If you thought Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance was bad, know that she was only getting started. Her latest visual album, which debuted on HBO, is everything that #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Panther Party love.
The mothers of Trayvon Martin and and Michael Brown are featured in Beyonce’s new album, which was released on Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service on Saturday night after an HBO special promoting it.
Lemonade is the title of both the singer’s first album in three years, and the ‘visual album’ which aired on HBO to promote it.
And the singer continued to lace her work with a political message, as well as hitting out at her husband Jay-Z amid rumors of infidelity while ultimately appearing to forgive him.
Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade aired on HBO on Saturday, and the film served as a bold tribute to the perseverance of African American women and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The pop queen drew a theme early in Lemonade as the film cuts to a snippet from late civil rights leader Malcolm X, who is heard saying: ‘The most disrespected person in America is the black woman.’
Later, Mike Brown’s mother Lesley McSpadden is seen crying as she holds a photo of her late son, whose shooting death by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 sparked protests and a Department of Justice investigation.
Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton is also seen holding a photo of her son, who was shot dead at the age of 17 by George Zimmerman, in a case that sparked national outrage in 2012.
After screening on HBO, the album will only be available on Tidal, Jay Z’s pay-for music subscription. However, HBO will screen a rerun on Sunday April 24 at 8pm Eastern Time.
Beyoncé has been known to get political with her music – she caused controversy at the Super Bowl after she and her dancers dressed similarly to the Black Panther Party, which was known for being confrontational with officers.
Just before the Super Bowl, Beyoncé released Formation and accompanied the song with a video in line with the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement against perceived police brutality, with one scene showing officers raising their hands up as if under arrest.
The video won wide praise from activists and Beyoncé’s fan base, although her political turn outraged some conservatives.
Beyoncé, one of the most successful contemporary artists who has mostly avoided controversy in the past, later said in an interview that she was taking issue with abuses, not with all police.
Here is the HBO trailer for her new dark album:
Read more: Daily Mail
