Guest Links: The best and worst of #Lemonade think pieces
Today’s links are brought to you by the incomparable Simba Runyowa, a dear friend and someone for whom the herculean task of ranking Lemonade thinkpieces was made for.
Okay, so when queen Bey dropped Lemonade over the weekend, those of us who were perpetually in formation were ready, willing and able to absorb what turned out to be a deliciously stunning revelation of marital infidelity, raw emotions and #blackgirlmagic (Serena Williams, Zendaya, twin duo Ibeyi, Warsan Shire, Amandla Stenberg, all contributed/appeared).
What we weren’t ready for, though was the AVALANCHE of thinkpieces that followed. (To be sure, we should be getting a heavy downpour of indie covers at winds of 180mph from all corners of the globe soon, so tread lightly on Youtube.)
^^livestream of all the pop culture commentary coming ur way
Analyzing Lemonade was and will always be an arduous task. One wrong move, and an unsuspecting writer could be dragged to the underworld by the full and mighty force of the BeyHive.
That said, here are some gems that we really digged (dug?) here at Deez Links :
1.Beyonce's Lemonade is a Revelation of Spirit -- Carrie Battan of the New Yorker had one of the most sublime meditations on #Lemonade. She writes:
“Last time around, Beyoncé announced herself to the world as a feminist. This time, she takes that label, turns it inward, and intensifies it. “Lemonade” declares that misogyny is at its most potent and complex within the bonds of love.”
2. Beyonce Unearths Pain and Let's it Flow in Lemonade -- Wesley Morris, the high priest of wordsmitthery, outdid himself with this fiercely intelligent take in the New York Times. He writes:
“On a different occasion, she sang: “To the left, to the left. Everything you own in the box to the left.” That all feels pedestrian now. Beyoncé’s prized possessions here are her trust, love and dignity.”
3. Beyoncé’s Lemonade Is Black Woman Magic Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley delves deep into the spiritual metaphors and imagery in Lemonade
And of course, there will always be haters who by virtue of being corny, have not yet caught neither Bey’s fly nor her cocky fresh. One such hater is Piers Morgan, who took a break from being vigorously annoying on twitter to pillory Bey for being too “political and race fuelled.” Sigh. As Bey would say, “Tell him, Boy Bye!”
Sashay Away, Piers. Forever and ever amen.
Sidebar: this cool feature about the body painting in Lemonade, done by Nigerian artist Laolu Senbanjo.