Cultural impact of Beyoncé

American singer and songwriter Beyoncé has been regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of her time because of her music, image, and lifestyle.[1][2] Nicknamed The First Lady of Music, Beyoncé has been called one of the most-influential and iconic female artists of all time.

Beyoncé performing during The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013.

A worldwide cultural icon, Beyoncé and her legacy have been studied by historians and other social scientists. Critics have credited her popularity, success, and contributions for influencing generations of other artists and women in general.[3] Forbes named her the most powerful woman in entertainment in 2015 and 2017,[4] and in 2020, was named one of the 100 women who defined the last century by the same publication.[5] Beyoncé was also included on Encyclopædia Britannica's 100 Women list in 2019, for her contributions to the entertainment industry.[6]

Beyoncé as an icon

Music

Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Alex Suskind noticed how Beyoncé was the decade's (2010s) defining pop star, stating that "no one dominated music in the 2010s like Queen Bey", explaining that her "songs, album rollouts, stage presence, social justice initiatives, and disruptive public relations strategy have influenced the way we've viewed music since 2010."[7] British publication NME also shared similar thoughts on her impact in the 2010s, including Beyoncé on their list of the "10 Artists Who Defined The Decade", explaining: "So much more than a popstar, Beyonce has become an outspoken advocate for civil rights, feminism and self-expression, proving that it's possible to be politically engaged and still hold down an extremely successful career in mainstream entertainment."[8]

She is often credited for the cultural shift towards female pop singers rapping and for creating the staccato style of 'rap-singing' she used in songs like "Bug a Boo" and "Say My Name".[9] Uproxx stated that Beyoncé is the primary pioneer of the singsong style that dominates Hip-Hop currently,[10] while Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork noticed her contribution in changing the sound of pop music radio with her hip-hop assisted style, writing:

"Her hip-hop fluency gave her an advantage in the pop-star arms race, helping her to become the presiding voice in an increasingly rap-dominated musical landscape. Her evolution, from rap-adjacent R&B star (appearing as early as 1998 in a Geto Boys video) to reluctant hip-hop shareholder to full-blown rapper, played a role in slowly shifting the sound of pop radio."[11]

Beyoncé has been credited for the popularization of the surprise album and visual album. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield wrote: "Beyoncé has delivered countless surprises in her 15 years on top of the music world, but she's never dropped a bombshell like this... The whole project is a celebration of the Beyoncé Philosophy, which basically boils down to the fact that Beyoncé can do anything the hell she wants to." Peter Robinson of The Guardian hailed the shock release as "Beyoncégeddon", describing it as a "major triumph [...] a masterclass in both exerting and relinquishing control". Henry Knight for the BBC said "Beyoncé's self-titled album not only proved innovative musically, it rewrote the business model of the industry". Forbes' Zack O'Malley Greenburg included Beyoncé on his "Music Industry Winners 2013" list, noting that the singer "didn't make use of any of the perks of [being signed to a large record label]—the "machine" we're told is so necessary. There was no radio promotion, no single, no advance press of any kind".[12] The marketing strategy of releasing an album with little or no notice was the subject of a case study at Harvard University School of Business.[13] Beyoncé is credited with the popularization of the surprise album, and the act of releasing a project without prior announcement is commonly referred to as "pulling a Beyoncé",[14] and has subsequently been executed by many artists, including Taylor Swift,[15] Drake,[16] Kanye West,[17] Kendrick Lamar,[18] and Eminem.[19] Canadian musician Grimes named Beyoncé as one of the albums that changed her life, saying that it "revitalised the art of the album" for her and adding that she usually tests her "tracks next to this record because it just sounds so incredible."[20]

