The start of the era
After two immensely successful redefining albums, and a long hiatus, the infamous Queen Bey made another grand return to the music scene, with her extravagant record RENAISSANCE.
This is not an ordinary Beyoncé album, it is more than just an album with appealing beats and intriguing samples. It is an album that is trying to make a bold statement, like a personified note to the gay community.
We already had a light taste of the record when the mother of the house of Renaissance released the first lead single for the record, "BREAK MY SOUL,” a song that truly embodies the house sound of the 90’s.
From there on, there was a lot of speculation for the upcoming record, and the anticipation of the album only became higher.
I had a sense that this record was going to be another career defining moment for the legendary singer, it was a sound that she never experimented with before. Before the lead single, and any knowledge of the record, Beyoncé made some appearances, in magazines, and prominent award shows.
She was teasing the record and subtly announced the name of the record. She said “I feel a renaissance emerging” for an interview with Harper’s Bazaar.
She did not really elaborate what she was trying to convey with that statement, but the BeyHive, notoriously known for their investigative skills, assumed that the record would be called “Renaissance” and they quickly named the untitled B7 “Renaissance”. It was clear that a new era was about to commence. Eventually, Beyoncé appeared on multiple magazine covers, which highlighted what the aesthetic of the next album was going to be.
The word, however, has a deeper definition, and is perfectly connected with the context of the album. Besides the fact that she managed to revive a word that has not been used in ages, and a word that I initially wasn’t able to spell (thank you Mother Bey), what does the word Renaissance mean?
What does it entail, and how does it translate through the record? This going to be unpacked on the next paragraph of this article.
What is the definition of Renaissance?
To understand the context behind the album, it’s essential to comprehend what Renaissance truly means, and why Beyoncé decided to name the record after it.
Renaissance is a term that is frequently being used to describe art of the 14th to 16th century, these art forms are also being referenced in the aesthetic of the album, not in an obvious way, but very subtly. In some of the images for the record, you can identify Renaissance art references, especially the tour visuals. The art aside, there is another important reason why the album is named after the word Renaissance. The word basically means “revival”.
You might wonder what is being revived, and that’s an excellent question. The Queen Bey basically revived an under-appreciated genre of music that didn’t always receive the acknowledgement or recognition that it deserved. This is a move that not everyone dared to do, it’s hard to revive something that people barely know in the first place.
There are a lot of genres incorporated into the record, but the one that really managed to be revived was the sound of the ballroom scene. These sounds were created at times when our generation wasn’t born yet, and it has been left behind for eternity, this is why she managed to give an “unwanted genre” of music the opportunity to shine, also being why a lot of queer people appreciate the album.
Most of these songs are not actual collaborations, but samples from various queer artists and artists from the throwback times that are at times forgotten or dismissed, but with her approach, the album managed to give these people some well-earned attention.
Not just an album with samples
Have you ever listened to a contemporary album, heard some sampled, and wondered “why are they not doing anything significant with it?”.
In my case, I’ve discovered a lot of albums that attempted to embody an era, or a sound by mainly using samples. Unfortunately, they’re not really adding any value or importance to it.
In comparison with some other contemporary albums, Renaissance, manages to excel in that department. The first thing I’ve noticed, is that these samples are not only compatible with the sound and the narrative of the record, but also tend to give these songs more character and personality.
Beyoncé didn’t implement a few random samples into the track, but used samples which people were unfamiliar with, except for the sample of Donna Summer’s known track “I Feel Love” for the last track of the album, “SUMMER RENAISSANCE”.
An abundant number of artists have used or referenced the track, but the tracks were often underwhelming, or didn’t really compliment Donna’s song.
Beyoncé brought the 90’s to life again, despite the song being great on its own, the sample really complimented Beyoncé’s voice, and basically gave the original track an amusing and futuristic spin, truly a great and iconic way to finish the overwhelmingly exciting project.
Other tracks contain samples from ballroom icons and legends, which were known among the community from that time, but for today’s generation, they might not be as recognizable. She’s basically using these samples to make these hidden icons known to the public.
There are a lot of niche samples on the record, on “AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM”, the song “Cocaine” (a classic from Atlanta from the 90’s) by Kilo Ali, is being sampled, for the introduction, and the instrumental throughout the song. On the opening track, “I’M THAT GIRL”, Still Pimpin” by the underground artist Tommy Wright III, featuring Princess Loko & Mac T-Dog. Princess Loko’s part is to be heard during the intro of “I’M THAT GIRL”.
