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''Lemonade'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on April 23, 2016, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records, accompanied by a 65-minute film of the same title. It is Beyoncé's second "visual album", following her self-titled fifth studio album (2013), and a concept album with a
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...
that relates Beyoncé's emotional journey after her
husband A husband is a male in a marital relationship, who may also be referred to as a spouse. The rights and obligations of a husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between societies and cultures ...
's infidelity in a generational and racial context. Primarily an R&B and art pop album, ''Lemonade'' encompasses a variety of genres, including
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
,
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...
, rock, hip hop,
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...
, funk, Americana,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
,
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
, electronic, and trap. It features guest vocals from James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, the Weeknd, and Jack White, and contains samples and interpolations of a number of hip hop and rock songs. ''Lemonade'' received universal critical acclaim, and is the most acclaimed studio album of Beyoncé's career. The album was music critics' top album of 2016, and was named the greatest album of the 2010s by publications such as the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
. In 2020, the album was placed at number 32 on ''Rolling Stone'''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The album was nominated for nine
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
s at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards (2017), including
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...
, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It won
Best Urban Contemporary Album The Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for quality works on albums in the urban contemporary subgenre within the R&B field. Honors in several categories are presented at t ...
and
Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...
. The album's visuals received 11 nominations at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, of which it won eight including Breakthrough Long Form Video and Video of the Year. The film also received four nominations at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards. The album won a Peabody Award in Entertainment. ''Lemonade'' topped the charts in various countries worldwide, including the US ''Billboard'' 200, where it earned 653,000 with additional album-equivalent units, including 485,000 copies in its first week of sales. It has since been certified triple platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...
(RIAA). By the end of 2016, ''Lemonade'' had sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States, making it the third-best-selling album of the year in the US, and it was the best-selling album of 2016, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), with 2.5 million copies sold worldwide. The album was supported by five singles: "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
", which was a top-ten hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, " Sorry", " Hold Up", " Freedom", and " All Night". In April 2016, Beyoncé embarked on The Formation World Tour to promote the album, an all-stadium tour visiting North America and Europe.


Background

On February 6, 2016, Beyoncé released "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
" for free on the music streaming service Tidal and its accompanying
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
on her official
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
account. The following day, Beyoncé performed "Formation" during her performance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. Immediately after the performance, a commercial aired announcing The Formation World Tour, which kicked off in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
on April 27, 2016, with the first pre-sales going on sale just two days after the announcement on February 9, 2016. Beyoncé was both praised and criticized over her "Formation" and the Black Panther-influenced costume for her Super Bowl halftime performance. As a result of this, the hashtags "#BoycottBeyonce" and "#IStandWithBeyonce" began trending on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
platforms such as
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and Beyoncé faced boycotts from police unions. A group of protesters planned to stage an "anti-Beyoncé" rally outside of the NFL's headquarters in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, New York on the day general sale of tickets went for sale, but no protesters showed up; instead, dozens of Beyoncé supporters held a rally for her. When asked what she wanted to accomplish with the next phase of her career in an interview with '' Elle'', published on April 4, 2016, Beyoncé said: "I hope I can create art that helps people heal. Art that makes people feel proud of their struggle. Everyone experiences pain, but sometimes you need to be uncomfortable to transform."


