Butta: Right?! But back to your earlier comment, Bey is saying some real ish on this track in the midst of the ratchet.
D-Money: I’m on my fifth spin, but I’m not getting the “woke”-ness that everyone’s saying. But I’m a hater though. *dons fabric*
Butta: A-ha! So you’re who she’s addressing in the opening lyric. LOL
Speaking of which, should we talk about the song separate from the video? Because people who are saying it’s “woke” are probably taking it in as a package deal.
D-Money: That’s what I’m thinking, because the most pro-Black things she says in the song are, “I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros,” and “I like my Negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils.”
- Advertisement -Butta: Why’d she have to go in on Michael Jackson and them like that, though? Damn.
To your comments, though, yes this is true lyrically. But can we just take a moment to clap for Bey for using the word “Negro” and not “nigga,” though? Cause the way contemporary R&B is set up…
- Advertisement -D-Money: I mean, sure. Though it’d have even more meaning if she weren’t rocking a blonde weave while singing it.
Butta: At this point, I think Beyoncé’s hair grows out of her head as blonde weave. But I digress.
- Advertisement -D-Money: Aiight, let me tuck my playa hater card (card-carrying member since 1982 *flashes wink and gold-tooth smile*) away for a second and give the song a fair shake. I’m not entirely blown away by it, but I will say that she’s starting to get better at this experiment she’s been doing since dropping “7/11” and that “Flawless” remix, with her actually seeming a bit natural over the bass-heavy beat.
Butta: Agreed. Of her songs in this vein, this is the “best” one.
- Advertisement -D-Money: I think the only thing that is wrong here is there’s no clear point to it. She’s all over the place topic-wise. Givenchy dresses, Roc necklaces, hot sauce, Red Lobster, albino alligators. Bish whet?
Butta: Yes, like many of her songs, it’s here, there and everywhere. But unlike her other songs, it addresses so many random aspects of her life head-on. And it is the blackest ass song she’s ever done? Yes. During Black History Month no less. C’mon! That’s what has people so fired up about it. That, plus the visuals, of course.
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