Beyoncé is using these samples to create an unconventional record, but also to give these people their well-deserved props, and to expose them to a bigger demographic. This makes her choice of sampling more interesting, contrary to how some other artists tend to use samples.
She was not trying to participate in a temporary trend, but is following her own intuition, and her own intentions. She has always done this, even with her last two records. Beyoncé doesn’t participate in trends, but contributes to a new approach to music, and she’s only pushing the boundaries further, which she has done consistently, but especially after her unforgettable self-titled record “BEYONCÉ”, a record that was dropped without an announcement.
How Beyoncé’s album brought the ballroom/queer scene back to life
The samples of the album are so much more than just general quirky samples for the public’s appeal, they are showcasing talents, and prominent individuals within the community. On the second track “COZY”, an interview from the famous trans activist and TV personality TS Madison has been used as a sample. Here, Madison expresses her pride in being black, and being a part of the LGBT community.
This is a theme that a good portion of the album contains, essentially, it’s a letter of appreciation to the gay community, especially the undervalued black gay community. Beyoncé’s intention was to make black gay people feel seen and appreciated.
Kevin Aviance’s “Cunty” also made an appearance on the record, Kevin is another legendary artist that many were unfamiliar with, but now, his voice and those of many other queer artists and celebrities are being heard internationally.
Also, one of Beyonce’s former collaborators, Big Freeda, was to be heard on the lead single of the album, “BREAK MY SOUL”, as well as the iconic drag legend Moi Renee, on PURE/HONEY, which Kevin Aviance was sampled on as well.
Beyoncé’s knowledge and interest in ballroom and queer culture is fascinating, especially considering that I haven’t heard of these artists because I was born in a different generation.
These artists are perhaps not entirely forgotten, but they never got the platform that they legitimately yearned for, but with these samples, Beyoncé is giving these icons a moment to shine.
A lot of people have tried to embody an aesthetic, or a subgroup in some circumstances, however, Beyoncé executed this album accordingly, and created an album that unites the community together, she gave a genre and a culture that was dismissed of shelved for long time a Renaissance moment.
This is why the album’s samples are not casual samples, but had an actual purpose, which has been served tremendously well.
Another important thing that I’ve noticed, is how she has actual queer dancers for her tour, most of these dancers are active in the ballroom scene or are openly queer. There so many ballroom references being used as well, from “giving tens” to “categories”, I can envision that the album has a nostalgic sound for a lot of queer people from other generations.
In conclusion, the album is the epitome of gay and black pride, the message that the album is trying to convey is to be unapologetic, black, and as feminine and divine as much as you desire.
An ode to her uncle Johnny
On one of the record’s most extravagant tracks, “HEATED”, Beyoncé gives her uncle Johnny a shout out, with the line “Uncle Johnny made my dress, that cheap Spandex, she looks a mess!”. Her uncle, who used to be a designer and someone who Beyoncé admired, sadly passed away because of AIDS complications.
During this era, it was a frequent occurrence in the community, which made it very difficult to feel empowered and understood. Knowing how challenging this era was, Beyoncé wanted to create a record that really represents the culture and the community in a genuine way.
The album is an embodiment of the sound of the 90’s, of the disco scene, and of house music, another genre that has historic importance for the gay community, those are probably the genres that Johnny resonated with as well, which might be the reason why Beyoncé decided to channel this sound.
She even stated that this record was a message to her uncle Johnny, and at her acclaimed and commercially successful “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” she even showed an image of uncle Johnny and her mother Celestine Ann Beyonce, also known as “Tina Knowles”, together. The album is basically a memoire for Uncle Johnny.
How the album is going to be appreciated in the future
The album has an unconventional sound, the record is very daring, and most records that are being misunderstood at first, will have a redemption moment at a later pace.
When it’s regarding Beyoncé’s “RENAISSANCE”, the album also took some time to really get the appreciation that it deserved but didn’t take too long to be taking off.
There were some mixed reactions during the release date of the record, some people didn’t really understand what Beyoncé was trying to convey with this record, especially because the sound was so distinct from all her other records.
