Beyonce Fan Ethnography

Beyoncé Knowles’s Lemonade video album brings the words of Beyoncé into a visual media and shows the viewer a deeper meaning behind the album. After this video came out many articles came forward analyzing Lemonade. One article, in particular, that was intriguing is Bell Hooks “Moving Beyond Pain.” Hooks starts her article saying that the Lemonade video was created as a money-making, business strategy, but as the text continues the reader can conclude that “Moving Beyond Pain” is actually about African American women, and women in general, standing up for themselves.

I establish that Adele had the platform to make this speech because she was given the power to do so. The Academy awards handed this power to her literally in the form of an award and in turn, the Grammy awards exposed the underlying racial problems they have been hounded about for years. It is worth noting that mainstream categories like the Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year , Adele was nominated for are considered to be “white privileged” while other categories like “Best R’n’b” and “Best Urban contemporary album” are considered to be “black”. These awards meant to celebrate artists have become boxes in the forms of categories designed to “zone” artists based on race. This play of power in the form of white privilege and its use to “box” black artists will be best understood from a historical and relatable perspective. The New york Times offers an informatory perspective from which we can understand how the Grammys conceptually segregate artists. Then, the pattern of conceptual segregation will exposed by examining racial zoning in early urban planning movements and its relation to conceptual segregation. Most importantly, Adele’s speech provides a primary and individual vantage point to understand conceptual segregation in its basic

In the essay, “Hip-Hop’s Betrayal Of Black Women”(221), by Jennifer McLune, she vents her feelings regarding hip-hop songs that are rhythmically diminishing the value of black women. She provides example on how the lyrics are being voiced and how hip-hop artists do not seem to care. Kevin Powell in “Notes of a Hip Hop Head” writes, “Indeed, like rock and roll, hip-hop sometimes makes you think we men don’t like women much at all, except to objectify them as trophy pieces or, as contemporary vernacular mandates, as baby mommas, chicken heads, or bitches” (221). There have been apologizes for what the rappers have said but nothing to resolve the dehumanization of black women. McLune informs the readers that hip-hop singers belittle black women and make them invisible. Jay-Z, a popular hip-hop artist is brought to center stage by McLune. The essay shows the example of a part of Jay-Z song that says, “I pimp hard on a trick, look Fuck if your leg broke bitch hop on your good foot” (222). This lyric is a perfect example of how hip-hop artist have no remorse in the words they sing. The hurt feelings and loss of self-esteem black women suffer, is of no concern to the rappers. McLune expresses that those who are underground hip-hop artist follow the footsteps on being sexist and using crude words in their lyrics just because they yearn and dream of being in the spotlight. Upcoming rappers want to be loved like Jay-Z and other famous notorious rappers.

Robyn Rihanna Fenty, more publicly known as Rihanna, is a Barbados born Bajan beauty who has been in the public eye since the age of 17. She was propelled to fame with the release of her first studio album ‘Music of the Sun’ (2005) which established her Caribbean influenced pop/dance music. With big time diva’s such as Beyoncé and Ciara dominating the music industry during 2005, it hasn’t come easy for the young star to procure some of that limelight and publicity. What separated Rihanna from the competition was, according to music journalist Chloe Goven, her “winsome rather than wannabe” (2012 p.45) approach to fame. This essay will investigate Rihanna’s advocation of Black Feminism and the rise of an ever changing and newly sexually liberated

“Run,” the promotional trailer for Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s concert could very well be a legitimate Hollywood blockbuster of its own. In the following four minutes of the trailer, shots spanning for no more than three seconds each glorify the power couple, showering them in action-packed scenes with guns, money, and alcohol. An explosion is even interspersed among the rapidly changing scenes. With both artists at the forefront of the music industry, it is no surprise that ‘Queen Bey’ and ‘Hov’ (derived from Jehova originally meaning God) go all out to prove to their audience that they embody sophistication, threat, vulnerability, excitement, and value—they deserve their respective epithets of ‘Queen’ and ‘God’, and they prove this perfectly with

For nearly twenty years, Beyoncé has lived her life in the public eye yet she has always kept her cool, been submissive, and rather quiet when it came to her personal endeavors however after releasing the film “Lemonade”, we are able to see her in a vulnerable light. In Jeremy Helliger’s article: “Dear Beyhive: Stop Whining. Beyoncé Still Hasn’t Earned Her Album Of The Year Grammy” he addresses the idea that although Beyoncé was able to encourage black women to be proud and free, she also she missed the mark by adding raunchy, over the top content to her vulnerability.

Over the past few years tragic events seem to be surrounding our society. An array of killings, social protests, police brutality and racism have startled the nation. Lately celebrities have been addressing these issues more and more on TV, in interviews and in the public eye. One incredible artist just used her talent to address all of these issues and more in her new music video "Formation". Beyoncé is an iconic figure in our culture, spreading her talent, feminist views and activism worldwide. This video is one of a kind. It is not centered on her but on Black America. There have been many critics disagreeing with Beyoncé 's video. They felt that she spread negative messages of police throughout her video. Others, however, loved her video. They felt she used her platform to reach out and address issues. Supporters and critics of the video have expressed their opinions in many different ways. In this paper I will analyze this video that has been shared worldwide. The question I ask is: "How does Beyoncé depict the complexity of Black Americans?" In order to answer this question, I will apply Pentadic criticism to analyze this discourse.

