This is an interesting article, I agree with the bolded part 100%.
Beyonce, Trying To Find Her Own Destiny
By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 9, 2006; Page C01
Beyonce, Act 3.
That's where we are. In case you downloaded a couple of her new songs last night, or bought her new album this week, or saw her new whatchamacallit music video and thought, "Whoa! Where am I? Who is she?" You knew Beyonce. The Beyonce of Destiny's Child. (That was Act 1.) Then the Beyonce who went solo but came back to the group. (That was Act 2.)
And now Act 3 is the B season, the independent- independent Beyonce, with Beyonce Giselle Knowles screaming at the top of her lungs, trying so hard to come fully into her own.
She's done three movies, but nothing like the breakout role in the Oscar-bait "Dreamgirls," due out on Christmas Day. There's the growing fashion line, House of Dereon, named for her grandmother. And the second solo album ("B'Day" dropped Tuesday) that's wrapped in a raw, relentless, aggressive voice, practically bursting out of the beats.
It's not the Beyonce of Destiny's Child, one of the most successful female groups in history, which was known for its catchy tunes and its good-girl image. She's broken away from that. There's no misinterpreting the photo on the back of "B'Day's" CD booklet: Beyonce wearing black heels and a swimsuit, holding two alligators on leashes.
What's going on, B?
" That's Beyonce? Why is she singing like that ? She looks like a mess ," says fan Dionne Morton, 24, of Bowie, referring to the video for "Ring the Alarm." She's memorized all the songs, owns all the albums, but this, this ranting, angry woman in the music video who shouts, "Ring the alarm! / I been through this too long! / But I'll be damned if I see another chick on your arm!" she doesn't know. "I'm not really sure what to make of Beyonce these days," Morton says.
Change. We get to watch the evolution of an artist, in this case Beyonce trying to find her way, define herself, mature.
"When she auditioned for 'Dreamgirls,' I had to make sure that she couldn't just play sweet ingenue, but also serious and dramatic," says Bill Condon, the Oscar-winning screenwriter who directed the film."And she did both remarkably well. This is an exciting time for her. A scary time, too. She's pushing herself. She's trying on different personalities."
It hasn't been an easy Act 3 so far. Though "B'Day" is expected to sell more than 600,000 units in its first week -- one of the biggest releases of the year -- the reviews have been mixed. The album's first single, "Deja Vu," failed to take off; some fans were so disappointed by the video ("Is she dancing or having a seizure?" one asked) that they signed an online petition demanding that B re-shoot it. And B's dad, also her manager, has gotten involved, issuing a furious (and much-circulated) press release. (B and her camp are unavailable for comment, says Yvette Noel-Schure, her publicist.)
Then there's the "Basic Instinct"-inspired video for "Ring the Alarm," dissected on sites such as YouTube. Note to Jay-Z, B's beau: If there's any truth to the rumors in the hip-hop press that you're cheating on B with Rihanna, watch your back.
Says Toure, a BET correspondent and contributing editor for Rolling Stone, where he's profiled B: "Beyonce has had this magic about her, this ability to create hits consistently since she was a teenager. Back to 'Say My Name' to 'Independent Women' to 'Crazy in Love.' With this album, with 'Deja Vu' and 'Ring the Alarm' and some of the other songs, I'm scratching my head. They kind of lack something . But I can't put my finger on what that something is."
"It's not that the songs lack something," counters Danyel Smith, editor in chief of Vibe magazine. "Beyonce gives the songs everything . And that sound she has right now, that wildness, that soulfulness, that abandon, makes some people uncomfortable. We've gotten used to the pose of today's pop-R&B singers, who tend not to give you an ounce of emotion. Beyonce does. She really loses it. It's total abandon."
Hers is a very familiar biography, endlessly replayed on "E! True Hollywood Story." Beyonce grew up in Houston, primped by her doting mother, Tina Knowles, a hairdresser who now serves as her daughter's stylist, and pushed by her hardworking father, Matthew, who quit his job as a salesman to supervise her career. You can't help but feel that she's been a family project from the start. She was a performer by age 7, a losing contestant on "Star Search" as a tween. As a teenager, she was topping the charts and winning Grammys with Destiny's Child.
She's a devout Christian in skimpy clothing. She's described her off-stage personality as "shy," "soft-spoken" and "low-key," but on stage she's got the energy of two shots of espresso mixed in with a can of Red Bull. She's a combination of a fiery Diana Ross and a slicker Tina Turner, both of whom she's cited as idols. How she manages her onstage personality with her off-stage one will be interesting to watch.
And who knows where she's really headed.
Maybe Beyonce is where Janet Jackson was 20 years ago when Jackson set out to define herself for herself with the album "Control." Later this month, Jackson, 40, will celebrate her career longevity with a new album called "20 Y.O."
Beyonce, who turned 25 this week, is still growing up.
"Dreamgirls," the Hollywood adaptation of the Broadway musical, tells the story of the Dreams, an all-black girl trio not unlike the Supremes. Fittingly, Beyonce plays Deena, the Ross-like role, and Deena, B has said, served as an inspiration for "B'Day." For two weeks, without her dad/manager knowing about it, she recorded "B'Day."
In a recent interview with MTV, Beyonce said, "Her whole life, you know, she didn't do what she wanted to do. She didn't know who she was. She didn't know her voice. And eventually she does find her voice. She knows where she wants to go in life."
Beyonce is talking about Deena, but she sounds like she may also be talking about herself.
Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...090801924.html