TL

Welcome back to the Glamour Magick Beauty blog. Myself and millions of others were excited to hear mega artist, Beyoncé was returning to the scene with a three part album entitled, ‘Renaissance’. While Bey only released act 1 on July 29th, it’s some good eating for fans as it’s a full length album featuring 16 songs with an hour and two minute run time. However, critic and fan reviews have been mixed. It’s a Pop album and while I enjoy Pop-yoncé, I am not feeling ‘Renaissance’ all the way. The lyrics, beats and transitions make it sound like it could serve as the soundtrack to HBO’s, ‘Euphoria’ (listen to my review dragging it).

Never before have I heard Beyonce singing so openly about drug use and all out debauchery. Several of the songs off, “Renaissance”, reference getting fucked up or getting fucked up and wild sex. I understand the lyrics of her praising her looks and body and bragging about her money, but I do wish the overall work had more substance. I enjoy the, “I’m That Girl” beat and I don’t mind psychedelic sounding music in general. However, I need meaning and to be able to connect to the lyrics. I wish she collabed with Swae Lee because he’s an awesome writer with great melodies. Gunna could’ve helped her too if he wasn’t locked up.

Lyrically I think Beyoncé is in the same place as her rapper hubby Jay-Z. They both live extremely lavishly lives and while they may be able to connect with the average person in their day-to day, their music doesn’t. It’s not fair to knock them for having a more extravagant reality than the average person when they’ve done things the average person hasn’t. It’s just that most of us can’t relate to knocking Basquiat’s off the wall or putting Hérmes Birkins in storage. Beyonce lives in Bel-Air and ‘Renaissance’ sounds like it captures that experience well. I could definitely see the cast of Beverly Hills bumping and relating to this and again that’s fine because rich women who like pills need music too.

Another complaint I have that many other fans have stated to are the constant rapping. I understand that Beyoncé has always given us a few bars here and there and I don’t have a problem with that but I do have a problem with wack bars. She killed the bridge on “Kitty Kat” but ‘Renaissance’ doesn’t have that same swag. Also if it’s Pop maybe don’t rap? Also isn’t Bey an RnB singer? Since the 2013 release of ‘Self-Titled’ it’s kinda hard to tell. Beyonce has been rapping and making Pop jams for the past several years but I blame all the rap influence on Jay-Z. That being said I want some classic RnB jams from Bey. She does other genres well but it’s been a minute since we got a ‘4’, ‘B-Day’, or ‘Dangerously In Love’. While even these album are considered Pop on Apple Music she typically gets nominated for Contemporary RnB at the Grammys. Maybe Bey is done with RnB and she has every right to be and to sonically evolve–but she missed something on ‘Renaissance’. Fans also have a right to an opinion.

Some of my fave tracks are, “I’m That Girl”, “Cozy”, and “Break My Soul”. “Cozy” gives mirror affirmation and self-love vibes in my opinion while the lead single, “Break My Soul” is one of the catchiest and most mainstream songs on the album. I didn’t really like it upon it’s initial release but it’s the song stuck in my head the most now.

I know it’s not popular with the public right now and I found many others who only like 2-4 songs so far. It may age well or it may not. I believe it’ll certainly be used for a ton for movies and tv shows but how well will it perform on stage? I know Bey is creative but visuals don’t makeup for subpar music. I’m hoping her next release is better written and more thoughtful. I’m a long-time fan so I’m holding out hope that either act 2 or 3 will feature some RnB hits. I also think one will have Funk type music since the 80s have returned which is a big reason for this act being so disco and ballroom friendly in the first place.

Let me know your thoughts and opinions in the comments along with some of your favorite songs. Catch me on the Glamour Magick Beauty podcast til next time.