We need to talk about Beyonce.

BEYONCE. QUEEN BEY. YONCE. She's been serving us tea, shade, and most importantly, "Lemonade." She is arguable the most famous person on the planet and has been an icon for years. But she gave us a whole new take on herself with the release of "Lemonade," her iconic Super Bowl performance, and the video "Formation." "Lemonade" is the most controversial album she has released, no doubt. But we need to talk about how she has changed the game. We need to discuss her impact on black and female empowerment. Moving forward, we need to talk about Beyonce and what she means to all of us.

The Queen's Rise To Power.

Beyonce, born Beyonce Knowles in Houston, Texas grew up in a family that ideally wanted her to pursue their dreams. Both parents quit their day jobs to pursue young Beyonce’s aspirations of becoming a world-class performer. With the rise of Destiny’s Child, we saw that a younger Beyonce was already adept at stage presence and could carry herself well in any respectable manner she needed to. We also saw that she stole the light from her band mates. This resulted in the band breaking up and Beyonce to go on and release her own music exclusively.

Beyonce came out with two albums but nothing hit the world as hard as the ultra-feminist album: "I Am… Sasha Fierce." Blending pop and female empowerment was a high risk, high reward move on the fairly new artist’s plate. She would either grossly fail, or it would launch her to an unprecedented level of fame. Fate chose the latter and Beyonce instantly became a household name, as well as her ego, Sasha Fierce. Beyonce instantly became arguably the most famous female african american of her time and was rushed to the top of the charts with her singles “Sweet Dreams," “Single Ladies," and “If I Were A Boy."

Moving forward, Beyonce became an icon, not just a phasing trend. It was clear the artist could not conform to societal normalities and was compared to Michael Jackson as a queen of pop music. It was her tenacity and feminine power that both angered and delighted millions of people. H(er connections in the industry also helped her amass a fortune of over 400 million dollars. She began dating Jay-Z and when married, their combined total net worth soared to 920 million dollars, which made them and still makes them the most powerful couple in music today and possibly in history.

Almost a year of silence was broken by a small teaser that sent the pop culture into hysteria. "Lemonade," was teased with small, sharp, poignant shots of random people. Her hair was in braids, there were women with tribal painting on their face, and they all wore gaudy clothing of the 1800s. The scene had changed. Beyonce sat on her throne and changed her image at will; and it proved to be her smartest career move ever.

Let's Get In Formation.

"Lemonade," which was to be a visual album of sorts was revolutionary for the star’s repute and career. She shot off the first single "Formation" with a video on the same day out of nowhere and the world was watching. The video portrays Beyonce with baby hair, which is the way genetically African American hair can grow out, frizzed and fraying into a long afro. She also tied her hair into braids. Sitting on a sinking car in the south, she begins by addressing her haters by shooting down the theory that she was part of the illuminati by saying, “Y’all haters corny with that illuminati mess.” She then cockily sends a message to the paparazzi by saying, “Paparazzi catch my fly and my cocky fresh!” She goes on to brag about immense wealth by stating, “I’m so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress." Givenchy is one of Beyonce’s favorite brands and is one of the most expensive fashion labels in existence. And finishes the first verse by saying, “I’m so possessive so I rock his roc necklaces," she says this which expresses feminine power, dominating a male by possessing his entity. She goes into an epic pre-chorus by declaring with proud her heritage: “My daddy Alabama, Mama: Louisiana: you mix that negro with that creole, make a Texas-bama!” Through the mix of and southern U.S. culture, she declares with pride that she is from Texas. The video depicts her in a hallway with a red one-piece, and she dances to the lyrics: “I like my baby hair; my baby hair and afro; I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils; earned all this money, but they never took the country out me! I got hot sauce in my bag swag!” This pre-chorus encompasses the meaning of "Formation" and the basis for the hour-long video which is going back to her heritage and being pride of where she comes from. Her prudent use of cultural references throughout the song, Formation is meant to help the African American people identify with her such as saying “I like corn bread; and collard greens bitch!” or “When he fucks me good, I’ll take his ass to red lobster." The goal is to reconnect with her people. It’s an anthem of empowerment for a community that has lost hope from being crushed and oppressed. She wants her black fans to known that they can be a “black Bill Gates” and that staying true to your heritage is essential.

The video then controversially depicts a black child dancing in front of a line of white police officers when a sign appears that says, “Stop shooting us”. This part immediately caused retaliation amongst conservative Americans and police officers nationwide which consequently boycotted the album, and tour. Beyonce cleverly turned the tables when she made a fortune selling T-shirts that read “Boycott Beyonce” while stating the ridiculousness of boycotting her. Their boycott mad her even more famous.

She closes the video by saying “OK, ladies, now let’s get in formation, you know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation; always stay gracious; best revenge is your paper." She ends the song and video on a light note, encouraging people to use their money as the revenge, not violence and to always stay authentic and gracious.