Recording and production

''Lemonade'' was recorded between June 2014 and July 2015 across 11 studios in the United States. Beyoncé had the idea to write each song corresponding to the eleven chapters that can be seen in the '' Lemonade'' film, and posted moodboards around the studio representing each chapter to provide direction to her collaborators. Beyoncé and her collaborators also played music in the studio to inspire each other. The album was written in stages, with Beyoncé retreating to her home to work on the recordings with recording and mixing engineer Stuart White, as well as to take care of her daughter. The process began at the Record Plant in Los Angeles, which the team used for a month. They then took a break, and later went to Paris for 45 days. The team stayed in a hotel and set up two studios in two different hotel rooms, one for Beyoncé and one for Jay-Z. Jay-Z recounted how he and Beyoncé recorded music both separately and together, describing it as "using our art almost like a therapy session" after his infidelity. The music that Beyoncé recorded separately was what became ''Lemonade'' and was released first. ''Lemonade'' was produced through Beyoncé's synthesis of the work of many collaborators, including both popular and lesser known artists. MNEK relayed how " Hold Up" was written, saying "The way Beyoncé works, the song is a jigsaw piece and then she will piece various elements. It could be a bit that she's written, a bit that someone else has written and she’ll make that the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
; a bit I've written she'll make the middle eight". MNEK also explains that Beyoncé was "overlooking everything, saying ''"''I like this, I like that, this is how this should sound, this is how that should sound.''"''" " Don't Hurt Yourself" collaborator Jack White describes how "she took just sort of a sketch of a lyrical outline and turned into the most bodacious, vicious, incredible song... I'm so amazed at what she did with it." "Hold Up" and " Sorry" co-writer and co-producer
MeLo-X Sean Rhoden, known professionally MeLo-X, is an American disc jockey and record producer. MeLo-X co-wrote two songs for Beyoncé's ''Lemonade'' album in 2016: " Hold-Up" and " Sorry". MeLo-X is one half of the electro/dancehall/reggae duo Electric ...
explains that "she has a way of creating that I’ve never seen before as an artist. She produces, alters and arranges tracks in ways I wouldn’t think of." When talking about how he scored the ''Lemonade'' film as well, MeLo-X explains "She's hands on with everything. She gives direction on everything and is very involved with the whole process. It's inspiring to see an artist on that level be able to just still have an eye for certain things and an ear... We would just sit down and go over with different things and different scenes and sounds and kind of put it together piece by piece."


Themes

As a
multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...
audiovisual Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions. Audiovisual service ...
artwork, ''Lemonade'' relates the emotional journey of Beyoncé after her husband Jay-Z's infidelity in a generational and racial context through its music, lyrics, visuals and poetry. The ''Lemonade'' album is a
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...
(referencing the classical compositional genre defined in German
Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
er by
Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
,
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
and
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
) that is performed as an elaboration of the
Kübler-Ross model The five stages of grief model (or the Kübler-Ross model) is popularly known as a model that describes a series of emotions experienced by people who are grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. In actuality, the Kübler-R ...
, with the tracks (excluding "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
") corresponding to the eleven chapters of the ''Lemonade'' film: " Intuition", " Denial", "
Anger Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...
", "
Apathy Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of inter ...
", "
Emptiness Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression, loneliness, anhedonia, despair, or other mental/emotional disorders, including schizoid ...
", "
Accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the pub ...
", "Reformation", "
Forgiveness Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may initially feel victimized or wronged, goes through a change in feelings and attitude regarding a given offender, and overcomes the impact of t ...
", "
Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...
", " Hope", and " Redemption". Melina Matsoukas, the director of the "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
" music video, said that Beyoncé explained to her the concept behind ''Lemonade'', stating: "She wanted to show the historical impact of
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
on black love, and what it has done to the black family, and black men and women—how we're almost socialized not to be together." Beyoncé wrote on this in a 2018 ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' article about the "generational curses" in her family, explaining that she comes "from a lineage of broken male-female relationships, abuse of power, and mistrust", including a slave owner who married a slave. Beyoncé continues, writing "Only when I saw that clearly was I able to resolve those conflicts in my own relationship. Connecting to the past and knowing our history makes us both bruised and beautiful." This theme is repeated throughout ''Lemonade'', with Beyoncé's grief, trauma and struggle being connected to that of her family's ancestors. The sixth track "
Daddy Lessons "Daddy Lessons" is a song recorded by the American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, '' Lemonade'' (2016). The song was written and produced by Wynter Gordon, Beyoncé, Kevin Cossom and Alex Delicata. The song's music video is part of a ...
" acts as a turning point for the album, with Beyoncé linking Jay-Z cheating on her with her father Mathew Knowles cheating on her mother
Tina Tina may refer to: People * Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places * Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran * Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia *Tina, Guadalcanal, Solom ...
. Towards the end of ''Lemonade'', Beyoncé reveals the meaning behind the album title, showing Jay-Z's grandmother Hattie White saying "I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade", and describing her own grandmother, Agnez Deréon, as an "alchemist" who "spun gold out of this hard life" with the instructions to overcome these challenges passed down through generations like a lemonade recipe.