It has a multitude of genres, ranging from House Music (the most prominent genre throughout the record) Afrobeat, some R&B moments with songs like “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA”, Hip-hip influenced songs with tracks like the opening song “I’M THAT GIRL” and even edgy, darker pop songs like “ALL UP IN YOUR MIND”.
With all the variety, the album could be a little overwhelming during the first listen, but even then, it’s still cohesive with its themes, and the way the sound fluctuates.
Beyoncé has never shied away from experimentation, even her two previous solo records “BEYONCÉ” were remarkably different compared to all the other projects that she has released. Lemonade for instance, was an extremely vulnerable and sentimental record, where she explored different emotions on every track, or rather, stages of her agony.
From grief, to anger, to forgiveness, emptiness, apathy, hope, and many more. The album was basically illustrating the stages she was going through when she discovered her husband’s infidelity. Her self-titled, also had a personal approach, however, it was not as emotional or vulnerable as Lemonade.
Beyoncé was showcasing a more controversial side of her, and was embracing her sexuality more than ever, and just like Renaissance, the album contained an abundant number of genres, eventually still became one of her most successful albums, and achieved that, with an unannounced visual record.
Renaissance, contrary to Lemonade and her self-titled, isn’t as emotional or personal, but still has a purpose, and still has a personality in a different way.
The album has a lot of meaning for the gay community, especially her predominant black demographic, she incorporated elements from queer culture, and a sound that the ballroom scene has always loved. This demographic is going to value the album for years to come. It was a bold move to make an album with this sound and aesthetic, and any album that breaks boundaries, and goes beyond the conventional route, is going to be appreciated for eternity.
This is another record that people will reflect in within a couple years, and still perceive it as an immaculate record, with an exceptionally unapologetic sound, and message.
We are the visuals, baby! (Tour visuals)
When Queen Bey said that the visuals will come at the right time, and that we, as fans are the actual visuals, she meant that she wanted people to enjoy the music without the imagery. This is another bold move that she hasn’t executed before.
Mother Bey hasn’t always released records with a whole visual movie, but she has always a couple visuals in store. Visuals tend to increase the popularity of a song, or an album. She had the awareness that this would be the case for her album as well, and wanted to prove that the visuals weren’t necessary for her to succeed, just like how she released her two previous solo albums unannounced.
The lack of visual doesn’t necessarily diminish the experience of the album, but it would bring more character to it, she has dropped a few teasers, and some of the visuals are being tears throughout the dates of her spectacular RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR, I also had the privilege to attend the tour, and witness some of the tour (or album visuals) myself. I know that the visuals are going to magnificent and elevate the album to a higher level.
According to the tour visuals I’ve seen, along with the photoshoots from the tour book and the album, the aesthetic is heavily ballroom inspired, especially the “OPULENCE” interlude on her tour indicated this, in this interlude, she’s literally participating in a ballroom competition, wearing shiny leggings, and a pink wig. She’s also surrounded with ballroom judges (not actual ones, but actors for the visual) and people are dancing to house music in a club.
On some other interludes, you could notice that she’ll also have some futuristic aesthetics for her visuals, on interludes like “Welcome to the Renaissance (Loop the Sample)” you see Beyoncé lying on the floor, in preparation of a rebirth.
She turns into a robot as a light is streaming over her body, she then becomes “The Mother of the house of Chrome”, then she proceeds to enter this world full of futuristic imagery. These are just assumptions based on the things that I’ve witnessed, I’m determined that some of the visuals were purely manufactured for the tour, but they still give indications, and it’s clear that this aesthetic will reappear in the actual visuals for the album.
The Renaissance Tour
We can’t talk about the era without including her spectacular “THE RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR”, the tour is already becoming an impactful moment in Beyoncé’s career. Every single clip that circulates the internet becomes a viral moment, and even from afar, people can conclude that the tour contains greatness, effort, talent, and perfect execution.
I had the privilege of experiencing this tour in Amsterdam, and I can still not fully comprehend what I witnessed during that night. Seeing Beyoncé live is an uncommon occurrence, there aren’t a lot of black superstars (and superstars in general) like her left. The greats, as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, and Prince have all passed away, but were also from an earlier generation.
Beyoncé is sandwiched in between; she was born in an era where these superstars were alive but was also present in the music industry when most of us were born.
She is a superstar from our generation, except for Madonna, there aren’t a lot of legends left in the industry, Beyoncé is one of the few legends we grew up with, so it’s seriously remarkable to witness her live, and I’m honoured to see my favourite all time icon live, she made the night unforgettable.
