What do we think of Queen Bey's Homecoming?

[OfMe]

Have never really been a fan - obviously have been aware of her existence and heard most of her songs from just being existent in the world, but I read an article about how the film of the show incorporated black culture, with references to Nina Simone, Maya Angelou, Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, and thought I'd watch, and I was quite blown away by some of it. Of course a lot of it is just reformatting songs entirely focused on men and the male gaze into a more feminist attitude, but apart from the impressive scale and enormity of the project, I was just very impressed with the depth of creativity applied. Anyone else?

ha Its a funny thing I was considering making a thread about this, I enjoyed it from a musical standpoint and I learned something new I didnt know what a HBCU was, the scale was impressive,... loved destinys child at the end. My main criticism is I didn't hear much of my favourite Beyonce songs

Apparently there were 26 songs, but maybe they axed a few in favour of the documentary bits? Maybe there'll be an extended version to buy!

I’m watching it now.

I’ve cried twice - I think it’s her sheer determination to succeed, and to give black culture a profile, that makes me emotional.

That, or my hormones.

I dunno if it's all that profound tbh, smacks a lot of jumping on the black lives bandwagon and sampling maya angelou does not a highbrow make,.... God I'm cynical ..... maybe its my hormones

I think it was incredible... I would have loved to have watched it live. She absolutely puts her heart and soul into her performances.

It was an amazing show. I think it's pretty cynical to call black lives matter a bandwagon and to say that she's jumping on it:
I think the whole feel of it was joyous and natural and I got shivers watching it at times! Loved the drums & brass and the dancing was incredible.

I'm not sneering at the movement at all, it was created for very valid reasons I just think imo celebrities often exploit political waves for their own ends.

You do have to consider that she's not one woman alone - she has an army of producers, media execs, PR managers, choreographers, designers, conductors (or music supervisors/producers) overseeing the co-ordination of how the oevre is interpreted and repackaged to be displayed in the most relevant, up-to-date way, especially including the political messages. I'm not saying it's not all her own opinion ultimately, and I do think she's aware of the privileged position she's in to be able to express that, but I don't think we should lose sight of the fact that a) it's lovely that we as a society have finally reached a place where a black female artist can be placed in that position of privilege, b) it's even lovelier to see that she's using that position to highlight historical inequalities that resonate so much with people in all manner of ways. It's a tricky one though - the whole Coachella thing was ultimately a way to boost sales of her records (Destiny's CHild's went up by a couple of hundred per cent, and hers by about 400-odd per cent) so unfortunately it does still just ultimately serve the 'albino alligators' (and her estate) in making money. An inspired piece of PR, as well as a dramatic continuation of turning around a singer who seemingly only used to sing about being in love, who (since Lemonade?) has become a a symbol for black/feminist self-empowerment. Forgive me and do correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, but I'm only just discovering things about BK, but I'm coming at it from a promotional aspect.

But yeah, I was utterly stunned when I first saw it. Less so the second time around.