Black feminism

Miriam Bale for '' Billboard'' called ''Lemonade'' "a revolutionary work of
Black feminism Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gend ...
" as "a movie made by a black woman, starring Black women, and for Black women", in which Beyoncé is seen gathering, uniting and leading Black women throughout the film. As well as relating the story of Beyoncé's relationship with her husband, ''Lemonade'' also chronicles the relationship between Black women and American society. This includes how the United States betrayed and continually mistreats Black women, with society needing to solve its problems in order to enable reformation and the rehabilitation of Black women. As part of reverting the societal oppression and silencing of Black women, ''Lemonade'' centralizes the experiences of Black women in a way that is not often seen in the media, and celebrates their achievements despite the adversity they face. "Don't Hurt Yourself" contains a quote from Malcolm X in which he said "The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman". The Black female public figures that Beyoncé featured in the film all have successful careers despite experiencing misogynoir and racism in the media. The film also contains clips of everyday Black women from working class communities, bringing visibility to Black women who are often ignored and undermined by society. The film envisions a space where there was never oppression of Black women, whereby Beyoncé and other Black women form a self-sufficient community in which they can heal together. ''Lemonade'' also defies and dismantles stereotypical representations of Black women as monolithic and angry Black women, instead attributing them complexity, agency, strength and vulnerability. To create ''Lemonade'', Beyoncé drew from the work of a wide variety of Black women who are often overlooked or forgotten. The music draws inspiration from Black female
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...
musicians such as Shug Avery,
Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock an ...
and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who also used their personal trauma to empower Black women, as well as samples songs originally recorded by Black women, namely Memphis Minnie and Dionne Warwick, but whose most famous recordings are by male or white artists. The visuals drew inspiration from works by Black feminists such as Julie Dash's '' Daughters Of The Dust'', Alice Walker's ''
In Search Of Our Mothers' Gardens Published in 1983, ''In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose'' is a collection composed of 36 separate pieces written by Alice Walker. The essays, articles, reviews, statements, and speeches were written between 1966 and 1982. Many are ...
'', and
Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, '' The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' S ...
's '' The Bluest Eye''. Other influences for ''Lemonade'' include literary work by Black women focusing on themes including
African-American folklore African-American folktales are the storytelling and oral history of enslaved African Americans during the 1700-1900s. These stories reveal life lessons, spiritual teachings, and cultural knowledge and wisdom for the African-American community ...
(such as Zora Neale Hurston's ''
Their Eyes Were Watching God ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance, and Hurston's best known work. The novel explores main character Janie Crawford's "ripening from a v ...
)'' and Afrofuturism (such as
Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship ...
's '' Kindred'').


African-American culture

Beyoncé also uses ''Lemonade'' as a form of recognition, commemoration and celebration of the culture and history of Black people in the Deep South and in the United States as a whole. The film contains allusions to slavery, such as the House of Slaves' Door of No Return in Senegal and the dungeons of Elmina Castle in Ghana, where slaves were taken before being shipped to the Americas. In " Love Drought", Beyoncé walks with her dancers into the sea, alluding to the
Igbo Landing Igbo Landing (also called Ibo Landing, Ebo Landing, or Ebos Landing) is a historic site at Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia. It was the setting of a mass suicide in 1803 by captive Igbo people who had taken control of ...
of 1803, where Igbo slaves took control of their slave ship, and rather than submit to slavery, marched into the sea while singing in Igbo, drowning themselves. Beyoncé appears wearing a tignon, in reference to Louisiana's tignon laws implemented in 1786 that limited African-American women's dress in order to maintain the state's racist social hierarchies. The film also contains references to African religion and spirituality, such as
Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
ori body paint in "Sorry", allusions to the loa Erzulie Red-Eyes in "Don't Hurt Yourself", and Beyoncé's initiation into the
Santería Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of We ...
religion and embodiment of the Yoruba
orisha Orishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. ...
Oshun in "Hold Up". Allusions to New Orleans culture include "Queen of Creole cuisine"
Leah Chase Leyah (Leah) Chase (née Lange; January 6, 1923 – June 1, 2019) was an American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-American art an ...
, the Edna Karr Marching Band, jazz funerals, Mardi Gras Indians and the Superdome. Beyoncé is seen with other Black women on
plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...
in ''Lemonade''. In the "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
" video, the walls of the plantation houses are covered with French Renaissance-style portraits of Black subjects; director Melina Matsoukas states that "films about slavery traditionally feature white people in these roles of power and position. I wanted to turn those images on their head." Towards the end of ''Lemonade'', Beyoncé and several Black women are on a plantation, with Chris Kelly for '' Fact'' writing "Instead of an antebellum memory, these scenes portray a dream: the fantasy of an all-Black, matriarchal utopia when women dress up, prepare meals, take photographs and perform shows, not for a master but for themselves." Throughout the film, Beyoncé can be seen in
Fort Macomb Fort Macomb is a 19th-century United States brick fort in Louisiana, on the western shore of Chef Menteur Pass. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The fort is adjacent to the Venetian Isles community, now legally within t ...
, a
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
stronghold that was taken over by one of the first all-Black
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
units - the 1st Louisiana Native Guard - and eventually destroyed by
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
. On the central track "Daddy Lessons", Beyoncé is seen standing in a hideaway in the fort, alluding to the Underground Railroad. However, on the closer "All Night", Beyoncé is seen above ground, walking on top of the ruins of the fort in an
antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...
-style dress made in
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...
n material, possibly inspired by artist Yinka Shonibare who is known for reappropriating "European import — the cloth — to remake symbols of European cultural dominance in the spirit of Africa". On " Don't Hurt Yourself", Beyoncé samples
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
’s " When the Levee Breaks". However, the classic rock song was originally written by black Delta blues artists Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie, with the song referring to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 which displaced hundreds of thousands of African Americans. With the sample, Beyoncé reappropriates the song that was written by Black people about black history. In general, Beyoncé also reappropriates genres that were influenced by African Americans that are now seen as predominantly white genres on ''Lemonade'', such as rock in "Don't Hurt Yourself" and
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
in "Daddy Lessons".