Beyonce is an African American female artist making incorporating empowering messages for women around the world. She is creating work that speaks to an audience that might not receive authentic mainstream. Beyonce ultimate goal is to visually and sonically entice wisdom through her music. Recently in a shocking video release, Beyonce debuted a new song “Formation” as well as a politically charged music video. This song was an uproar in the music industry worldwide. Millions of people around the world negatively viewed this song as a controversy. The music video and song caused many people to debate and cause a worldwide conflict.

The audience may think the top of their heads might blow off, when first hearing the song “Mystery of Iniquity” by Lauryn Hill. The album that the song was on (MTV Unplugged No. 2.0) went on to sell 5 million copies. Sure, there are females that rap, sure there are other ground-breaking studio productions that were a work of art in and of itself, and sure rappers use lyrics that connect to relationships, politics, faith, and cultural criticism, but not like the famous Lauryn Hill. The poetic devices in Lauryn Hill’s “Mystery of Iniquity” reveal society’s inevitable self-destruction through societal stigmas and stereotypes, justice system flaws, and religious references. To all the people who said that hip-hop had nothing important to say, and had not a lick of musical bone in them, this song was a smack in the face to all the haters.

It is a perfect culminating moment for how we make, distribute, and consume popular music.Examination of how Black cultural values and artistic traditions across the African diaspora inform Beyoncé’s artistic work.Articles on Beyoncé and her work might pursue the following, the role of intersectional feminism, especially Black feminism, in evaluating Beyoncé’s musical, audiovisual, and cultural work. The relation of late capitalism and neoliberalism to the reception and mediation of Beyoncé’s public persona. Theoretically informed thick descriptions of Beyoncé’s music recordings, videos, attached to the spectacle of the female body in pop

While Tricia Rose’s speech on educational equality is quite realistic, Beyoncé created an ineffective radical approach to spark violence. The educational system, particularly public schools should increase their standards in order to provide seamless and equal opportunities to individuals of all races and demographics. Notwithstanding, powerful individuals such as Beyoncé should not take advantage of sports events in order to attract 100 million viewers with wrongful exposure, creating unnecessary politically charged ideas. Our society is pervasive with inequality, and it is up to the system, rather than rappers, to ameliorate education, which will lead to equality rather than

In some context, it’s perceived as appropriate and logical that a pop superstar that possesses the attention and to a powerful caliber takes heed to the current events of the nation to bring a light of understanding and awareness of the mistreatment of minorities in poverty struck communities that Beyoncé illustrates in her “Formation” song and music video. However, personally, being born into a poverty, low income “black” neighborhood, find it rather pretentious that someone in the position Bey is in, to take advantage of the tragedies that may or may not have had little to no effect on herself personally, but was detrimental to others struck by the mistreatment and vicious neglect of the united states’

Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade gives a more personal view of her upbringing and how it influences the person she is today. One song in particular, “Formation,” explains how she was raised and how hard she worked to earn everything she owns. As a black woman, Beyoncé worked especially hard to overcome prejudice to become the iconic artist she is today. Beyoncé’s intention behind “Formation” is to empower all black people, but especially black women. Malcolm X’s speech “Who Taught You to Hate Yourself” delves into the racism that African Americans have always faced in America. In this speech, he questions why African Americans feel the need to separate themselves from their own race. In her article, “Beyoncé and #BlackLivesMatter,”Anna

Beyoncé. She’s one of the world’s most beloved pop stars, idolized and respected by millions of women and men around the world. What is it that makes Beyoncé Knowles “Queen B” among the young people of today’s society? To state it simply, it is her role as a mediated symbol. She is an idol of women empowerment and beauty. Beyoncé, as a powerful and renowned black woman, alters the pre-existing hegemonic ideology of “white male” equaling power and success in American society. In doing so, she also reinforces the more modern concepts of this Post-Fordist society by “keeping different from the Jones’”. Though some sources disagree, this essay will argue that because of society’s hegemonic ideology surrounding what constitutes power and the “ideal woman”, Beyoncé has become a revolutionary symbol representing minority and women empowerment through the use of media. As an symbol she has and is continuing to demonstrate more modern ideological structures, which in turn demonstrates continuously changing societal ideologies.

Music as we know plays an integral role in our lives, a ubiquitous companion (Schäfer, Sedlmeier, Städtler, & Huron, 2013) that provides an avenue for creation and diversion; one that allows for people to freely express themselves without scrutiny. However, this utopical paradigm is not always abided to as songs that garner greater attention will tend to attract a myriad of censure - the latter of which has surged in magnitude due to the rise in prominence of music streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora which has made music more accessible than ever (Boothby, 2013). This is the case for Royals, a five-times Platinum song (ARIA, 2013) released in 2013 by sixteen-year-old New Zealand songstress Ella Yellich-O'Connor; better known as Lorde.