It's been over a week since Beyonce released her sixth album, "Lemonade," and we can't get enough of this sugary goodness. While many people are still grappling at whether Jay Z actually cheated on Beyonce or not, there are so many other questions regarding the album's visual elements. So if your thirst for "Lemonade" has not quite been quenched yet, read on to learn more about what you might have missed from the first sip.
1. Why does Beyonce quote poet Warsan Shire in "Lemonade"?
Although visually striking, "Lemonade" makes you hang onto Beyonce's every word thanks to Warsan Shire's award-winning poems. From her album "Warsan Versus Melancholy (The Seven Stages of Being Lonely)", most of the poems focus on themes such as infidelity, family as well as the black female identity -- all in which Beyonce explores throughout "Lemonade."
How did Beyonce hear of the 27-year-old Somali-Brit poet? According to The New York Times, Shire and Beyonce were linked by a woman named Yosra El-Essawy. She was both a friend of Shire's and Beyonce's official tour photographer. Unfortunately, El-Essawy died of cancer in 2014. Shire honored her friend on Twitter last Tuesday by tweeting a link to the album with the words, "yosra i hope you're proud of us."
2. What is the significance of Beyonce's yellow dress?
Not only is Beyonce paying homage to her Southern heritage throughout this film, but a huge portion of "Lemonade" also honors the Yoruba culture. Yoruba is one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, specifically in southwestern Nigeria and Benin. How does this relate to Beyonce? Basically, the yellow dress confirms that Beyonce is indeed a god walking amongst us and is not from this planet.
During the song "Hold Up", the yellow dress is an ode to how people have likened Beyonce to the Yoruba orisha (or god) of womanhood, Oshun. Oshun is also clad in a yellow dress and is known for being beautiful and in touch with her self, her sensuality, and her power. Beneath her beauty and strength, though, lies another side to Oshun, such as anger. While we all know the perfection that is Beyonce, we start to see a more vulnerable and personal side to her that we are not used to seeing, as she takes us through her whirlwind journey in dealing with a cheating husband.
3. What do the tribal paintings mean?
Laolu Senbanjo is a Nigerian-born, New York City-based artist who is responsible for the body art in "Lemonade." His art, which he refers to as the "Sacred Art of the Ori," can explicitly be seen during the song "Sorry."
"The paint is a white ink with very spiritual meaning in Yoruba culture. It's something we often use as a dedication to the worship of orishas, the gods in Yoruba religion," Laolu explained. As Beyonce would put it, "Bow Down" to the orisha that is Queen Bey.
4. Who are the people holding pictures in "Forward"?
Ever since her performance at the Superbowl Halftime Show, Beyonce has made it known that she supports the "Black Lives Matter" movement, and she continues to do so with singer James Blake on the song, "Forward".
Although this song is the shortest one on the album at less than a minute and 20 seconds long, it is undoubtedly one of its most powerful. This is because during this segment of the film, various black mothers who have lost their sons due to police brutality hold up photographs of their sons. These women include Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin; Lesley McSpadden, Mike Brown's mother; as well as Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother.
5. What is the significance of the broken bowl in "Sandcastles"?
The broken bowl in the reconciliation song "Sandcastles" is actually a Kintsugi bowl. Kintsugi is "... the Japanese art of repairing ceramics with precious metals to demonstrate that broken things can be made whole and that the process of piecing something back together can make an object more beautiful than it was to begin with." Just like Beyonce and Jay Z's relationship.
6. Why is Serena Williams featured in "Lemonade"?
Serena Williams is among a host of celebrities who have cameos in "Lemonade", including Zendaya, Amandla Stenberg, and Quvenshané Wallis. However, unlike these other women, Williams is predominantly featured on screen in the song, "Sorry". Why is this?
Although she is undoubtedly one of the greatest female athletes in sports today, Williams has been constantly criticized for her "masculine" physique. Her remarkably strong body does not fit into our society’s idea of femininity and beauty, and so for years, many people have body shame the tennis star.
What you may not have realized the first time watching "Sorry" is how Beyonce and Williams have actually swapped roles. As seen in the picture above, Beyonce is sitting on a throne-like chair with her leg up while Williams is doing all of the dancing. While Williams is getting in formation, the queen is recreating Williams' recent cover of Sports Illustrated where the tennis star is sitting on a similar chair in the exact same pose.
7. Why is the album called "Lemonade"?
8. Did Jay-Z actually cheat on Beyonce?
That, my friends, is the million dollar question. We may never know who "Becky with the good hair" is or if this was all just an elaborate publicity stunt by the power couple. Regardless, the cheating rumors should not be the focus of this album.
Beyonce has done something huge with "Lemonade". By embracing her blackness, she is no longer playing it safe by producing generic pop songs. She is offering us something much deeper and more meaningful than that. She is using her creative freedom as an artist to contribute to the national conversation on racial and gender issues. She is single-handedly rewriting all of the music industry's rules, specifically in regards to promotion and album releases.
And so, cheating husband or not, Beyonce keeps serving up delicious ice cold lemonade and we are more than happy to come back for another gulp. We just simply can't get enough of her. And maybe we shouldn't.
