She raps almost as much as Jay now, meaning that at any moment she can make the exhilarating jump between her world-caliber, old-school gospel belting and her slurred, drawling rap cadences. She’s at the center of all the songs, supplying almost all of the choruses and laying down these great, jubilant adlibs when she isn’t. It bears repeating that Beyoncé really is the anchor of this project. This is music suited for the summer the deep bass and muted, gurgling synths on “Apeshit” will be blaring out of car stereos until Labor Day and beyond. The Pharrell beat on “Nice” recalls his spacious work on “Neon Guts,” with kicks and hi-hats so irregular that the day-glo keys laid over them sound like they could expand forever D’Mile’s “Boss,” like Lupe Fiasco’s “Kill” before it, turns Ty Dolla $ign’s resonant, soulful baritone into a church organ and lets it loose. The music here is lush and full, and everything about it sounds expensive. In other words: they’re here to shit-talk, to remind you that they’re richer and happier than you, but also to allow you to aspire to their station. Everything is Love sees the pair unburdened at last by their struggle, ready to reassert their dominance over the landscape, both separately and together. The general theme here is that after the masterful, emotionally-charged Lemonade, in which Beyoncé worked to process and overcome her husband’s infidelity, and the scraped-out, introspective 4:44, in which Jay tore down his façade and made a conscious effort to be a better, more committed partner, the Carters have emerged stronger than ever. But thankfully, the luxurious, ebullient Everything is Love is much more “Déjà Vu” than “Hollywood,” and it serves as a controlled, contented closer to the Infidelity Trilogy kicked off by Bey’s Lemonade.
And that’s good! The open secret of the couple’s working relationship is that they make far more clunkers together than they do classics, especially in Jay’s catalog. The world-conquering star released Everything is Love without warning over this past weekend, and-how cute is this?-she even let her husband help make the album with her! The two share billing for the record as “The Carters,” a heartening show of marital unity, but to be clear: this is much more a Beyoncé feat. But, to paraphrase Aubrey “Wheelchair James” Graham, in dire times, when you need a sign, that’s when Beyoncé appears.
Since she can’t escape judgment, she opts to be seen as crazy.I don’t know if you’ve seen the news over the last few weeks, but, at least for me, it can feel sometimes like hope is in short supply, like things are bad and there’s no way of knowing if they’re going to get better. This acknowledges that the singer knows her actions will be interpreted in two ways: either she’s jealous and possessive, or she has lost her mind. Or like being walked all over lately, walked all over lately What’s worse, looking jealous or crazy? Jealous or crazy?
A repeated line in the chorus says as much: The singer herself was clearly aware of these controversies. Others thought it was a more subtle comment on the intricacies of feminine ideals, societal expectations, and gender relations. Some critics objected to the violence of the video, feeling that it was harmful to portray women-especially women of color-as destructive and vindictive. Beyoncé’s dress strikes a strong contrast to her violent actions with the baseball bat, leading many people to view it as a commentary on feminism and womanhood. The video is clearly a deliberate and intricate piece of art, contrasting the societal expectations of women with the pain of infidelity. The music video and song have both been the subject of many positive and negative interpretations.