By Kyler Jacobson, Staff Writer
Beyonce came to reinvent herself again with her recent album Renaissance, released on July 29, 2022. With this album, Beyonce channeled a house and dance music sound, which was inspired by her Uncle Johnny.
From a young age, he introduced her to the type of music that was created and made famous by black queer artists. The album consists of 16 tracks, which play like a DJ set designed for a dance club experience. There’s a wide variety of collaborators on the album, from producers such as Hit-Boy, Skrillex, and The-Dream to featured artists like Tems and Grace Jones. Each collaborator gives us a certain style to each song in the album, but Beyonce crafted this album in a way that feels like a cohesive experience, simultaneously diversifying her album’s overall sound.
“Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world”, said Beyonce, discussing how this album came to be. She starts the album with “I’M THAT GIRL”, a song where she once again establishes herself as the standard and sings confidently in a way only she can. “I pull up in these clothes, look so good, you know all these songs sound good”, Beyonce speaks over a deep bass beat.
The song beautifully transitions into the next track, “COZY”, an afrobeat-infused song that discusses being comfortable in your own skin and with who you are. Bey mastered the beginning of the album with these two songs that embody what it means to love yourself, with the transition into the third and best song on the album, “ALIEN SUPERSTAR” confirming the album only gets better from there. “Please do not be alarmed, remain calm, Do not attempt to leave the dance-floor, The DJ booth is conducting a troubleshoot test of the entire system”, is spoken from a sample to begin the song, which further simulates the feel of a DJ set that this album has. This song is one that is the perfect type of song to use as a distraction from life, one that you dance to and can let everything loose to. “I’m too classy for this world, Forever I’m that girl, Feed you diamonds and pearls”, she elevates over a heavy-bass that’s infused with sounds that I would imagine hearing while I’m being lifted into an alien spaceship.
“We dress a certain way, we walk a certain way, We talk a certain way” begins the outro of the song that describes the feelings of being a black woman in a society that sees everything you do as “different”, and taking power and pride into that idea to send a message of empowerment in the Black community. There are many other highlights on the album like “PURE/HONEY”, “AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM”, and “HEATED,” but overall, Beyonce once again proves how much of a force she is in the music industry, something she hasn’t needed to prove for years. People didn’t want to acknowledge her stardom during the early stages of her career, but you cannot deny her brilliant influence nowadays. Everyone associates her name with something, and when your name has that much power over people, that’s when you know you’ve made it.