Beyonce has received a bit of back lash for her new single, “Bow Down”/ “I Been On”. Following the release of new single, Beyonce has offended some of her devoted fans.
If you’ve listened to any of the lyrics you’ll know the singer is being forthright cocky, arrogant and even referred to, what we’re assuming is, her competition and haters as “bitches”! Now, given the polished image and role model she has been considered to be for all these years, some are disappointed that this is the direction she’ll potentially be heading in for her new album and sound.
But we’d like to pose a question.
Answer?!
Absolutely.
We’re not here to debate on whether Bey’s new single is offensive or not but we call this a well thought out strategy.
Beyonce and her team is fully aware that she’s faced criticism in the past for having too polished an image and being unrelatable. It’s one of the reasons she has released her HBO documentary, “Life Is But A Dream”, and has slowly started opening up about who the real Beyonce is.
Now, does that mean she’ll “fall from grace”, drop her “Halo” and jump on the ratchet expressway? No!
But it’s clear she wants to be looked at as not just an artist but human. She’d like to shed that perfect image. Honestly, we think it’s smart. She’s trying to reinvent herself. In the same way Janet Jackson and Madonna have both done in the past.
Now, did you really think she was that perfect? She’s not only beautiful but incredibly talented. She’s even been called “Beysus”! Therefore, we’re fully open to welcoming a bit of “ratchet” Bey from time to time. (Shall we dear thank Rihanna for paving the way?) Ha! We kid, we kid.
But speaking of Rihanna. These two ladies are often compared but Bey’s latest controversy sheds light on one of the reasons why that may be (unrelated to their level of talent by the way).
Beyonce has been criticized for the same reason Rihanna has praised in some ways. While Rihanna has long shed any good girl image she once had she’s garnered even more success in all her pot smoking, nude photo releasing, getting back with Chris Brown, potty mouth glory! She [Rihanna] has presented the “real” her. While she’s not for everyone, by being herself (if it is the real her) we are forced to respect it. Not like it but respect it. She’s also been vocal about living her rock star lifestyle, not being a role model and not being responsible for raising anybody’s children.
On the other hand, Beyonce has always been the good girl that does absolutely no wrong. It’s why the record has stirred the pot. She also knows that staying relevant isn’t just about your music. It is also about reinventing yourself. She knows people don’t want the same meal she’s been serving and wants some variety. So unfortunately, no, it is not just about the music. People want to relate to their favorite artist. What makes them happy, sad, mad, angry? What’s their favorite meal, what’s their favorite article of clothing, designer, music they also listen to? They want to know it all. Whether they should is another story.
Beyonce’s been able to present such a polished image for one reason — it’s all about perception. It’s one of the reasons PR and branding is so important. Who you perceive the artist to be vs. who they really are. She’s been twerking on stage for years and had us all believing it was in the name of The Lord. Lol!
In hindsight. She’ll lose some fans but she’ll also gain new ones. And we’re betting even the fans whose devotion has waned a bit won’t be able to stay away for too long. Her talent speaks for itself, after all.
Again, this is a strategic move. It’s Beyonce the business woman, and a bit of the artist, reinventing the wheel. Let ratchet Bey live!
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7 Comments
If you are a real fan, you know that this is Bey. She is not a good girl, she just knows how to keep her stuff well hidden. I love the diversity that she has and if people don’t like it then like Jay says, “You can press fast forward.” Beyoncé will be criticized regardless of what she does. When she did “Ave Maria,” everybody got on her for that. When she did “Deja Vu,” everybody got on her for being to raunchy. This is a grown woman people. Jeez!
I don’t know what the debate is about, you’ll either like the song or don’t. I find that with her last 3 albums 60 to 70 percent of the music was garbage anyway.
Why you want to wait until you have a kid to start being ratchett. What kind of impression you want to give your daughter, when she hears your music, shell be telling her friends later bow down bitches. If you wanted to reinvent yourself it should have been long while ago you are married now with a kid and husband. Besides its time to be a mom not trash on stage. Listen to yourself, if you been on now its time to let someone else be on, like kelly rowland let it breath!
@Mrs.d maybe having a daughter also gave her wings and made her more ballsy. I agree. Beyonce has always been a closet hood rat. As talented as she is I wish she was more “real” or just herself from the beginning. I know there’s always pressure to be a role model and set an example but people always respect what’s real oppose to what you just want them to see (only the good). It’s one of the reasons I never jumped on the Stan bandwagon. She’s always been pretentious to me. However, I won’t jump aboard the I hate beyonce wagon either because her talent speaks for itself. To each is own I suppose.
Can she live? The song was cute. People are making it a bigger deal than it really is.
Beyonce have had her time to shine and thus far she haven’t done a great job at doing that. Beyonce use to be the perfect example of a african american female although slowly but surely that has been declining for the last 9 to 10 years. Yes, I love Beyonce and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, but she do not have the talent that she use to have. I think that she just enjoy being seen and will do anything for that competitive vibe of being in the spot light. And it is time for her to move on and be a mother. If she wanted to come out with songs like this she should have done that like 9 years ago when it would have been a little bit more age appropriate (you know, like the young and dumb thing). And just to mention, this song would have definately been waaaaay more better than that sasha fierce alter ego stuff that she had going on. But know she is grown and should want people to look at her as symbol of being classy and intelligent, but with this song “bow down/I been on” her time is over for stuff like that-it don’t send no good message. And good messages and inspiring other young females (especially those that want singing careers) should be what it is all about for her now.
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