I agree! It's definitely nice to read them, but most of the reviewers that are giving this album a negative review (there's very few negative reviews) are from publications that aren't even eligible for Metacritic, so we don't really need to pay attention to them.
Beyoncé has done a-woman-scorned before, of course, as in her 2006 song “Ring the Alarm,” in which she says, “I’ll be damned if I see another chick on your arm.” Even the lusty “Beyoncé” had “Jealous.” But it’s startling to hear the fresh intensity of her anger here, especially given how little she says in public about her private life.
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...the music stops and suddenly we’re presented with the voice of Malcolm X and the sight of several ordinary-looking women staring directly into the camera.
“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman,” Malcolm X says. “The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”
“Lemonade” argues that dignity for all begins with dignity for one.
...with “Lemonade,” she has never been clearer about what she stands for. She might be a cloistered superstar, but she’s still a black woman navigating a country toxic with hatred for blackness and womanhood. Her stardom in and of itself becomes a form of opposition. Through her music, she projects an invincibility that makes less-invincible listeners feel more like her. She makes the hardness of life feel less indomitable. That was a David Bowie thing, it was a Prince thing, it’s always been a hip-hop thing, and it’s very much a Beyoncé thing.
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It’s a lot to take in, and it’ll be impossible to get your arms around it after just a few spins. Absorbent listening — and looking — still takes time. “Lemonade” deserves that kind of time.
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Autobiographical or not, people are going to lose their minds parsing this stuff.
So go forth and gossip your face off. Just don’t let it drag your eardrums too far away from the sounds Beyoncé has made for you. There’s a serious encounter to be had with this music alone, and you’ll want to throw your entire sensorium into it. If anything, “Lemonade” proves that all of our over-dazzled senses are still plenty responsive, especially to the sound of a singular human voice.
