Speaking of

 

My god is the middle section of POTS just heavenly

 

When she says 'even though I'm

cooler than you', the cute giggle after, when she sing 'sugaaaaaar' I'm just melting each and every time 

 

I get chills just thinking about it 

the ending of cuff it is CRACK. the bridge makes me 

19 minutes ago, bijonse said:

what promo do y’all want her to do besides putting out the videos (which we know is happening soon just a matter of time)

 

vmas?? i mean that would be cute and make sense idk why she wouldn’t just show up late and pop in or at least send a quick lil trailer. maybe she pre recorded a performance 

Video for the first single that’s been out for 10 weeks, second single push and video, capitalizing off of the hype, BET performance/ talking about the album, etc. 

 

She’s already losing steam on streaming only a month after a new album and artists with no new music out are out streaming. 

24 minutes ago, Lose My Breath said:

Videos I need:

 

Alien Superstar (it's going to be sickening)

Heated (is she going to do ballroom/vogue?)

Pure/Honey (like what will this even be?!)

The video for AS needs to be just as viral as the song. I’m excited to see what they envisioned.

I can't wait to see those 3 videos :

 

1. Virgo's Groove

2. Alien Superstar

3. Heated

 

 

This screenshot is giving me Heated with heavy choreo under the rain (or Thique)

I think this one is Heated

 

 

GREAT READ. Posted?

 

 

How Beyoncé turned herself into a pop god

From surprise albums to Beychella to “Break My Soul”: Behind the singer’s 10-year journey to cultural dominance.

Beyoncé’s latest solo album, Renaissance, released at the end of July, was greeted with the kind of critical rapture that is now the standard for her work. 

 

The new album “succeeds exquisitely,” said Vulture. Beyoncé’s singing, wrote Wesley Morris in the New York Times, comes “in waves of rhapsodically long, Olympic-level emissions” and “seems to emanate from somewhere way beyond a human throat: The ocean?” Renaissance, Rolling Stone argued, proved Beyoncé to be “the only sovereign of pop to have truly evolved artistically while also expanding an enormous commercial empire.”

 

Beyoncé’s artistic, commercial, and cultural evolution is one of the most important pop culture stories of the past decade. It made Beyoncé one of the most important cultural figures of this decade, catapulting her to rarified air in 10 carefully calculated years. 

 

When Beyoncé dropped her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003, she did not get the sort of plaudits she receives today. While Rolling Stone allowed that she “oozes charisma and has a fine voice,” it felt that she “isn’t in a class with the likes of Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey as a singer.” Slant Magazine, in a largely positive review, described her as a cross between J. Lo and Mariah Carey, pop progeny with Lopez’s attitude and Carey’s pipes. The New York Times offered up a headline that would, nearly two decades later, be endlessly memed: “The Solo Beyoncé: She’s No Ashanti.”

 

At the beginning of her solo career, Beyoncé was one among any number of pop stars, famous and admired the same way a lot of musicians are: her music beloved by some and uncontroversially ignored or disliked by others. A star, certainly, but a star with peers.

But over the past decade, Beyoncé pulled herself out of that group. She became a critical consensus pick for one of the greatest artists of her generation. She redefined the textbook strategy for an album release. She turned her headliner Coachella gig into a legend of a night, and then a Netflix special. It became slightly controversial to say that her music wasn’t to your taste. It would be like not liking the Beatles. 

How did she do it? How did Beyoncé go from “no Ashanti” in 2003 to being declared by Rolling Stone “the world’s greatest living entertainer” in 2022? How did her greatness become an apparent fact of the universe, to the point that the Grammys’ refusal to give her an Album of the Year award after nominating her three times is widely discussed as proof of something terribly wrong inside the Grammys?

 

It happened, as everything else in Beyoncé’s life seems to have happened, as the result of incredibly hard work and a highly controlled plan from the woman herself. The transformation of Beyoncé from well-liked pop star to cultural icon came in three phases, punctuated by the self-titled Beyoncé album of 2013, 2016’s Lemonade, and 2018’s Homecoming concert at Coachella.

 

 

Here’s how Beyoncé turned herself into Beyoncé.

Phase 1: Change the game

To be clear: Beyoncé was already extremely famous before Beyoncé.

By the time Beyoncé dropped her self-titled album in 2013, she had already released four solo albums. All received moderate critical acclaim, with some caveats.