Lemonade has been credited with reviving the album format in an era dominated by singles and streaming,[21] with Myf Warhurst on Double J's "Lunch With Myf" explaining that Beyoncé "changed [the album] to a narrative with an arc and a story and you have to listen to the entire thing to get the concept".[22] Jamieson Cox for The Verge called Lemonade "an evolutionary step forward", writing that "it’s setting a new standard for pop storytelling at the highest possible scale".[23] The New York Times' Katherine Schulten agrees, adding "How do you talk about the ongoing evolution of the music video and the autobiographical album without holding up Lemonade as an exemplar of both forms".[24] Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times describes how "some brand-name acts are following Beyoncé’s blueprint with high-concept mini-movies that can add artistic heft to projects," with Frank Ocean's Endless and Drake's Please Forgive Me cited as examples of artists' projects inspired by Lemonade.[25] Other projects said to have followed the precedent that Lemonade set include Lonely Island's The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience, Thom Yorke's Anima, Sturgill Simpson's Sound & Fury, and Kid Cudi's Entergalactic, which were all albums released with complementary film projects.[26]

Race

In a 2020 New York Times article titled "The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century", which contained 35 prominent black artists talking about the work that inspires them most, American actress Kerry Washington relayed about Lemonade:

I think Lemonade really was so culture-shifting in terms of gender roles, in terms of fidelity, in terms of how we think about marriage today, how we think about hip-hop today, how we think about feminism, how we think about power. Visually, musically, but also sociopolitically, anthropologically, Lemonade is a game changer. It’s just so big. — Kerry Washington, "The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century", The New York Times[27]

The release of "Formation" and the consequent performance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show caused both conversation and controversy due to its "unapologetic Blackness". Many articles and think pieces were produced discussing the importance and meaning of the song and performance, such as the BBC, who produced an article entitled "Beyoncé's Super Bowl performance: Why was it so significant?",[28] and TheWrap, who produced an article entitled "Why Beyoncé's Formation’ Matters So Much: A Perfectly Choreographed Political Debut Before 112 Million."[29] A rally held against Beyoncé and her Super Bowl performance was called "the worst-attended protest ever" by the New York Post.[30] Lemonade as a whole also inspired many think pieces, particularly written by black women, that analyze the messages and significance of the album,[31][32][33] such as Miriam Bale for Billboard who named Lemonade "a revolutionary work of black feminism".[31]

Megan Carpentier of The Guardian named the album "a pop culture phenomenon" and wrote: "It is not an exaggeration to say that there is no other living musical artist who could ignite such a broad and unavoidable conversation just by releasing a new album – even a visual one."[34] Writing in the same publication, Syreeta McFadden notes that the "Formation" video depicts archetypal southern Black women "in ways that we haven't seen frequently represented in popular art or culture".[35] Melissa Harris-Perry of Time magazine said that "Beyoncé publicly embraced explicitly feminist Blackness at a politically risky moment."[36]

The Lemonade song "Freedom" became an anthem for the 2020 George Floyd protests and saw a subsequent 625% rise in streams, with the track being sung at protests including by actress and singer Amber Riley.[37][38][39]

Sex symbol

Beyoncé has been described as having a wide-ranging sex appeal, with music journalist Touré writing that since the release of Dangerously in Love, she has "become a crossover sex symbol".[40] Offstage Beyoncé says that while she likes to dress sexily, her onstage dress "is absolutely for the stage."[41] Due to her curves and the term's catchiness, in the 2000s (decade), the media often used the term "Bootylicious" (a portmanteau of the words booty and delicious) to describe Beyoncé,[42][43] the term popularized by Destiny's Child's single of the same name. In 2006, it was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.[44]

