Beyoncé’s Renaissance Proclaims Blackness and Black Sound Beyond Mainstream Borders
I do feel intentionality in Renaissance, an explicit conversation with Blackness across the diaspora. I hear an unruly, Black creative expression and deliberation on sustenance and Black futures that embraces the moods and grooves that connect us all.
Beyoncé’s seventh studio album Act I: Renaissance took me places. I am interested in the aspirations in those destinations and the company she is keeping as she takes flight. I don’t like to just jump on the bandwagon and Beyonce’s music and new album Renaissance is no exception. She drops hits, but I’ve never been a super fan. I lean toward digging in vinyl crates for obscure white label records and appreciating musical expression outside of the small window that popular radio often affords. I originally got my start in the early to mid 2000s in Chicago and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, when I found underground sounds across the Black diaspora: Grime, UK garage, drum and bass, house, reggae and dancehall. When picking records for the dance floor, I was interested in the world building of the musical experience. I DJ less than I once did. As a musician, and someone studying environment, Black studies, and music, I appreciate songs that take folks to places — geographically and in the imaginary — and songs that provide insights about space and place through…