Limonata

Lemonade - Beyoncé (2016)

Occupiamoci di Beyoncé Knowles, oggi. Anche stavolta ho letto recensioni incensanti, così come in occasione del precedente BEYONCE', e, se ricordate, dopo ripetuti ascolti non ero d'accordo. Stavolta, il primo ascolto è stato deludente, ma poi sono andato avanti, e alla fine sono rimasto abbastanza soddisfatto. B è, come tutti sapete, una ragazza piena di talento, oltre che molto bella, molto ricca eccetera. Stavolta sembra aver fatto combaciare il tutto, circondandosi di grandi collaborazioni, e costruendo un concept album, accompagnato da un mediometraggio omonimo, trasmesso da HBO. Il disco e tutto il concetto supporta l'autoconoscenza femminile e femminista, e il movimento Black Lives Matter.
Detto questo, accompagnato da liriche dure, impegnate ed autobiografiche, l'album è piacevole, mescola generi diversi e a volte insospettabili, abilmente fusi. Come ospiti troviamo James Blake (Pray You Catch Me, Forward), Jack White (Don't Hurt Yourself), The Weeknd (6 Inch), Kevin Cossom (Daddy Lessons), Malik Yusef (Sandcastles), Kendrick Lamar (Freedom), Diplo (All Night), Khalif Brown e Mike Will Made It (Formation), e come samples (ancor più sorprendenti) troviamo cose di Doc Pomus e Mort Shuman (cantato da Andy Williams), Yeah Yeah Yeahs e Soulja Boy, Led Zeppelin, Burt Bacharach, Panda Bear, Animal Collective, Alan Lomax, OutKast, e addirittura King Crimson. Difficile scegliere un pezzo preferito (forse il classico All Night), quel che è sicuro è che questo Lemonade (ispirato dal discorso che sentite alla fine di Freedom, di Hattie White, la nonna di Jay Z, marito di B, in occasione della festa per i suoi 90 anni; "I was served lemons, but I made lemonade") è un gran bel disco pop.



Let's talk about of Beyoncé Knowles, today. Again I read very positive reviews, as well as during the previous BEYONCE', and, if you remember, after repeated listening I did not agree. This time, the first hearing was disappointing, but then I went ahead, and in the end I was quite happy. B is, as you all know, a very talented girl, and very beautiful, very rich and so on. This time seems to have made it all fit together, surrounding herself with great collaborations, and building a concept album, accompanied by a medium-length film of the same name, broadcasted by HBO. The album and the whole concept supports women's and feminist self-knowledge, and the movement Black Lives Matter.
That said, accompanied by harsh lyrics, engaged and autobiographical, the album is nice, mixes different genres and sometimes unexpected, cleverly fused. Guests are James Blake (Pray You Catch Me, Forward), Jack White (Don't Hurt Yourself), The Weeknd (6 Inch), Kevin Cossom (Daddy Lessons), Malik Yusef (Sandcastles), Kendrick Lamar (Freedom), Diplo (All Night), Khalif Brown and Mike Will Made It (Formation), and as samples (even more amazing) we find things of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman (sung by Andy Williams), Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Soulja Boy, Led Zeppelin, Burt Bacharach, Panda Bear, Animal Collective, Alan Lomax, OutKast, and even King Crimson. Hard to choose a favorite piece (perhaps the classic All Night), what is sure is that this Lemonade (inspired by the speech that you hear at the end of Freedom, by Hattie White, the grandmother of Jay Z, husband of B, at the party for her 90 years, "I was served lemons, but I made lemonade") is a great pop record.