Music and lyrics

The album features musicians Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, and bassist Marcus Miller, and sampling from
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
collectors John Lomax, Sr. and his son Alan Lomax on "Freedom". Beyoncé and her team reference the musical memories of all those periods, including a
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...
band, stomping blues rock, ultraslow avant-R&B, preaching, a prison song (both collected by John and Alan Lomax), and the sound of the 1960s fuzz-tone guitar psychedelia (sampling the Puerto Rican band Kaleidoscope). The ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'' called the album a "surprisingly furious
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...
about infidelity and revenge". The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' described the album as not just a mere grab for
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
dominance, rather it is a retrospective that allows the listener to explore Beyoncé's personal circumstances, with musical tones from the
southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, a harkening back towards her formative years spent in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
wrote that Beyoncé "delights in her Blackness, femininity, and Southern origin with supreme wordplay." According to '' The A.V. Club'', the tracks "encompass and interpolate the entire continuum of R&B, rock,
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...
, hip hop,
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
, and
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...
", accomplished by a deft precision "blurring eras and references with determined impunity." ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' and ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' both noted that the album touches on
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
, and ''Entertainment Weekly'' noticed the use of avant-garde musical elements. '' Consequence of Sound'' wrote that the album's genres span "from
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
to rock to R&B to trap"; On the album, Isaac Hayes and Andy Williams are among the sampled artists.
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...
noticed how the album was nuanced in its theme of anger and betrayal with vast swathes of the album bathed in political context; however, it is still a pop album at its essence with darker and praiseworthy tones. In 2020, Marc Hogan from Pitchfork considered ''Lemonade'' among the great art pop albums of the last 20 years to "have filled the void of full-length statements with both artistic seriousness and mass appeal that was formerly largely occupied by ockguitar bands".


Title and artwork

There are two suggested inspirations for the album's title. The song " Freedom" includes at its end an audio recording of Hattie White, grandmother of Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z's, telling a crowd at her ninetieth birthday party in December 2015: "I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade", referencing the proverb "
when life gives you lemons, make lemonade When life gives you lemons, make lemonade is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune. Lemons suggest sourness or difficulty in life; making lemonade is turning them into ...
" that encourages turning sourness and difficulty to something positive. Beyoncé also draws a connection to her own grandmother, Agnez Deréon, using her lemonade recipe that was passed down through the generations as a metaphor for the mechanisms for healing passed through generations. The cover artwork for ''Lemonade'' is from the music video shot for " Don't Hurt Yourself" and features Beyoncé wearing
cornrows Cornrows are a traditional style of braids in which the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to make a continuous, raised row. Cornrows are often done in simple, straight lines, as the term implies, but they ...
and a fur coat, leaning against a
Chevrolet Suburban The Chevrolet Suburban is a series of automobiles built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. The name started in 1934 for the 1935 U.S. model year, making it the longest continuously used automobile nameplate in production. It has trad ...
and covering her face with her arm.


