Educating the gorls (and the boys) about the gorls is my passion especially since I heard rumblings that APPARENTLY, some people did not vibe with Beyoncé’s seventh studio album, Renaissance.
Coocoo crazy, I know.
Anyways, in celebration of Queen B recently announcing her world tour (I will be seated) and her HERstoric 32nd Grammy win, I took it upon myself to explore Beyoncé’s album of the century, Renaissance.
Renaissance is a celebration, a triumph, an expertly crafted homage to dance music at its purest and original form. The songwriting, production, and use of references and sampling is incredibly dense, with over 170 songwriting credits throughout the album. This isn’t because Beyonce is lacking in the songwriting skills department; she expertly blended hundreds of samples, references, sounds, beats, and tracks from Black musicians and artists to create a cohesive homage to the great queer music that has been celebrated among the underground ballroom and dance scenes for decades.
She opens the record with “I’m That Girl”, underlaying Princess Loko’s verse from Tommy Wright III’s track Still Pimpin before diving into a Latin trap, urbano-esque beat accompanied with Queen B’s vocals establishing that she is THAT girl and she means business. It’s easy to get swept away and lost in the album, as she cleverly transitions from song to song so seamlessly one after the other. Legends such as Grace Jones, Big Freida, Kevin Aviance, Nile Rodgers, Moi Renee, and more appear throughout the album all the while Beyoncé reiterates her place in Black artistry and music.
To be more concise, I’m going to highlight my top 5 (or 6) moments from the album:
- Obvi “I’m That Girl” because I just gave that girl a whole paragraph.
- “Alien Superstar”: The ultimate haus anthem celebrating vanity, opulence, and extravagance. J’adore.
- “Heated” perfectly captures queer aesthetics and ballroom lingo. When you hear Beyoncé sing lyrics like “Ten, ten, ten, across the board/Give me face, face, face, face, yah your face card never declines/Eat it, eat it, eat it, mmh, yummy, yummy, yummy, make a bummy heated”, remember that these unintelligible, psychotic, and seemingly meaningless lyrics exist solely to service the vibe and the music. They are like added percussions that simply slay. The girls who get it get it, and if you don’t I feel bad for you.
- “Pure/Honey”: Let Miss Queen B remind you that it cost a billion to look this good.
- “Virgo’s Groove”: it’s giving full fantasy disco roller rink vibes.
- “America Has A Problem”: If you don’t got Ivy P on yo bag and double G’s on yo dash then you have a problem.
Some honorable mentions…the rest of the catalogue. Slay. Perfection. Everything and MORE. Beyoncé’s approach to creating music that celebrates black artists and queer culture resulted in such a rich tapestry of addictive dance music that never fails to disappoint. Hope you listen to this album and slay and dance and celebrate.
In conclusion, if you don’t like Renaissance then don’t speak to me bye.
