Review: Beyonce — Renaissance
Beyonce’s latest record pushes to the future by revisiting the past, aided by lavish production and great vocals.
Beyonce’s Renaissance is an album I enjoyed in spite of some of its lyrical pitfalls (ones which I would personally apply to RnB and some sub-genres of hip-hop more widely — so, this is not a problem with this record as such). I wasn’t sure what to expect when Arthur Dewson (AN0N) asked me to check out the record, having heard Lemonade previously and primarily got my enjoyment from that record from Beyonce’s vocals (obviously) and the involvement in production from the likes of Mike Dean, James Blake and more.
Beyonce, similarly to an artist like Kanye West, is more so a creative mind in charge of a large group of musicians as opposed to the solo artist behind Renaissance. Each track’s credits are lengthy, crediting a number of different producers and artists who make Beyonce’s afro-futurist world — one surely inspired by the music of Janelle Monae and abstract hip-hop like Deltron 3030’s self titled album — but Beyonce is also evidently the creative force behind the ideas being suggested here musically.
The lyrics, many of which revolve around your typical RnB focuses — sexuality, riches, egotism — were at times quite laborious, but at times this egotism is turned poetic and can have some interesting results. Alien Superstar in…