Release and promotion

''Lemonade'' was first made available for online streaming via Tidal on April 23, 2016, through Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records, and for digital download the following day. It was released for CD and DVD on May 6, 2016. A limited edition
box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
titled ''How to Make Lemonade'' was made available for pre-order on August 18, 2017, containing a six-hundred-page coffee table book, featuring a set of pictures and
behind-the-scenes In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) v ...
content showcasing the making of the album, and a double vinyl LP of ''Lemonade''. Standalone vinyl was released on September 15, 2017. Upon its release, ''Lemonade'' was only available to stream on Tidal; however the album was eventually released to all other streaming platforms on April 23, 2019, exactly three years after its release. The version of the album that was made available on other streaming services contains the original audio part of ''Lemonade'' as well as the original demo of "Sorry". Beyoncé had a goal to perform the entire ''Lemonade'' album live. Beyoncé performed "Formation" at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show as part of her guest appearance at the event, with critics lauding the performance and stating that she stole the show from headliners Coldplay. The political symbolism in the performance also inspired many thinkpieces and discussions on their history and significance. Beyoncé performed " Freedom" with Kendrick Lamar as the surprise opening number at the 2016 BET Awards on June 27. The performance began with an audio clip of Martin Luther King Jr.'s " I Have a Dream" speech. The performance was met with acclaim by critics. At the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, Beyoncé performed a sixteen-minute medley of "
Pray You Catch Me "Pray You Catch Me" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, '' Lemonade'' (2016). The song's music video is part of a one-hour film with the same title as its parent album, originally aired on HBO. Production an ...
", " Hold Up", " Sorry", " Don't Hurt Yourself", and "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
", and included interludes of the poetry as heard in the ''Lemonade'' film. Critics noted that Beyoncé used political symbolism during "
Pray You Catch Me "Pray You Catch Me" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, '' Lemonade'' (2016). The song's music video is part of a one-hour film with the same title as its parent album, originally aired on HBO. Production an ...
", which included angel-like dancers in historical black hairstyles (such as Bantu knots, braids and dreadlocks) successively falling to the ground as though shot, alluding to
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to ...
, and a black man in a black hoodie catching, uplifting and pushing Beyoncé forward, alluding to Trayvon Martin, who was killed when wearing a black hoodie. On October 19, Beyoncé performed " 6 Inch" and " All Night" at the TIDAL X benefit concert at Barclays Center in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. On November 2, Beyoncé performed "
Daddy Lessons "Daddy Lessons" is a song recorded by the American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, '' Lemonade'' (2016). The song was written and produced by Wynter Gordon, Beyoncé, Kevin Cossom and Alex Delicata. The song's music video is part of a ...
" with the
Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) an ...
at the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards (2016). The performance (which was the first featuring the Dixie Chicks in a decade after being blacklisted for their criticism of George W Bush in 2003) was widely praised by critics, but was met with criticism and racism by conservative country fans; this sparked conversations about the identity of country music and black people's place in it. Subsequently, a remix of "
Daddy Lessons "Daddy Lessons" is a song recorded by the American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, '' Lemonade'' (2016). The song was written and produced by Wynter Gordon, Beyoncé, Kevin Cossom and Alex Delicata. The song's music video is part of a ...
" featuring the
Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) an ...
was released. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on February 12, 2017, Beyoncé performed " Love Drought" and " Sandcastles". Themed around motherhood, the five-months pregnant Beyoncé's performance is recognised by commentators to evoke various female deities and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
European Christian art (such as Tintoretto's '' Last Supper,'' Simone Martini's '' Maestà'' and depictions of the Virgin of Guadalupe) and various non-European allusions such as Fulani facepainting, Ethiopian icons, Byzantine jewelry and
Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-e ...
Baroque painting Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival,The Formation World Tour which visited countries in North America and Europe from April to October 2016. The stage featured the
Es Devlin Esmeralda "Es" Devlin (; born 24 September 1971) is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. Early life Devlin was born in Kingston upon Thames, ...
-designed 'Monolith', a revolving seven-storey-tall box made with video screen walls that could shoot out fire and fireworks and split open, and which revolved during the show to represent a new chapter in line with the ''Lemonade'' film. The Formation World Tour was met with rave reviews from critics, such as Kat Bein for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' who described the show as "a prime example of entertainment and a vision of an artist at her apex" and "a visual feast as well as an emotional tour de force, packed with fireworks, confetti, rearranging stage designs and aerial dancers." The Formation World Tour won Tour of the Year at the 2016 American Music Awards, was included in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'''s 50 Greatest Concerts of the Last 50 Years list in 2017, and was named the best tour of the decade (2010s) by '' Consequence of Sound'' in 2019. The Formation World Tour was ranked at number one and number two on '' Pollstar'''s 2016 mid-year Top 100 Tours chart both in North America and worldwide respectively, with a total mid-year worldwide gross of $137.3 million from the first twenty-five shows (including $126.3 million from the first North American leg of the tour). In total, the tour grossed $256 million from forty-nine sold-out shows according to '' Billboard'' box score, and ranked at number two on ''Pollstar'''s 2016 Year-End Tours chart.


