Beyoncé is back with her best solo work to-date, a viciously honest album entitled Lemonade. Queen B has always been about female empowerment. From her Destiny’s Child days to her solo work, everything she has ever sung, every song she has ever written or produced has always had some kind of element of strength to it. Sometimes it’s a song about love or a love that ended or regaining love again. Perhaps it’s not about love at all and it’s about rallying people to stand up for themselves. Now, if you were to take all of these components and add them together, then take whatever that superb amount is and multiply it by 100, you might get Lemonade. But to be honest, I still think you would be coming up short.
Every track is one revealing self portrait at a time. It’s almost like we are reading B’s very personal journal entries. And just like any truly great song written by a great songwriter, while feeling like you’re living through the pain with her, you also find yourself moving in some way to the music. The opening of Lemonade is “Pray You Catch Me,” which is followed by one of my favorite tracks “Hold Up,” a track that is a mix of an upbeat dance rhythm, but listening to the words, there’s also questioning coming from the protagonist in this tale. One main lyric of the the song is, “But hold up! They don’t love you like I love you,” which is the main angry tone and focal point of the album. This is followed by another strong-ass song titled “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” which features Jack White. She ends the song with the warning, “If you try this shit again, you’ll lose your wife.” And just when you think you’ve heard the strongest song on the entire album, get ready, because you haven’t.  That being said, “Don’t Hurt Yourself”  is a great merge of R&B/hip hop and rock with a bluesy feel.
Then we move on to “Sorry” where we meet the infamous “Becky with the good hair.” There’s my personal favorite part, “middle fingers in the air.” It’s another great track, even if there’s a scandal attached to it. “6 Inch,” featuring The Weeknd, is another track that makes this album what it is. “Daddy Lessons” has a great 70’s vibe. On songs like “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles,” we’re seeing the end of, or what could be the end of a marriage. “All Night” is the song that seems to bring back hope to the marriage part of Lemonade.  Perhaps “Becky with the good hair” didn’t win this war after all (if those rumors are true).
“Freedom,” which features Kendrick Lamar, is one of the strongest songs on the album. Of course, one cannot forget “Formation.” Both songs speak up about the injustices that are still going on towards African Americans, but that only some people are talking up about. Everything about Lemonade, from start to finish, is a statement in the most powerful way. There’s now a hashtag to represent this movement. It might not have begun with Lemonade, but it became stronger because of it, #BlackLivesMatter.
Usually I tell you what’s a download-worthy song or songs of an album. With Lemonade, however, the entire album is download-worthy. Take my advice and just download the entire album, because it’s nothing short of amazing. Although some believe that this album might actually be a publicity stunt, as a writer, I do appreciate a good story. As a woman who’s had her heart broken more than once, I can listen to Lemonade as a therapy session. As a music-lover and Beyoncé fan, I listen to Lemonade and simply enjoy the music. Everything about Beyoncé’s new album is nothing short of extraordinary. And there’s no exaggeration with this statement.
