What does it sound like?:

Is Beyoncé 4 real? I’ve found myself asking that question many times over the course of her career.

Beyoncé is a commodity, a brand, a commercial product, capable of shifting millions of units all over the world. She’s been schooled in the dark arts of self promotion and maintaining an image from a very young age, first by her father and then by her husband, one of the most astute operators in the music industry, skilled at making money in the absence of musical talent.

As for talent, Beyoncé is overloaded with it. She has a superlative body, enough stamina to dance athletically over a two and hour concert, and a voice that hits notes with the accuracy of a tuning fork. Her videos are a feast for the eyes. The production and song-writing on her records are second to none. When everything falls into place, her work is astonishing. Crazy In Love, for example, must be one of the most excitng records of this century.

The problem is that she keeps her true feelings to herself. She is too controlled to surrender herself to the song, to allow herself to inhabit … Continue reading Beyoncé – Lemonade