Accompanying film

''Lemonade'' was accompanied by the release of a sixty-five-minute film of the same title, produced by Good Company and Jonathan Lia, which premiered on HBO on April 23, 2016, logging 787,000 viewers. It is divided into eleven chapters, titled "Intuition", "Denial", "Anger", "Apathy", "Emptiness", "Accountability", "Reformation", "Forgiveness", "Resurrection", "Hope", and "Redemption". The film uses poetry and prose written by British-Somali poet
Warsan Shire Warsan Shire (born 1 August 1988) is a British writer, poet, editor and teacher, who was born to Somali parents in Kenya. In 2013 she was awarded the inaugural Brunel University African Poetry Prize, chosen from a shortlist of six candidates ...
; the poems adapted were "The Unbearable Weight of Staying", "Dear Moon", "How to Wear Your Mother's Lipstick", "Nail Technician as Palm Reader", and "For Women Who Are Difficult to Love". The film's cast features
Ibeyi Ibeyi is a French musical duo consisting of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz. The duo sings in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba, In Yoruba, Ibeyi (''Ìbejì'') means "twins". Their music has elements of Yoruba, French and Af ...
, Laolu Senbanjo,
Amandla Stenberg Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. She was included in '' Time''s list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016, and has received several accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award, and ...
, Quvenzhané Wallis, Chloe x Halle, Zendaya and
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
. In " Forward", the mothers of Trayvon Martin (Sybrina Fulton), Michael Brown (Lesley McFadden), and Eric Garner (Gwen Carr) are featured holding pictures of their deceased sons. Jay-Z and Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy appears in home video footage at one point, as does Jay-Z's grandmother Hattie White, and Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles, who is shown with her second husband Richard Lawson on their wedding day in 2015. The film also samples work by Malcolm X, specifically an excerpt from his speech "Who Taught You to Hate Yourself", which is featured on the track " Don't Hurt Yourself". The ''Lemonade'' film appeared on a number of critics' lists. '' Pitchfork'' listed ''Lemonade'' at number one on their list of best music videos of 2016. It was also included on '' Sight & Sound''s best films of 2016 list at number twenty-six. David Ehrlich, a film critic for
IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
, placed ''Lemonade'' at number twenty-three on his Best Films of 2016 list. Jen Yamato from '' The Daily Beast'' ranked it at number nine on her list of the Top 10 Best Films of 2016. In June 2016, Matthew Fulks sued Beyoncé,
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...
, Columbia Records and Parkwood Entertainment for allegedly lifting nine visual elements of his short film ''Palinoia'' for the trailer for ''Lemonade''. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed by New York federal judge Jed S. Rakoff, siding with the defendant.


Singles

''Lemonade'' consisted of five singles, three of which would become major hits. All twelve songs charted on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Formation" was released as the album's first single exclusively on Tidal on February 6, 2016, along with its accompanying music video. The song was part of the set Beyoncé performed the following day at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. "Formation" peaked at number ten on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The music video for the song was uploaded onto Vevo in December 2016. "Sorry" was released as the second single and serviced to rhythmic adult contemporary radio in the United States on May 3, 2016, and its music video was uploaded onto Vevo on June 22, 2016. The single debuted and peaked at number eleven on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Hold Up" was the third single and was first released to contemporary hit radio stations in Germany and the United Kingdom on May 12, 2016, and was later serviced to radio in the United States on August 16, 2016. It debuted and peaked at number thirteen on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The music video for "Hold Up" was uploaded onto Vevo on September 4, 2016. The fourth and fifth singles released were " Freedom" and "All Night", respectively. Both became moderate hits with the former (released September 2016) peaking at US number thirty-five, and the latter (released December 2016) peaking at US number thirty-eight.


