So, uh... Beyoncé's Lemonade has caused quite a stir, eh?
While she hasn't yet released any individual videos yet, there are three songs that deal with infidelity, which of course the media treats as the main story line (not empowerment, which comes through in every fucking song) and most of the official coverage has been about Jay-Z's alleged infidelities.
Which of course got me thinking about Drunk In Love, when Bey wanted to ride Jigga's wooden surfboard and get drunk, and the black-and-white video, directed by Hype Williams, is a great watch:
I hate to agree with Kanye West, but Queen Bey still reigns in the pop game. She just rules this current decade, both in the quality of her output and artistic merit - and that's saying nothing of her business savvy; this is, after all, the second straight time she releases a #1 record without either any publicity or even announcing it firsthand.
By the way, she released Lemonade on Tidal first, Jay-Z's music service. Why would she do that if she really did have beef with him? Pundits should let art be art and only analyse it in the end.
Showing posts with label Beyoncé. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beyoncé. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
Video Of The Week: Beyoncé
So Beyoncé was given what amounts to a cameo appearance in a Super Bowl half-time show though she's a thousand times the artist and performer Coldplay and Bruno Mars are, and, well... America lost its fucking mind.
Her performance of Formation scared the living shit out of white people who somehow still don't understand the anger coming from the racial violence that comes with cops killing unarmed citizens of one skin tone and not even getting prosecuted for it.
Good.
Common sense and history have seemingly both failed at educating the American masses, and they need the culture shock to arrive in 2016 and either wake up and behave like their Constitution wants them to (We The People, All men are created equal, etc.) or blow the whole fucking thing up and start from scratch.
Black folks are no longer slaves in the U.S., but having started out poor and at the bottom of the pile, the fact that the system's rigged to prevent the poor from reaching a better life disproportionately affects those who got their"equality" later in the game; and these days, brown people have it worst yet, with threats of deporting Latinos and the illegal way Middle Easterners are targeted as poential terror threats - and that's saying nothing of the legal enslaving of whoever makes the technology we use, the clothes we wear, the coffee we drink, and the jewels we give each other, but since that happens overseas, many are turning a blind eye to it.
All while corporations poison our water, our food, bankrupt us to death, kill off our education system and profit from jails.
But Beyoncé's the problem, right? Wrong. She's the messenger of a quarter of the population who is standing up for itself; we had that here in Québec three years ago, but like sheep we went back to our pasture quietly after we almost changed our corrupt leaders' ways and instead got stuck with corruption at all levels of government. I hope the Black community in the U.S. doesn't fall for that shit as well. As Public Enemy said: United we stand, divided we fall, and love conquers all. The African-American community should try to bring all levels of the population back up in the same footing - as equals - and not just accept one piece of candy to shut up and go back to their lives. If the largest democracy can finally get its act together, perhaps it'll inspire others abroad.
After all, B's Super Bowl performance had allusions to the Black Panthers, a political movement that came about in the 1960s as a voice for the voiceless and primarily African-Americans, sure, but whose main message was always to be treated as humans, as equals, to not be subjected to useless, mindless police brutality (ring a bell?) and, though they weren't afraid to use force in defense of their ideals, ultimately, they had leftist ideals of equality and educating young people of all races and creeds.
Here is the video she dropped some 24 hours beforehand, which is "just as Black" but without the BP garb:
It was directed by Melina Matsoukas, a Beyoncé (Green Light, Kitty Kat, Sugar Mama, Upgrade U, Diva, Sweet Dreams, Put It In A Love Song, Why Don't You Love Me, Move Your Body, Pretty Hurts, RUN and a Target ad) and Rihanna (Rude Boy, Rockstar 101, S&M, We Found Love, and You Da One) regular.
Her performance of Formation scared the living shit out of white people who somehow still don't understand the anger coming from the racial violence that comes with cops killing unarmed citizens of one skin tone and not even getting prosecuted for it.
Good.
Common sense and history have seemingly both failed at educating the American masses, and they need the culture shock to arrive in 2016 and either wake up and behave like their Constitution wants them to (We The People, All men are created equal, etc.) or blow the whole fucking thing up and start from scratch.
Black folks are no longer slaves in the U.S., but having started out poor and at the bottom of the pile, the fact that the system's rigged to prevent the poor from reaching a better life disproportionately affects those who got their"equality" later in the game; and these days, brown people have it worst yet, with threats of deporting Latinos and the illegal way Middle Easterners are targeted as poential terror threats - and that's saying nothing of the legal enslaving of whoever makes the technology we use, the clothes we wear, the coffee we drink, and the jewels we give each other, but since that happens overseas, many are turning a blind eye to it.
