Why I Drank The Lemonade?

On Saturday evening, HBO premiered Beyonce’s Lemonade. After it ended Beyonce was the topic of all conversation. Most were surprised at the reveal of possible infidelity in her marriage, and others were just amazed over the strong black female imagery.

What stuck out to me the most is what people are hardly even talking about. Which was the raw expressionism through art and the willing participation of her husband who was essentially crucified in front of the masses. Who are we kidding here, this was far worse than Nas’s Ether.

As Beyonce themed the visual album with the common emotions of a cheating spouse, I thought it was interesting that she let the world in so deeply. I was even more surprised at Jay Z’s appearance of support in her way to heal. That was so strong and appealed to me that he was able to stand in his fault. Not a lot of men would have done that for the person they love. They’d rather hide in shame. In that moment I was touched and felt their realness.

However, most people felt it was a publicity stunt to sell her album. Some even said it was her using her marriage to compete with other pop stars like Rihanna. I dismiss both of these claims. Beyonce has been private about her relationship, marriage, and overall life for years.  It was so bad that people didn’t even believe she was actually carrying a child due to a folding dress incident during an interview.  Beyonce doesn’t need sensationalism to sell music.

I think we are all seeing an evolution of an artist. We are seeing her finally shedding her image and being herself. Over these last two bodies of work I have noticed the change in her sexiness, risky lyrics, vulgar language, and over all fucks not given in the music. It’s like she is removing the perfect layer of skin she had to be in order to get to this level. Beyonce comes from a time in music where they truly developed you as an artist. They told you what to wear, how to act, and what to say. You were an were a product to the public.

Which leaves no room for error. Although, Jay Z’s image allowed him all the mistakes, the mere fact that he sat there knowing what he was in for once this was released says a lot about his loyalty to their marriage.

He basically said anything you need for us to be better. As an artist I understand the process of writing down your emotions. Having that uninterrupted conversation with yourself. Being able to own every word and then release it. The whole point is to let it go. I feel this body of work allowed her to do just that.

It is a level of freedom that comes with that moment of release. She was most applauded for staying with her husband. Women over the Internet called her a real woman for holding him down through his mistakes.

I don’t think it was about leaving or staying it was about the ability to move on from these emotions without continuous pain. However, if you all think things are better with them you are probably mistaken. Things have maybe  leveled but normalcy after self-doubt is hard. You can never get back the care-free sleep or the dismissal of unaccounted time.

If he did it once, he will do it again. The words that may flood your mind when it’s late and he hasn’t come home. Things that you use to glaze over, you can’t anymore due to the level of pain you’ve experienced. So I am sure they have much more work to do.

Cheating changes the entire view of the relationship. It is a fight to stay and to leave. Lastly, Rachel Roy said some insensitive comments after the short film ended. Quoting Beyonce’s line “Becky with the good hair”. The Beyhive took no time attacking her saying things like how can Jay Z even consider a woman like her? That she was ugly and a hoe.

I want to make a few things clear about men and cheating. It doesn’t matter what the female looks like, has, or is. During that partner’s time of selfishness they chose that person because they felt they weren’t getting something from their partner. Despite if this feeling is true or not.

That is how the cheater will rationalize their deceitful behavior. So she could have been the ugliest woman but she was what he wanted to relief some sort of need no matter how big or small. In my opinion, the act hurts so bad because the victim feels they weren’t communicated with to at least try to give them what they were missing.

I think women particularly focus on the way the other woman looks like to make them feel better about themselves. The affirmation of outside beauty in some idiotic way makes us feel power over an uncontrollable situation.

We find ourselves trying to win against this other woman who has invaded our relationship. This is the kind of solace some seek in order to cope with the overall betrayal. We know it doesn’t take the pain away but it is an excellent distraction.

Outside of the revealing moments of cheating, I loved the female collaborative theme through out the entire project. I loved how the imagery showed how much stronger we are united. As catty as women can be overall it was nice to see us bond through her music. Who hasn’t felt any of those very emotions she showed us? When these things happen we need our mothers, sisters, and girlfriends to help us find our inner strength.

In my final thoughts, I don’t think Lemonade was meant to be a chart topper but a message to wives. A message to friends. A message to sisters. A message to girlfriends. That in each other we can find our power. How we can rebuild from the worst situations to become the ultimate force.

This art was appreciated.

xoxo

Jersey 🙌🏾