Beyoncé could also be eyeing Rock ’n’ Roll subsequent, and the style may not be prepared for the historical past lesson that comes along with her.
I’m with you on this one. If there’s anybody who’s earned the fitting to kick the door down on yet one more style, it’s Beyoncé.
At this level, her profession isn’t about transitions a lot as reclamations. R&B, Pop, Nation. None of these strikes felt random. They felt intentional, nearly surgical, like she was reminding the business who really laid the bricks. When she stepped into nation, the resistance wasn’t delicate, and neither was the historical past lesson behind it. Black people didn’t borrow these genres. We constructed them.
So if Rock ’n’ Roll is subsequent, the pearl-clutching ought to actually be directed inward.
Earlier than anybody acts model new, let’s be very clear in regards to the lineage. Rock doesn’t exist with out Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard. Full cease. The concept that Rock was “invented” by Elvis Presley or perfected by The Rolling Stones or Jerry Lee Lewis is without doubt one of the most profitable cultural rewrites in American music historical past. Beyoncé getting into that house wouldn’t be trespassing. It will be ancestral.
And right here’s the factor. Beyoncé doesn’t do eras accidentally. If she’s choosing up a guitar, it’s not cosplay. She understands spectacle, however she additionally understands symbolism. Rock music thrives on insurrection, quantity, distortion, and managed chaos. That vitality matches her completely at this stage. She’s now not attempting to be appreciated. She’s documenting freedom.
She additionally doesn’t transfer with out infrastructure. Having Jay-Z as a accomplice isn’t simply private, it’s strategic. Add in a worldwide fanbase that treats her releases like cultural occasions, and out of the blue the concept of a Rock-forward Beyoncé album doesn’t sound dangerous. It sounds inevitable.
And also you’re proper about one factor that doesn’t get stated sufficient. She doesn’t clarify herself anymore. No press excursions. No apologies. No lane-keeping. She drops the work and lets historical past catch up.
If she goes Rock, feathers will get ruffled. However actually? That looks like the purpose.
Now let me flip it again to you.
Do you suppose the backlash could be louder than the music, or would the music shut everybody up the best way it normally does?
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