All while corporations poison our water, our food, bankrupt us to death, kill off our education system and profit from jails.
But Beyoncé's the problem, right? Wrong. She's the messenger of a quarter of the population who is standing up for itself; we had that here in Québec three years ago, but like sheep we went back to our pasture quietly after we almost changed our corrupt leaders' ways and instead got stuck with corruption at all levels of government. I hope the Black community in the U.S. doesn't fall for that shit as well. As Public Enemy said: United we stand, divided we fall, and love conquers all. The African-American community should try to bring all levels of the population back up in the same footing - as equals - and not just accept one piece of candy to shut up and go back to their lives. If the largest democracy can finally get its act together, perhaps it'll inspire others abroad.
After all, B's Super Bowl performance had allusions to the Black Panthers, a political movement that came about in the 1960s as a voice for the voiceless and primarily African-Americans, sure, but whose main message was always to be treated as humans, as equals, to not be subjected to useless, mindless police brutality (ring a bell?) and, though they weren't afraid to use force in defense of their ideals, ultimately, they had leftist ideals of equality and educating young people of all races and creeds.
Here is the video she dropped some 24 hours beforehand, which is "just as Black" but without the BP garb:
It was directed by Melina Matsoukas, a Beyoncé (Green Light, Kitty Kat, Sugar Mama, Upgrade U, Diva, Sweet Dreams, Put It In A Love Song, Why Don't You Love Me, Move Your Body, Pretty Hurts, RUN and a Target ad) and Rihanna (Rude Boy, Rockstar 101, S&M, We Found Love, and You Da One) regular.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Video Of The Week: Beyoncé
The First Rule Of Pop is: Beyoncé can do no wrong.
The Second Rule Of Pop is: Beyoncé married Jay-Z and is still the biggest pop star on the planet, further proof that she can do no wrong.
She shocked last year when she released Beyoncé to little fanfare and advertizing, and now with the Platinum Edition set to hit the shelves (two more songs, 4 new remixes, accompanying videos or each, collectible photo albums and tour diaries), she made a seemingly home-filmed video of the new track 7/11, featuring her crew of dancers, including Quebecer Kim Gingras:
I think she could use a little more polish lyrics-wise (the repeated line ''man it feels like rolling dice'' ad nauseam is reminiscent of the same album's Drunk In Love ''riding on that surf board'' endless repetition, plus every line that follows gets the repetition treatment as well), but since she can do no wrong, I have forgiven her.
Still the Queen Of Pop.
The Second Rule Of Pop is: Beyoncé married Jay-Z and is still the biggest pop star on the planet, further proof that she can do no wrong.
She shocked last year when she released Beyoncé to little fanfare and advertizing, and now with the Platinum Edition set to hit the shelves (two more songs, 4 new remixes, accompanying videos or each, collectible photo albums and tour diaries), she made a seemingly home-filmed video of the new track 7/11, featuring her crew of dancers, including Quebecer Kim Gingras:
I think she could use a little more polish lyrics-wise (the repeated line ''man it feels like rolling dice'' ad nauseam is reminiscent of the same album's Drunk In Love ''riding on that surf board'' endless repetition, plus every line that follows gets the repetition treatment as well), but since she can do no wrong, I have forgiven her.
Still the Queen Of Pop.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Video Of The Week: Beyoncé
In a reaction similar to that of her album release in December, Beyoncé's ''latest'' video (though technically, all of them are available since December 13th on the DVD accompanying her CD, and there is one for each track) is just about all anyone was talking about this week, so I kind of had no choice but to feature it...
Both more obvious and more subtle than the previous release (Drunk In Love), this video shows Beyoncé trying to get her husband's attention to have her sexual needs fulfilled, something pretty much the rest of the world would volunteer for, even if she wasn't wearing the lingerie that permeates the clip.
The song was produced by Timbaland, Jerome Harmon, Justin Timberlake, Key Wane, Dean, newcomer Boots, and Beyoncé herself (yeah, a minimalist beat requires a lot of highly-paid talent to make), while the video was directed by British specialist Jake Nava, who has worked with her before, but also with Roni Size (Dirty Beats), The Rolling Stones (Streets Of Love), Adele (Someone Like You), Britney Spears (the Bobby Brown cover My Prerogative) and System Of A Down (B.Y.O.B.).