After Dangerously In Love (“No Ashanti”) in 2003 came 2006’s B’Day (“By resolving the criticisms of her earlier work ... Beyoncé has weakened her perfect pop technique”). B’Daywas followed by 2008’s I Am ... Sasha Fierce, by which time the Guardian was acknowledging Beyoncé as “the queen of R&B,” but also coming after her, arguing that “Halo” sounded too much like Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” 2011’s 4 came with an acknowledgment from Rolling Stone that Beyoncé was “the diva of divas,” as well as a warning from the Washington Post that she might have already hit her peak: The album, the critic wrote, smacked “of a once-great blockbuster movie franchise sadly spinning its wheels.”

Beyoncé, meanwhile, was constantly working. She had two major movie roles: a supporting part in 2006’s Dreamgirls, with mixed reviews (New York magazine brutally dismissed her as “not an actress”), and another in 2008’s Cadillac Records, this time to raves. (“As for Beyoncé—oh my goodness,” said Slate.) She went on multiple world tours, on which the reviews were never mixed but still managed to be a little condescending (“A revue spectacular enough in its colossal divadom to put off proclamations of — it’s all right, we’ve all felt it — Beyoncé fatigue.”) She sang as the Obamas danced their first dance as president and first lady in 2009 (“Beyoncé is fast becoming a saint”). With 2008’s “Single Ladies,” she delivered what Kanye West would memorably declare “one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”

 

By 2013, Beyoncé had cemented herself as a major solo star. But she was not yet the kind of artist to whom critics offer unmitigated praise. She was not the queen of pop culture, but the queen of R&B. She was “the diva of divas,” but maybe on a downward slope. People could conceive of the possibility of “Beyoncé fatigue.”

Looking at 2013 in retrospect, you can see Beyoncé try out one strategy after another to change all that, to begin her ascent from queen of a genre to queen of us all.

 

That year was Beyoncé’s post-pregnancy comeback year. Having given birth to her first child, Blue Ivy, in 2012, she marked her return to the public stage with a buzzy GQ profile in January 2013. “Miss Millennium,” read the headline.

 

 

As January went on, Beyoncé’s pop culture offensive continued. She sang the national anthem at Obama’s second inauguration. She headlined the Super Bowl halftime show. She financed, directed, produced, narrated, and starred in Life Is But a Dream, an HBO documentary. She also launched a campaign as the face of Pepsi.

Not all of those moves were unalloyed successes. Beyoncé faced a backlash when it came out that she was lip-syncing “The Star Spangled Banner” at the inauguration. While her Super Bowl performance was a hit, Life Is But a Dream was an outright flop. The New York Times called it an “infomercial.” Variety dismissed it as a “wearisome … vanity project.” Most damningly, the Guardian scoffed at the film’s framing of Beyoncé as a feminist, a facet of her star image that was just beginning to come into particular focus. “Delusional,” guffawed the review. The only part of the movie that came off well was the footage of Beyoncé putting together a performance of “Who Run the World” at the Billboard Music Awards, complete with graphic video projections. “Crisp, sparkling and vibrant,” the A.V. Club opined of that section. “I wouldn’t have minded more behind the scenes stuff.”

By that point, however, Beyoncé had begun to hit cultural saturation. She was everywhere — “on Pepsi cans, L’Oreal billboards and the covers of GQ, Vogue and Forbes,” wrote the New York Times. “In terms of exposure, the star’s flame has probably never burned brighter,” admitted Variety. 

In the A.V. Club, Claire Zulkey described watching the Super Bowl with two 65-year-old men who found themselves flummoxed by the star: “They do not get,” Zulkey wrote, “what the big deal is with Beyoncé.”

Beyoncé was everywhere, unavoidable and inescapable. But had she justified her omnipresence? What would it take to get two 65-year-old white men to comprehend the fact of her?

 

Finish on the link...

https://www.vox.com/culture/23301452/beyonce-renaissance-rise-self-titled-lemonade-homecoming

 

Edited August 24, 20224 yr by EricSean

58 minutes ago, Daydream said:

I think this one is Heated

 

 

I think Heated might be that one that she's wet 

1 hour ago, Daydream said:

I think this one is Heated

 

 

This one is giving me Virgo's Groove with a shiny outfit à la Rock With You

How I hear her when she says “house of LaDojaaa” 

 

Still haven't listened to the clean version of the album. I don't think I'll ever want to hear how the clean version of Cuff It sounds.  What does she even say? "We gon love up the night?"

I need the Church Girl stems to hear those BGVs properly.

