Lemonade is Beyonce’s version of squeezing creativity and genius out of struggle and pain; life gave Bey lemons, so she made Lemonade. 

This is the album that defines Beyonce’s career thus far. Jay Z dealt Beyonce the toughest hand she’s been dealt so far: infidelity. Not just infidelity—infidelity to a queen. One of the, if not the, most flawless human beings currently living. What does infidelity to a queen cause? Losing trust of the father of their precious child, Blue Ivy. Low self esteem. Low worth. Self-doubt. Hate. Anger. Spite. Revenge. All of the above.

However, how does a queen react? With careful, calculated, and creative retribution: Lemonade in music and film form. The result is brilliant. 

You hear familiar sounds from previous Beyonce works, as well as a progressive sound throughout that captures a wide spectrum of classic American music genres. “Daddy Lessons” conveys a Louisiana blues vibe with Texas swagger(and could very well beat out Taylor Swift for country record of the year, which I dearly hope happens). “6 Inch” conveys a dirty trap-R&B feel that comes together with The Weeknd’s perfect cameo.  “Forward” conveys a Gospel-Soul sound that is caressed by James Blakes blissful duet with Bey. All in all, its a melting pot of beautiful sounds and genres that otherwise should never make sense—— but Beyonce wills it to work, with passion in her voice and power in her purpose. 

Both Kanye and Beyoncé’s projects also utilized a music-video film format to release the music for the first time to the general public. Although Kanye’s acting was pretty abysmal, what he did at the time was pretty revolutionary. Yeah, music video films have been done before, but a film for an entire album was fairly new-ground. Lemonade uses this same format, and nails it. Again, it’s been done, but Beyonce did it in a way that overshadows Kanye’s film and every attempt up until this point. Beyonce’s lemonade is creating a trend where visuals for music start to matter again. We’re on the cusp of streaming exclusive music video films. People care again. MTV might soon have purpose again…

I could go into whole dissertation about how both projects mirror each other, but as long as you understand why both artists made the projects and appreciate the sounds on both projects, you will understand what I'm getting at. Lemonade is the result of milking struggle the same way MBDTF was. Sonically, emotionally, and impact-wise, both projects are the culmination of the strength of both artists. Both are a result of the artist harnessing what was torturous to them, crafting and molding it in their favor, and creating a masterpiece out of it. As Beyonce says towards the end of the Lemonade film, her “torture became her remedy”—and she’s sharing that remedy with the world. 

(Disclaimer: marketing scheme or not, I’m all in; I’m buying it either way. If you’re telling me those passionate points where Beyonce’s trembles mid-song are forced and not natural, Beyonce deserves both a Grammy and an Oscar for her performance.)