feminism, and independence from patriarchy. This essay illuminates Beyonce’s artistic works to discover the dominant themes in her lyrics, her music style, and the black feminist groundwork that is dominant in her musical brand.
The first example of Beyonce’s artistic work is her song “Who Runs the World (Girls),” which is one of her fiercest female anthems that documents women’s strength and power in business, motherhood, and familial relationships. In this song, Beyonce delivers a powerful message to women to encourage them to be proud of their accomplishments and believe in their power to change the world. In this song, Beyonce contradicts the dominant gender stereotypes that portray women as weak and vulnerable humans who are only suitable for domestic roles. The song claims that women are strong enough to excel in their professions and perform domestic or family duties like bearing children. Precisely, she emphasizes women’s power to play domestic and professional roles when she says that women are “strong enough to bear children then get back to business.” This feminist sentiment stems from the historical exclusion of women from the labor force and limited opportunities for career progression. In addition, the song encourages women in the education system and business sectors to keep up with their dedication to achieving their goals without contemplating how men perceive them or their actions. In this regard, Beyonce’s focus on sexual equality sets the stage for her sex-positive discourse, which emphasizes that men should not view women’s achievements as threatening. As a celebrity feminist activist, Beyonce is portrayed as both object and subject of modern feminism since she represents the construct and shapes it through her feminist sentiments and lyrical lines, as revealed in the song.
The second example of Beyonce’s work of culture is her album the Lemonade, which was released in 2016 in conjunction with HBO’s video, which provided a visual expression of the album’s themes. The Lemonade affirms Beyonce’s black femininity in diverse contexts such as marital politics and infidelity. The album illuminates the topic of adultery as it touches on Jay Z’s (Beyonce’s husband) cheating rumors. The theme of marital infidelity is consistent throughout the album’s songs like “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” “Denial,” and “Sorry,” where she sings, “he only wants me when I am not there, he better call Becky with the good hair.” Although the album covers her personal life and relationship with her husband, it speaks of broader themes, such as problematizing the narrow understanding of female sexuality and the historical and social injustices against Black women in America. The most explicit indication of Black feminism in the album is Beyonce’s song “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” where she directly references Malcolm X’s speech saying that “the most disrespected person in America is the Black woman.” In this account, Beyonce turns her personal struggles into an appeal to Black feminism and weaves an intricate connection between marital infidelity, male dominance, and sexual oppression. Notably, Beyonce enhanced her cultural relevance in the album by including integral issues about social injustice, such as police brutality and racial inequality. For example, in the visual illustration of Lemonade, she shows images of grieving mothers holding pictures of their sons who fall victim to gun violence or police brutality. Thus, through Lemonade, Beyonce covers critical social and cultural issues that affect contemporary American society.
The third example of Beyonce’s artistic work of culture is her album The Lion King, in which she uses artistry to show her audience that her African culture is strongly embedded in her genetic makeup. She uses the album to illuminate her spiritual journey and her black identity, empowering diverse audience groups to embrace their ancestry. Apart from the powerful song lyrics in the album, Beyonce made a full movie to provide a visual representation of the album’s themes. The album’s visual illustration highlights several elements of African cultures, such as the Black faith and music. For example, she features several African artists like Burna Boy, Tekno and Cameroonian singer Salatiel to weave her connection to African music and culture. To illustrate, one of the key songs in the album, “Spirit,” begins with a Swahili chant with a popular call-and-response characteristic which is common in many types of African music. In addition, she incorporates an uplifting key change and lush background vocals (the background choir) to create an authentic representation of African folk music, which is usually dominated by drums and vocals. Thus, Beyonce’s album, The Lion King, illuminates her connection with her African culture and presents diverse themes such as legacy, lineage, spirituality, and identity to encourage her audience to embrace their culture and ancestry.
In conclusion, Beyonce uses her incredible vocal abilities, performance skills, and artistic knowledge to champion femininity and contrast gender stereotypes that portray women as perfect domestic workers. She uses her music and visual representations to empower women to take dominant roles in society and climb up the social ladder. Notably, her feminist sentiments are directed toward Black feminism, which empowers Black women to take dominant roles and participate actively in societal issues. For example, in her song “Who Runs the World (Girls),” Beyonce points out that women are strong enough to bear children and participate in the labor force. Besides Black feminism, Beyonce’s artistic works related to African American experience by illuminating critical themes affecting African American communities, such as racism, marital infidelity, and gun violence. In the visual representation of her album Lemonade, she weaves an intricate connection between marital politics, racial inequality, and gun violence to contribute to major contemporary discourses in Black American communities. Finally, Beyonce’s last album, The Lion King, furthers her discourse about Black identity, ancestry, and culture to encourage her audience to embrace their historical backgrounds. In sum, Beyonce’s artworks illuminate the common themes and issues affecting women, African Americans, and other marginalized populations. She uses music and performance to further discourse about race, sex, feminism, police brutality, and new narratives of sexual liberation.
Works Cited
- “Beyonce (Beyoncé) Lyrics.” Retrieved from: https://www.azlyrics.com/k/knowles.html
Prins, Annelot. “Who Run the World? Feminism and Commodification in Beyoncé’s Star Text.” Disgressions. Amsterdam Journal of Critical Theory, Cultural Analysis, and Creative Writing 2 (2017): 29-44.
Trier-Bieniek, Adrienne, ed. The Beyoncé Effect: Essays on sexuality, race, and feminism. McFarland, 2016. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=PPTBDAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=beyonce+music&ots=3gitrEBRZe&sig=wE7O3sTO72vR5hd2uJqqi_7U66U&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=beyonce%20music&f=false
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