#1. Lemonade
By: Beyoncé
Two people owned 2016: Donald Trump and Beyoncé Knowles. While Trump used divisive, hateful, racism, xenophobic rhetoric to divide and conquer, Queen B used the history of divisive hate and racism to bring people together. Lemonade was a potent and provocative, intellectual and musically adventurous. It was a statement that demanded to be heard. When you upset the weasels at FOX News - who then go on to rile up their viewers - you know you have done something meaningful and socially important. Lemonade brought white and black audiences together, but there is no secret who this album was made for. White audiences obsessed over the marital drama that acted as the platform for the project’s message: who is Becky with the good hair?! On the other side of the coin, black audiences tapped straight into the vein of Beyoncé’s message of life in black America, specifically when it comes to the trials and tribulations of black women in America. As we enter into the approaching darkness of the next four years, we will need Beyoncé and bold projects like Lemonade more than ever.
Best track:
“Formation” - The album’s major single was the world’s first taste of this artistic and social masterpiece. “Formation” is a rallying cry for women, women of color, and anybody that has lost their voice in recent wave of hateful noise. Walking onto the Super Bowl halftime show in Panther gear singing this beast of a song? Bow down, people.
By: Beyoncé
Two people owned 2016: Donald Trump and Beyoncé Knowles. While Trump used divisive, hateful, racism, xenophobic rhetoric to divide and conquer, Queen B used the history of divisive hate and racism to bring people together. Lemonade was a potent and provocative, intellectual and musically adventurous. It was a statement that demanded to be heard. When you upset the weasels at FOX News - who then go on to rile up their viewers - you know you have done something meaningful and socially important. Lemonade brought white and black audiences together, but there is no secret who this album was made for. White audiences obsessed over the marital drama that acted as the platform for the project’s message: who is Becky with the good hair?! On the other side of the coin, black audiences tapped straight into the vein of Beyoncé’s message of life in black America, specifically when it comes to the trials and tribulations of black women in America. As we enter into the approaching darkness of the next four years, we will need Beyoncé and bold projects like Lemonade more than ever.
Best track:
“Formation” - The album’s major single was the world’s first taste of this artistic and social masterpiece. “Formation” is a rallying cry for women, women of color, and anybody that has lost their voice in recent wave of hateful noise. Walking onto the Super Bowl halftime show in Panther gear singing this beast of a song? Bow down, people.