His work with Beyoncé includes Crazy In Love (featuring Jay-Z), Beautiful Liar (featuring Shakira), Naughty Girl, Baby Boy (featuring Sean Paul) and of course Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), the one that Kanye West will let you finish but has to say is one of the best videos of all time.
Partition, like the record it's from, deals with sexuality, empowerment through control of your actions, and has both a thumping and clear mass-ready beat as well as experimental undertones, pretty much the kind of achievement Kanye dreams of (and thinks he has achieved many times over), but with a basis in fact.
This may be the best and most innovative pop record of the past 20 years, definitely of the past decade. With Madonna long in her back pocket, Beyoncé can now set her sights on reaching Michael Jackson-like levels of achievements and success. She has the drive and talent for it, that's for sure.
If she could only stop lip-synching the national anthem...
Both more obvious and more subtle than the previous release (Drunk In Love), this video shows Beyoncé trying to get her husband's attention to have her sexual needs fulfilled, something pretty much the rest of the world would volunteer for, even if she wasn't wearing the lingerie that permeates the clip.
The song was produced by Timbaland, Jerome Harmon, Justin Timberlake, Key Wane, Dean, newcomer Boots, and Beyoncé herself (yeah, a minimalist beat requires a lot of highly-paid talent to make), while the video was directed by British specialist Jake Nava, who has worked with her before, but also with Roni Size (Dirty Beats), The Rolling Stones (Streets Of Love), Adele (Someone Like You), Britney Spears (the Bobby Brown cover My Prerogative) and System Of A Down (B.Y.O.B.).
His work with Beyoncé includes Crazy In Love (featuring Jay-Z), Beautiful Liar (featuring Shakira), Naughty Girl, Baby Boy (featuring Sean Paul) and of course Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), the one that Kanye West will let you finish but has to say is one of the best videos of all time.
Partition, like the record it's from, deals with sexuality, empowerment through control of your actions, and has both a thumping and clear mass-ready beat as well as experimental undertones, pretty much the kind of achievement Kanye dreams of (and thinks he has achieved many times over), but with a basis in fact.
This may be the best and most innovative pop record of the past 20 years, definitely of the past decade. With Madonna long in her back pocket, Beyoncé can now set her sights on reaching Michael Jackson-like levels of achievements and success. She has the drive and talent for it, that's for sure.
If she could only stop lip-synching the national anthem...
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Bowl XLIII Invitation
A mere hours before The Game, and a hockey game to watch first. Super Bowl Sunday is the best day for a true sports fan - especially when the main attraction isn't a one-sided affair that falls in the hands of a team you hate.
In the spirit of full disclosure, here's an invitation I sent to my friend Nibble Mark, who had been sick of late.
In the spirit of full disclosure, here's an invitation I sent to my friend Nibble Mark, who had been sick of late.
Feeling better? Bettered? Battered? Buttered?Well, he should be here any minute now. The hockey game's starting. My money's on the Habs, of course. Smart money will stay clear of this one.
It's Super Bowl weekend, which means it's legal, just for one day, to overindulge in fatty, sweet, salty and poppy foods and drinks to the point of heart-attackism - and, on Super Sunday, it's illegal for your heart to attack! (from what I have gathered through 42 years of watching the Big Game and having seen it evolve from a sporting event into one of ultramegasuperconsumerism - and from the way Homer behaves on any Simpsons Super Bowl Specials)
This takes place around suppertime, 5 or 6-ish, and lasts until 8 or 9-ish because the Half Time show will likely feature some has-been showing us a bit of skin to try to outsell Britney Spears (I'm hoping for Tina Turner, would settle for Beyoncé, praying it's not Sting - last year was McCartney, John Lennon's old retarded chubby friend)
Not to be left out, Les Habitants battle the Bruins at 2PM to make it the Ultimate Couch Sporting Event of the weekend. Which means I'll be making some spicy chicken wings and/or purchasing fried chicken from a place I love. Doritos might try to come in my house as well, but I'm not sure the Tostitos-mozzarella cheese-actual Mexican salsa combo who are picketing in front of my oven waiting for execution will let them. There are rumours that squishy candies will make an appearance, but this has yet to be confirmed by their PR commitee.
I just thought it could be a good time to come see your new TV (still awaiting your manly touch in my basement) and mooch some food so I don't gain a thousand pounds (of muscle) from this Sporting Event. Bring a friend - I have none myself.
This being that, the Invitation is now lauchned into cyberspace, cowboy. Let me know if you're interesting (as the Chinese say).
Le Seb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)