It has officially been more than a week since Beyonce's new album and artistic film took the internet by storm and blessed us with the gift of her music. Every instant scene of "Lemonade," was put together in a sequence of poetry, art, and music. It wasn't just visually appealing, but signals of power. Beyonce effectively brought to life the beauty and difficulty of the everyday black woman, all the different stages a woman endures, from childbearing to the heart-wrenching stages of betrayal, all taking place in an unapologetic fantasy. But this was all taken away by the one question social media wanted to focus on: Who is Becky?
The song where the reference comes from is "Sorry," and the lyrics go like:
"He only want me when I'm not there"
"He better call Becky with the good hair."
But, although this song was written with the thought of being apologetic, there are no signs of sorry in it. It is a defiant break-up song, about the "sorry, not sorry" relationship. Beyonce wants to claim that she does not miss her ex-relationship at this point in her music. And she won't be accepting any apologies from anyone anytime soon. Whatever happened, well happened. There is no going back.
Aside from the breakdown of each lyric, the fact that social media wanted to focus on Becky means the mark of the story was completely missed. This is never meant to be about the other woman, it's Bey who is telling the story. Social media just feeds on the need to want to tear women down. I am tired of society wanting to find a solution to control women in the music industry. Beyonce initially just wanted to start a moving portrait of black womanhood and here we are, just trying to find the woman that Jay-Z could have potentially been with. By giving attention to the other woman, we are immortalizing the sexist cycle of the mistreated woman.
It is not confirmed that he even cheated on Beyonce, it's all an assumption. Of course, scandals sell, which means more money for the music. But that was not the point here. Beyonce is trying to take power back from the world that as been built to tear women of color down and tell them how they are meant to live their lives. It's more than just music, it's a movement. Beyonce is using her platform as an artist to talk about the injustice and mistreatment of women. She is not going to be silent any longer, she is going to stand in solidarity to help black women feel like they can claim their rights.
When you drink lemonade, it's usually sweet. Underneath there is some sourness, but mixed together, it doesn't taste bad. Just like the experience of drinking lemonade, Beyonce is ready to show everyone the layers of women. She is showing vulnerability and empowering chapters of music in this new album. She wants you to look at yourself and accept your broken features. This is about taking back every inch of who you know you are. And there is no need to be sorry about that.
