Beyoncé’s newest work of art, "Lemonade," has stirred up quite the conversation. Questions like, “Is Beyoncé part of the Illuminati or not?” “Did Jay-Z really cheat on Beyoncé?” “Why does her baseball bat say ‘hot sauce’?” “When did Bey get so Voodoo-queen-tastic?” “Who is Becky with the good hair?” And finally, the biggest question, “Was this all just a plot to get hella album sales?”

"Formation" starts off with, “Y’all haters corny with that Illuminati mess.” There are many conspiracy theories claiming that Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and other entertainment elite are part of the Illuminati. Others who are suspected of belonging to this Illuminati group are Adele, Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Barack Obama, Will Smith, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, and many others. What does the Illuminati do? They’re theorized to be a group of elite men and women who “pull the strings” of events around the world—creating natural disasters, choosing presidents, killing off Tupac, etc. Supposedly the Illuminati is working to establish the New World Order, which a lot of people think is the front for the Antichrist. (I highly suggest avoiding reading stuff about it all honestly. It traps you into reading it—even if you think it’s ridiculous). Do I actually believe the Illuminati is a real thing? Eh, probably not. Famous people are friends with each other—that doesn’t mean they’re plotting in secret rooms on how to take over the world. I think Beyoncé wearing goat necklaces and flashing triangles at Super Bowl halftime shows probably has a lot more to do with personal interests and weird fashion choices. Do we choose to believe her line about the Illuminati? I think yes.

There a few theories regarding the presence of hot sauce. In “Formation,” Beyoncé says, “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag”. Meanwhile, in the video sectioned for “Hold Up,” Bey’s bat says “Hot Sauce.” Are these two things connected or does Beyoncé just really love hot sauce? I’d like to think that maybe Beyoncé really just has a big thing of Texas Pete, Tabasco, or Louisiana hot sauce chillin’ at the bottom of her bag. However, the fact that hot sauce is present on her baseball bat most likely means something. Some people are taking on the belief that “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag” is actually saying, “I have a baseball bat at the ready so you don’t really want to mess with me.” After watching Beyoncé smash a car with that bat, you best believe I don’t want to mess with her, and I can’t imagine why any “Becky” would. Also, you can’t overlook the racial ties (yes, I said racial ties) that hot sauce has. Someone else has taken the time to explain this point, so I’ll just share the knowledge here. (To read more about the significance of hot sauce, check out this detailed explanation.)

When did Beyoncé get so Voodoo-queen-tastic? While watching "Lemonade," I felt like I was in the middle of a really intense breakup punctuated by moments of feeling like I was witnessing a pagan ritual. However, if you noticed, God was thoroughly present across the whole video. This kind of goes back to the mention of Illuminati and crazy conspiracy theories. There are thousands of signs and symbols that could be tied to pagan rituals—a lot of people have theories that Christianity has present ties to pagan religions because the Catholic Church wanted to make conversion easier (look up theories on why Christians celebrate Jesus’ birthday on December 25). I think that trying to tie Beyoncé to secret societies and satanic rituals is a little (a lot) over the top. However, she did noticeably pick up on her Louisiana Creole roots. Parts of Lemonade felt like a clip from "American Horror Story: Coven," which was set in New Orleans and looked at the historic "witchy" practices of certain groups. However, I think that most of the video was just focused on tapping into the culture from whence Beyoncé and her family descended.

So did Jay-Z really cheat, and who is “Becky”? Considering that there has been no public statement from the couple other than Beyoncé essentially saying he cheated on her in "Lemonade," it’s hard to make a clear call on this. Maybe Beyoncé just thought the whole concept would be really cool and lucrative, so she constructed this narrative. However, many people remember when footage of Solange Knowles hitting Jay-Z on an elevator came to light. That behavior signals that there was something bad going on in the family, so Jay-Z cheating doesn’t seem too hard to imagine.

Meanwhile Beyoncé said, “He only want me when I’m not there/He better call Becky with the good hair.” Ever since “Sorry” appeared, fans have taken to a witch hunt looking for “Becky.” Becky is presumed to be a white female because “Becky” is considered a predominantly white name. Fans have taken to trashing anyone they suspect Jay-Z of cheating with, which has led to celebrities like Rachel Roy and her children getting threatened. However, no one seems too concerned with the man responsible for the cheating—he has probably garnered the least attention of anyone involved—which definitely leads to a lot of questions about our society and where people put the blame in situations of infidelity (but this isn’t the time for that topic).

I think people forget that Beyoncé is human. Fans have gotten so caught up on calling Beyoncé “Queen Bey” and obsessing about her life. She and Jay-Z are not perfect. This album is about a hard time in her life and the different stages she went through as she tried to work through it, while tapping into her heritage and focusing on where she came from. People are focusing on the first half of the album where she is hurt and betrayed—because so many of us know how it feels to be betrayed like that—but they are overlooking the second half of the album where she and her husband reconcile and move forward stronger than ever. So while everyone is concerned about who “Becky with the good hair” is, I’m willing to bet that Beyoncé is at home celebrating the fact that she turned her lemons into Lemonade and still has her family, too.

The album and video were only available on TIDAL and HBO for the first 24 hours before becoming available for purchase on iTunes. According to Tidal.com, “TIDAL is an artist-owned coalition. The founding TIDAL artists are Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire (Win Butler and Regine Chassagne), Beyoncé, Calvin Harris, Chris Martin, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Jack White, Jason Aldean, J. Cole, Kanye West, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, and Usher.” (Could they all be Illuminati? Probably not.)

So yes, Beyoncé and Jay-Z both probably profited very well from this album dropping. However, I’m sure that creating this album was a healing process for herself and also for Jay-Z, and if she can buy a few new cars and houses because of it, then I bet she isn’t crying about it.

Meanwhile, I beg of you, stop the witch hunt for “Becky.”