Beyonce then made a surprise appearance at the Superbowl 51 half time show when she performed Formation, live for the first time. She wore a X crossed military style outfit with belts of bullets for a machine gun wrapped around her. Her army of dancers were dressed similar, the only difference being the berets they had; which was to make them look like Black Panthers, the militant African American group which fought for civil rights-- sometimes violently. This sparked even more outrage and consequently made her popularity shoot through the roof.

Queen Bey Pours Some Lemonade.

Post Superbowl, Beyonce announced that "Lemonade" would be a visual album as well as an audio one. Each song would have its own music video, similarly to Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” which garnered unprecedented praise. But Beyonce’s production was mixed with spoken word, very similarly to Lana Del Rey’s, Tropico. Like Lana’s, "Lemonade" told a story.

In this case, it was about many things. From her heritage, to infidelity, and a possible tragic miscarriage, "Lemonade" takes us on a visually stunning adventure through the mind of a woman who’s heart is fighting to break free from the paranoia, fear, and ultimately love for a man who doesn’t love her the same way.

The video premiered on HBO and sparked a wave of discussion when she said “You’d better call Becky with the good hair." This was not only a jab at white culture but hinted that her husband of over three years, Jay-Z was cheating on her with a white woman.

Taylor Swift even took to Instagram to reassure everyone she was “Not Becky” wearing a T-Shirt that stated that very thing. The hashtag “Not Becky” erupted and began trending on almost every social media platform. Lemonade starts out by her saying to her man who has been unfaithful: “You remind me of my father, a magician,” and she begins singing a soft melody with a mood of paranoia that leads up to the moment where she throws herself off a building, but instead of brick, lands into an underwater house, which represents her unconscious being, looking at her sleeping. She then describes the intense ritual she had gone through to answer her age old question: “Are you cheating on me?”

The whole video which is approximately one hour long is comprised of 111 chapters, each one evoking and expressing an emotion such as anger and intuition. The music videos are stunning, each one offering a different flavor. From rolling over cars in a giant monster truck, to burning down a house, to being a gang leader in a parking garage, she eloquently expresses the struggles she has mentally gone through to forgive him and for redemption to be present.

She ends the video with a story referencing howler Grandmother made lemonade:

Take one pint of water, add a half pound of sugar, the juice of eight lemons, the zest of half a lemon. Pour the water from one jug then into the other several times. Strain through a clean napkin.

“Grandmother, the alchemist, you spun gold out of this hard life, conjured beauty from the things left behind. Found healing where it did not live. Discovered the antidote in your own kit. Broke the curse with your own two hands. You passed these instructions down to your daughter who then passed it down to her daughter.

I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade. My grandma said "Nothing real can be threatened." True love brought salvation back into me. With every tear came redemption and my torturers became my remedy. So we're gonna heal. We're gonna start again. You've brought the orchestra, synchronized swimmers.

You're the magician. Pull me back together again, the way you cut me in half. Make the woman in doubt disappear. Pull the sorrow from between my legs like silk. Knot after knot after knot. The audience applauds ... but we can't hear them.”

The roller coaster of emotions we are taken on ends with Formation as a supplementary piece, but has no engagement with the storyline. Lemonade ends and the world has so many reaction to it, but beautiful was the principle of the story.

The Formation World Tour.

After "Lemonade" was released and the album went up for sale, Beyonce announced she would be embarking immediately on a world tour to be named, “The Formation World Tour” The tour is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s stunning visuals and stage set up captivate the audience’s attention on an enormous rectangular prism that has screens on every side.

After flashing a few times, sudden bursts of images are shot upon the screens and builds the anticipation up for when it goes black and the beginning of Formation begins. Hundreds of thousands of screams fill the stadium as her dancers move slowly onto center stage.

Beyonce’s lineup includes many songs from her new album but also includes a few classics such as "Who Run The World? (Girls)" and her finale complete with fireworks was "Halo." Through the stunning blend of music, dance, and rhythm made for a beautiful experience. Her legendary dancing was stunning as were the visuals she brought forth.

Finishing up the North American leg of the tour, she added more dates in Houston, Texas and performed her song “Freedom” at the BET awards with water and fire to boot. It was a grand display and mirrors the way she performs the song on her tour as well.

In Conclusion.

The thing we need to realize about this new era of Beyonce, is that it is so significant in the way she wants to move her career forward. Or even if she does. Many argue this may be the final jewel on the queen of pop’s crown. With 900 million in the bank, she might not have a need to continue her career. And with the spectacularity of this album, it is not improbable that she might just call it quits. Perhaps she believes it is time for a new queen to step up and take the throne alongside the great artists of this generation such as Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson. But she may continue, wowing us all over again with the power of her stand on women’s issues.

In all honesty, it’s hard to tell which direction she’ll move in, but all we know is that we hope she’ll keep pouring lemonade out on all us peasants and continue to slay, everyday.