Feminism

In 2013, Beyoncé stated in an interview in Vogue that she considered herself to be "a modern-day feminist".[45] She would later align herself more publicly with the movement, sampling "We should all be feminists", a speech delivered by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a TEDx talk in April 2013, in her song "Flawless", released later that year.[46] The next year she performed live at the MTV Video Awards in front a giant backdrop reading "Feminist."[47] Her self-identification incited a circulation of opinions and debate about whether her feminism is aligned with older, more established feminist ideals. Annie Lennox, celebrated artist and feminist advocate, referred to Beyoncé's use of her word feminist as 'feminist lite'.[48] bell hooks critiqued Beyoncé, referring to her as a "terrorist" towards feminism, harmfully impacting her audience of young girls.[49] Adichie responded with "...her type of feminism is not mine, as it is the kind that, at the same time, gives quite a lot of space to the necessity of men.[50] Adichie expands upon what 'feminist lite' means to her, referring that "more troubling is the idea, in Feminism Lite, that men are naturally superior but should be expected to "treat women well" and "we judge powerful women more harshly than we judge powerful men. And Feminism Lite enables this."[51] Beyoncé responded about her intent by utilizing the definition of feminist with her platform was to "give clarity to the true meaning" behind it.[52] She says to understand what being a feminist is, "...it's very simple. It's someone who believes in equal rights for men and women."[52] She advocated to provide equal opportunities for young boys and girls, men and women must begin to understand the double standards that remain persistent in our societies and the issue must be illuminated in effort to start making changes.[52]

Academic study

Lemonade has also received notable attention from scholars and authors outside the music industry. Since its release, the album has become the subject of scholarship within academic and literary circles. The University of Texas at San Antonio offered a class in the Fall of 2016 based on the album. The course, titled "Black Women, Beyoncé and Popular Culture", explored how the visual album "is a meditation on contemporary Black womanhood," before advancing and diving into the "theoretical, historical, and literary frameworks of Black feminism," according to the syllabus.[53] The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosted a "Lemonade Week" in April 2017, which featured discussions on feminism, theatrical performances, celebrations of African-American women writers and poets, and choreography tutorials.[54] Harvard University hosted "The Lemon Drop": a discussion that explored the nuances of Lemonade.[55] University of Arkansas offered a course that analysed the influence of Black feminism on Beyoncé and Lemonade.[56] University of Pennsylvania ran two courses that explored politics, race and gender through the study of Lemonade.[57][58]

Michigan State University hosted a discussion on Lemonade as part of their series for "exchanging ideas and exploring the lived experiences of underrepresented and marginalized communities".[59] Chatham University based a writing class on Lemonade, where "students get to examine how they fit into the power systems around them".[60] Valdosta State University offered a course on Lemonade, "unpacking the many themes found in "Lemonade," including Black identity, feminism, marital infidelity, sisterhood, and faith."[61] The College of Charleston hosted a discussion by Black feminist scholars, exploring "Beyoncé's use of southern landscape, Black women, music, and African-based spirituality".[62] University of North Georgia offered a class entitled "Okay, Ladies, Now Let’s Get in Formation: Intersectional Feminism in Beyoncé’s Lemonade" that explored the music, lyrics and visuals of Lemonade.[63]

In partnership with the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, a talk at Seminole State College "discussed how Beyoncé embodies the conjure woman in her iconic audiovisual work Lemonade as a contemporary revision of Zora Neale Hurston’s groundbreaking study of conjure and its place in Black women’s spirit work."[64] Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) announced "The Lemonade Project", a twelve-month series of conversations centered around the visual album. The series will explore the themes of race, gender and class addressed by the album.[65]

Kinitra Brooks and Kameelah Martin have produced "The Lemonade Reader", described as "an educational tool to support and guide discussions of the visual album at postgraduate and undergraduate levels, [which] critiques Lemonade’s multiple Afrodiasporic influences, visual aesthetics, narrative arc of grief and healing, and ethnomusicological reach."[66] University of Texas at Austin professor Omise’eke Tinsley wrote a book entitled "Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism", which "analyzes Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade, in relation to the sexuality and gender of Black women".[67] University of Albany professor Janell Hobson produced a lesson plan based on her class on Lemonade, saying "Beyoncé’s Lemonade stimulates class discussions and assignments as a highly visible pop project striving to create deeper conversations on the meanings of Blackness, womanhood, and feminism."[68]

References
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