Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Turns 10, and It’s Still Her Most Powerful Record Yet
Beyoncé’s album Lemonade, a 12-track video-audio saga that’s as deeply personal as it is universally inspiring, turns 10 this week. It’s still as relevant now as it ever was.
Ten years since its release, Lemonade is gripping, emotive, relatable to women like me, and arguably one of the best albums of the last 25 years. The fact that Beyoncé didn’t win “Album of the Year” is one of the Grammy Awards’ greatest travesties. Jay Z knows it. Adele knows it. And heck, most of America knows it.
When Beyoncé’s sixth studio album released on April 23, 2016, Beyoncé, like me, was on the precipice of midlife, acclimating to marriage (to Jay Z) and motherhood. For her, it was a period of a lot of career highs, but also very public lows, notably the fallout from her husband’s alleged extramarital affairs. The album arrived as an attempt by the artist to acknowledge, forgive, and move past anger to redemption and resurrection. From this critic’s perspective, it does this, beautifully, through audio and video.
Multiple critics have taken a deep dive at dissecting and appreciating symbolism within the Lemonade film accompanying the album release, from her choice of a yellow dress to the use of water as a symbol of rebirth.
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But even without the visual accompaniment, the audio masterfully carries the message.
Kicking off with the mysterious, captivating “Pray You Catch Me,” Lemonade takes the listener on a painful, powerful journey. I’m particularly drawn to “Hold Up,” with its hypnotic tempo and catchy pre-chorus inspired by a Yeah Yeah Yeahs song (“Hold up, they don’t love you like I love you … slow down, they don’t love you like I love you…”). My other favorites include is the rock-guitar-heavy Jack White collaboration “Don’t Hurt Yourself” and the hypnotic, trip-hoppy tune “6 Inches,” which features The Weeknd. While much of Lemonade flows with sultry, feminist fury, Beyoncé makes a powerful nod to racial inequality in “Formation” and the experience of African American women in “Freedom.”
And while Bey finally did win the ‘Album of the Year’ Grammy last year for Cowboy Carter, that album doesn’t hit as hard, emotionally. It’s more of a fun, country-inspired romp. That’s not a bad thing. I love Cowboy Carter, especially “16 Carriages,” “Texas Hold ’Em” and the cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” But fewer records do what Lemonade did in 2016, capturing the rage of a woman wronged on so many levels who is reclaiming her dignity and power. She is reclaiming her right to take up space in a world overflowing with men who feel entitled to take up more than their fair share of available space. It is an anthem for any woman struggling with confidence, aging, love, and life. So Happy Lemonade Anniversary, Bey. Thank you for making this exceptional body of work.