Her cool and effortless style (and her undeniable beauty) aside, her talent and her passion are otherworldly, to see her sing like a siren, and singing her heart out to beautiful ballads during the start of the show, such as “Dangerously in Love” from her debut album, or the iconic “I Care” from her album 4.
Her technique (check her technique!) is so natural, and you can see that she has been graced with outstanding vocal abilities. Since this is the Renaissance tour after all, not a lot of classics were performed, besides the ballads I’ve mentioned, and some other hits like “Crazy in Love”. She generally performed songs from her latest record, but even that, wasn’t underwhelming.
The songs from Renaissance even became twice as good after witnessing the live performances, Beyoncé brought the songs to life for a solid three hours long, besides the outfit changes, she didn’t take any breaks, and was consistent with her dancing and singing, even distractions or errors aren’t stopping of frightening her, which is really impressing. She is a real performer, she knows how to hold herself down, how to entertain and amuse the audience, and how to keep them on their tippy toes.
Even though she was very dedicated with her choreography and singing, the show also showed a comical side of the singer, she was cracking a lot of goofy and careless jokes, and often made jokes of her errors, which technically weren’t errors, because she’s still Beyoncé at the end of the day!
Concluding thoughts
I’ve written a lot about the album in this article, but it was more from a professional angle, I also want to give my personal perspective, perhaps others could resonate with it as well. The album is phenomenal, but still was a challenging listen at first. Not because the album was bad, it never was.
The album is very good, but it contains a lot of different genres, along with a cohesive narrative. I didn’t really know what to think about the album during my first listen.
With time, I got to digest the context, the narrative, and the purpose of the album properly, and it not only became one of (if not my favourite) Beyoncé records, but one of my favourite albums of all time.
Renaissance is more than just an album for me, it’s a record with a nostalgic sound that reminds me of the 90’s, the ballroom scene, and the under-appreciated House genre. It means a lot to me as a black gay man that Beyoncé, an infamous superstar, incorporated gay culture in the sincerest and most appealing way possible.
I don’t remember a lot of mainstream artists taking this approach, unless they want to appeal to an audience, and not necessarily deliver a message or a statement.
Renaissance is making a statement, and it’s not only an amusing album to dance away the challenging circumstances that we face, but also is a record that was meant for the black gay demographic, there are so many references being implemented that only we could understand and resonate with. The album can be appreciated by any group, but these are the individuals who will appreciate it the most.
There are so many tracks on this record that I really enjoy, but there some outstanding tracks that really captivated me.
The opening track “I’M THAT GIRL” got my attention from an instant, it’s so bad ass and in a weird way, so Beyoncé, a track that she only her could pull off. It reminds me of “Flawless” and “I Been On”, a reminder that she has always been the best, and that she won’t bow down for anyone. Speaking of reminder, the track “COZY” is literally a reminder to remain confident, to love our body, and to be cosy with who you legitimately are. “ALIEN SUPERSTAR” was a track that I immediately fell in love with, it’s so otherworldly (literally) and just a perfect pop track with a futuristic flare.
Also, the afrobeat inspired tracks like “MOVE” featuring the legendary Grace Jones and the Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems. The ballroom inspired afrobeat track “HEATED” is even better, Beyoncé is showing her comical, free-spirited, and unapologetic personality on this track, undoubtedly one of the highlights.
Another track that I really fell in love with is “PURE/HONEY”, perhaps the soundtrack for every distinct homosexual. The song could easily be a soundtrack for the FX television series "POSE". The track run from HEATED to SUMMER RENAISSANCE is truly flawless. I also think that the song “ALL UP IN YOUR MIND” deserves more recognition, very different from the rest of the album, and something that I’m not used to from Beyoncé.
There’s also “CHURCH GIRL” not necessarily a top favourite, still a track that I really enjoy. I remember a lot of fans speculating what the would be about, and the narrative is still present with title and the lyrics, but sound wise, not what you would predict for a supposed gospel song. It even has a sample from the Clark Sisters “Center of Thy”. The song has signature gospel lyrics but sounds like a “drop it like it’s hot” record, an unexpected twist.
In conclusion, the record is great, it will earn more recognition in the test of time, the targeted demographic will appreciate this record for eternity.