Lemonade

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That’s exactly what Queen Bey has done. I can’t remember a time in my life where I didn’t know Beyonce’s name. As I recall, the first song of hers I ever heard was “Beautiful Liar” featuring Shakira. My childlike brain couldn’t handle all of the dreamlike imagery that was being thrusted in my face at the time. I remember thinking that the two were sisters because of that specific video. Beyonce was an essential part of my childhood, and I have my mother to thank for introducing me to her. As a young mother, still in her 20’s, taking care of two little black girls, she had purchased Beyonce’s album B-Day. This was back when the general population still physically left their houses to go buy music. B-Day, to this day, is my favorite Beyonce album. Not only because the songs were and are bops, but because of the memories I have associated with that album. I still remember, like it was yesterday, trying to copy Beyonce’s dance moves as a toddler. I still remember my sister screaming her heart out to “Ring the Alarm.” I fondly look back at those years and I treasure them, hoping to one day be able to share a similar experience if I ever have a daughter one day.

Even after our B-Day era was over, Queen Bey still remained heavily influential in my life. I’d constantly hear her powerhouse vocals on the radio with each passing year. Her other albums such as Beyonce, 4, and I Am...Sasha Fierce were all filled with regular radio play songs that I’d hear, admire, and play again later. As much as Beyonce has had a presence in my life for as long as I can remember, it wasn’t until Homecoming where she would knock my socks off once again. And the world’s socks. Rightfully so. Seeing that performance on my TV screen was hands down the most captivating performance I’ve ever seen in my life. My only regret is that I couldn’t see it in person. It was a friendly reminder of her work ethic, her ability to murder a dance floor, her powerhouse vocals, and her astronomical level of professionalism. In addition to all of those outstanding qualities, she paid tribute to HBCUs, which absolutely deserved to be recognized. Because I was in high school when watching this performance, it caused me to view HBCUs differently. My dream was always to go into the arts. At the time, I wasn’t 100% sure which direction I wanted to go. For some reason, HBCUs were never on my radar, until Homecoming. That performance made me reconsider which schools that I was applying to. I guess I have Beyonce to thank for inadvertently influencing my decision to apply to Howard’s film program.

I could ramble on and on forever about my love and respect for Beyonce. Her ability to aim for and achieve perfection never fails to amaze me. Seeing another black woman winning makes me feel like I’m winning, even though I haven’t accomplished much in my personal life. Another thing I love about her which I have yet to mention is her ability to keep her private life private. When you live in a prism of fame, people naturally want to know every single thing about you. I consider myself to be a private person as well, so seeing how she handles fame with such dignity and grace is inspiring to me. Her stories about her life, love, pain, and struggles do not lie within her social media posts. They lie within her art. As an artist myself, a filmmaker, I want my parts of my life to seep through my art, not my Instagram or Twitter. Even when there was infidelity in her marriage, she sang about it on her Lemonade album, which should’ve won Album of the Year, but I love Adele too. Beyonce has managed to withstand the test of time by remaining relevant and successful for over 20 years, which is a difficult thing to do in the music industry. I always hear stories of other artists being popular for a while and then falling off the radar. Not Queen Bey. She’s making more lemonade.