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The “Lemonade” everyone needs a taste of

Beyoncé transcends genres and breaks boundaries with newest visual album

<p>Beyonce continues to wow fans with her insightful, artistic new work, "Lemonade."</p>

Beyonce continues to wow fans with her insightful, artistic new work, "Lemonade."

Last weekend, Beyoncé released her sixth studio album, “Lemonade,” with an accompanying 56-minute visual album of the same name. Initially, the film was initially released solely on subscription-based platforms, HBO and Tidal, but, unsurprisingly, “Lemonade” is still surging to the top of the charts and is projected to start at number one on the Billboard top 200.

The music is a poignant, personal and powerful meditation on identity, relationships and black feminism — all of which is magnified by the film itself. The album seamlessly transcends genre, exhibiting everything from Beyoncé’s iconic pop-R&B style she is known for on songs like “Sorry” and “Hold Up,” to raucous, banging rock and roll with the anthem entitled “Don’t Hurt Yourself” featuring Jack White. It even holds a soulful, classic country song, “Daddy Lessons,” harkening back to her own southern roots.

The film is an absolutely visceral and moving experience with an impactful message on the past, present and future of black femininity and the different challenges accompanying it. Beyoncé showcases how she is both an enigma and absolutely unstoppable. Through the incredible spoken word of Warsan Shire, a British poet whose work is used to transition between songs and sections throughout the film, she reveals her true self, her flaws and her humanity.

The story takes viewers through 11 chapters named after emotional states, including “Denial,” “Emptiness,” “Apathy” and “Forgiveness.” The journey transitions from the antebellum South to present-day New Orleans to VHS video clips of the artist’s own childhood and family and then back to the present. The imagery is fierce, pointed and wholly intentional, juxtaposing moments of violence and anger as Beyoncé smashes car windows with a baseball bat and then drives over the busted vehicles, all while wearing a $40,000 Roberto Cavalli dress. Making a statement against purity and untouched humanity, she stands in the ocean with five other women in “Love Drought.”

The film makes social activism available en masse, while remaining sensual, powerful and incredibly personal. As she chronicles Jay Z’s alleged infidelity, motherhood, family and fame, the album still stays positive and empowering. “Lemonade” has the power to force people to look outside of themselves, whether they are aware of it or not. This album is impossible to ignore.

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