Music

Beyonce's new album features Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, and Serena Williams

by Jesse Locke

While it’s not quite accurate to call Beyoncé’s Lemonade a surprise release when she announced the date of its HBO premiere two weeks ago, the ‘visual album’ still delivered some shockers.

Described as “a conceptual project based on every woman’s journey of self knowledge and healing,” Beyoncé’s sixth studio album/short film is a whole lot more than that. Most notably, it doubles down on the race issues tackled in its first single “Formation” with shots of the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, references to Malcolm X, and Kendrick Lamar rapping about Fox News and police brutality on “Freedom.” Can’t wait to hear what the National Sheriffs Association have to say about this.

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Beyoncé’s husband Jay Z also feels the burn on “Sorry”, where she goes after his infidelity with the immortal closing lines “He only want me when I’m not on there / He better call Becky with the good hair.”

Many have speculated that ‘Becky’ is fashion designer Rachel Roy, the ex romantic partner of Jay’s ex business partner Damon Dash, who sealed her fate with an Instagram post with a highly suspicious caption: “Good hair don’t care, but we will take good lighting, for selfies, or self truths, always.” Naturally, her mentions were flooded with lemon and bee emojis, but the real damage was done to Jay.

Of course, there’s much, much more to unpack here. Lemonade also features Jack White and a sample of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks” on “Don’t Hurt Yourself”, Isaac Hayes’ “Walk On By” and Animal Collective’s “My Girls” on “6 Inch”, Serena Williams joining the squad in “Sorry”, Beyoncé riding a horse in the brassy country song “Daddy Lessons”, and maybe best of all, the revelation that the ‘hot sauce’ she keeps in her bag is actually the name of the baseball bat she uses to smash fire hydrants, car windows, and finally the camera.