Skip to main content

Beyonce is Shakespeare

So... some time last week I tweeted:


No... I have not lost my mind.

I was reading random things about her new album and it occurred to me that I am not looking forward to it. Like... No plans to listen... no download plans... Her single, "Run the World (Girls)," is hella wack. I felt a little ashamed that I had fallen off the bandwagon somewhere. I mean... I AM a Beyonce fan. I grew up on Destiny's Child. (Shoot... if girls today had some kind of Destiny's Child, they'd be more productive and confident.) I defended Beyonce's horrible acting in Goldmember. I purchased Dream Girls (even though I haven't watched it since theaters...) But though I continue to defend her against haters and dick riders alike, I never actually listened to I Am...Sasha Fierce. Ever. I didn't even try to. I mocked her performance in Obsessed and absolutely refuse to watch her in Cadillac Records. (I do not care what you say. I draw the line at Etta.) How can I really call myself a Beyonce fan now?

In an attempt to find the chasm that claimed my fandom, I embarked on a Beyonce self study. I spent about a week listening to hers and Destiny's Child's discographies in chronological order. I already sorta think in song, but I began to think in Knowles. Dumb shit like "diva is a female version of a hustla" began to make sense to me. So on that Thursday as I'm curling my hair and Beyonce calls, "All my single ladies!" knowing that she's not single and that song was written by a man, it hit me: Beyonce is as close to a Shakespeare as anyone in my brothers's generation will see.

This isn't a really deep statement. Eh... it is, but it isn't. It was my brain's attempt to put me back into some intellectual space, to contextualize Beyonce in my current life and not my life at 16. But if you think about it... Beyonce is ridiculously prolific and not everything she releases is worthy of high praise but she gets it anyway. Most of her songs aren't deeply personal. In 100 years, you won't be able to look at any of her albums as a reflection of her state of mind. Further... A lot of her biggest hits, the songs you reference when you think "Beyonce," aren't hers. They're collaborations or songs she threw her name on. I don't know about you, but all that makes me think of Shakespeare.

Hopefully y'all don't still think I'm crazy... I'll be writing about my Beyonce fandom a little closer to her new album's release as I gather my thoughts on my emersion... Just... go easy on me between now and then... If I tweet something crazy like "Beyonce did more to shape my feminism than Audre Lorde," don't shoot me. For... I'm just an Independent Woman (Part 1) thinking about my Bills, Bills, Bills...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Love a Good Conspiracy Theory

OK… So… A lot of this is repetitive (and that's actually important…) so I'm not going to go over everything about all these folks. You can read the bulk of it at the source sites. There are quite a few sites out there that say that Beyonce and others are possessed by the devil. It's actually a really interesting way to waste some time if you have it. But maybe that's just me since… I love a good conspiracy theory. I'm not here to debunk all this stuff. I just think some of it is simply wrong. Or… aimed at the wrong person. Or… conclusions based on shit that can't be considered evidence. Let's look, shall we... Alright... vigilantcitizen.com starts their analysis of Beyonce by saying Along with her new album, Beyonce has presented her fans to a new alter-ego named Sasha Fierce. The singer affirms that this new persona is the fun, more sexual and more aggressive side of her. This is however the “general public” version of the story. The esoteric meaning r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Facebook Stalking...

Officially, I'm hibernating right now. I don't really want to connect on Facebook or Twitter right now. However… from time to time, I'm bored and reading that stuff is still mildly amusing… A couple things I noticed while tip toeing around Facebook: A lot of these "friendships" are super manufactured past the point of being fake. They simply don't exist. There are people I'm friends with on Facebook that I don’t want to be bothered with in life. Am I afraid to delete them? Perhaps… Well… I deleted a bunch of them just a moment ago. (Part of my hibernation is purging…) But… why even bother to begin with? Having said that… I discovered that I'm NOT friends with some people I should be. I'm missing out on some connections. A while ago, I deleted EVERYONE while in an angry "fuck friendship" mood. I'm STILL re-adding and re-discovering people from that episode… If it makes you feel...
Post a Comment
Read more

T.I. Released from Prison... Early

Niggas are going to hate me for sure for this post… (If they don't already…) I don't care… This is unbelievable. Well… stranger things have happened. But… T.I. was released from prison after spending 7 months there on gun charges. I like T.I.'s music and ATL was a good movie and I definitely plan to see Takers . Nothing against him personally. I don't think he's a bad person. HOWEVER. Dude is a 7-time felon who violated his probation by purchasing assault weapons and silencers. He spent SEVEN frickin months in jail. For that . OK. He didn't use the guns. Ok. He thought his life was in danger. Ok. He's turning his life around. All that is awesome for T.I. But what about the frickin justice system? Are we REALLY saying it's ok for a 7-time felon to get away with illegal shit just because he's a good rapper? Bernie Madoff got 150 years in prison for getting rich off of scamming rich people but T.I. got 7 months for buying life-threatening weapons...
Post a Comment
Read more