 Beyoncé can you PLEASE let go of those visuals! Give us at least ONE 

2 hours ago, Daydream said:

I think this one is Heated

 

 

I think that one is Break My Soul. It looks like the same bus we saw Freedia filming in, and it’s the same in the green look scene.

I think BMS and Church Girl will be the highlight visuals.

1 hour ago, Daydream said:

Still haven't listened to the clean version of the album. I don't think I'll ever want to hear how the clean version of Cuff It sounds.  What does she even say? "We gon love up the night?"

I think she says roll up tonight

3 hours ago, Crayzik said:

I can't wait to see those 3 videos :

 

1. Virgo's Groove

2. Alien Superstar

3. Heated

 

 

This screenshot is giving me Heated with heavy choreo under the rain (or Thique)

1. I just realized this is the same paining BG as the alternate cover, and this pic 

 

 

13 minutes ago, PrettyHurts said:

1. I just realized this is the same paining BG as the alternate cover, and this pic 

 

Wow great catch.  So it looks like that painting will be prominent throughout some/all of the videos, interesting.

2 hours ago, EricSean said:

When Beyoncé dropped her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003, she did not get the sort of plaudits she receives today. While Rolling Stone allowed that she “oozes charisma and has a fine voice,” it felt that she “isn’t in a class with the likes of Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey as a singer.” Slant Magazine, in a largely positive review, described her as a cross between J. Lo and Mariah Carey, pop progeny with Lopez’s attitude and Carey’s pipes. 

These kinds of comments (even back in 2003) make no sense to me. How can someone have heard Emotions, Dangerously In Love, Speechless, Me Myself & I, Be With You and think Beyoncé had a fine voice? 

4 minutes ago, tachiwaka said:

These kinds of comments (even back in 2003) make no sense to me. How can someone have heard Emotions, Dangerously In Love, Speechless, Me Myself & I, Be With You and think Beyoncé had a fine voice? 

When she went solo there were journalists comparing her unfavorably to Ashanti, J. Lo, Mya etc. 

 

Jermaine Dupri came at her comparing her to Janet, saying Beyoncé was a flash in the pan and wouldn't last.

 

It's why I laugh when people act like Beyoncé was set as the lead singer of DC. She still had a lot to prove, not to mention there were literally hate websites dedicated to her already. Alot of people either thought she wouldn't make it on her own or were steady hoping she would flop into oblivion. The fact she's still killing the game in 2022, is a card they weren't counting on and alot of them are still mad about it.

7 minutes ago, Planet Mars said:

When she went solo there were journalists comparing her unfavorably to Ashanti, J. Lo, Mya etc. 

 

Jermaine Dupri came at her comparing her to Janet, saying Beyoncé was a flash in the pan and wouldn't last.

 

It's why I laugh when people act like Beyoncé was set as the lead singer of DC. She still had a lot to prove, not to mention there were literally hate websites dedicated to her already. Alot of people either thought she wouldn't make it on her own or were steady hoping she would flop into oblivion. The fact she's still killing the game in 2022, is a card they weren't counting on and alot of them are still mad about it.

There was a thread on classic ATRL from 2006 when Déjà Vu was released where one of the members who is actually a mod said that the success of Dangerously In Love was a fluke and Déjà Vu and B'Day would bomb and her career would never survive it as Rihanna was here to take her place. You used to be able to see that thread until a couple years ago. I hate that they wiped it all. 

17 minutes ago, Daydream said:

Wow great catch.  So it looks like that painting will be prominent throughout some/all of the videos, interesting.

yes, the painting and stage/curtains motif is important. it goes with the whole play and "Acts" theme for the era. red being one of the main colors for the era comes from red curtains that you would see at a play 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Daydream said:

There was a thread on classic ATRL from 2006 when Déjà Vu was released where one of the members who is actually a mod said that the success of Dangerously In Love was a fluke and Déjà Vu and B'Day would bomb and her career would never survive it as Rihanna was here to take her place. You used to be able to see that thread until a couple years ago. I hate that they wiped it all. 

I was here during that time, everyone here HATED her, it was bad. 

 

 

The videos I look forward to seeing the most:

 

1) Break My Soul 

2) Alien Superstar 

3) Pure/Honey 

 

Edited August 24, 20224 yr by Pepo

Just now, Lose My Breath said:

I was here during that time, everyone here HATED her, it was bad. 

 

 

And she has been proving those ugly mfs wrong the entire time.

 

We love to see it