Critical reception

''Lemonade'' received universal acclaim from music critics upon release, and is widely considered to be Beyoncé's '' magnum opus''. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted average score of 92, based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". In '' Spin'',
Greg Tate Gregory Stephen Tate (October 14, 1957December 7, 2021) was an American writer, musician, and producer. A long-time critic for '' The Village Voice'', Tate focused particularly on African-American music and culture, helping to establish hip ...
calls ''Lemonade'' "a triumph of marketing and musicality, spectacle and song, vision and collaboration, Borg-like assimilation, and — as of 2013 — the element of surprise". Lauding both the film and album, Tate writes "Visually, literarily, choreographically, cinematically, this full accessing of her Southern bona fides shows up in the HBO project as ritual evidence that Bey's spent her downtime delving into the avant-garde mysticism of black-feminist poetry, novel writing, dance, gallery art, and film... The album, however, is out to sonorously suck you into its gully gravitational orbit the old fashioned way, placing the burden of conjuration on its steamy witches' brew of beats, melodies, and heavy-hearted-to-merry-pranksterish vocal seductions. In her mastery of carnal and esoteric mysteries, Queen Bey raises the spirits, sizzles the flesh, and rallies her troops."
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
writer Andy Kellman called ''Lemonade'' "culturally seismic" through its "layers of meaning and references, and experienced en masse through its televised premiere", adding that "the cathartic and wounded moments here resonate in a manner matched by few, if any, of Beyoncé's contemporaries." In a five-star review for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', Rob Sheffield calls ''Lemonade'' "a welcome reminder that giants still walk among us", describing it as an "album of emotional discord and marital meltdown... from the most respected and creative artist in the pop game". Sheffield writes "''Lemonade'' is her most emotionally extreme music, but also her most sonically adventurous... Yet the most astounding sound is always Bey's voice", which is described as "her wildest, rawest vocals ever". Sheffield also compares ''Lemonade'' to
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...
’s '' Spirit in the Dark'' and Nina Simone’s '' Silk and Soul'' in the way that the album "reach sout historically, connecting her personal pain to the trauma of American blackness". Ray Rahman for ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'' agrees, writing that ''Lemonade'' is "a raw and intensely personal plunge into the heart of marital darkness" as well as "a feminist blueprint, a tribute to women, African-Americans, and, especially, African-American women". Rahman further praises the diversity of the album: " eyoncécan do rock,
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...
,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...
,
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
, whatever. ''Lemonade'' stands as Bey's most diverse album to date. Sinister strip-club-in-the-future R&B... sits right next to a slab of Texas twang.
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
and Soulja Boy become bedfellows."
Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' wrote that the album "feels like a success" and that Beyoncé sounded "genuinely imperious". Petridis praises the musical arc of the album, commenting on how the music "slowly works itself up into a righteous frenzy of anger, shifting from the becalmed misery of opener "
Pray You Catch Me "Pray You Catch Me" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, '' Lemonade'' (2016). The song's music video is part of a one-hour film with the same title as its parent album, originally aired on HBO. Production an ...
" via the sparse simmer of " Hold Up"... before finally boiling over on the fantastic " Don't Hurt Yourself": a ferocious, distorted vocal as commanding as anything she’s recorded". ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'' writer Jonathan Bernstein felt it was her strongest work to date and "proves there's a thin line between love and hate." Nekesa Moody and Mohamad Soliman from ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' called the album a "deeply personal, yet ... a bold social and political statement as well". Writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Jon Pareles praised Beyoncé's vocals and her courage to talk about subjects that affect so many people, and noted that "the album is not beholden to radio formats or presold by a single".
Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the '' Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busine ...
from the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' felt that "artistic advances" seem "slight" in context towards the record's "more personal, raw and relatable" aspects, where it came out as a "clearly conceived" piece of music, meaning it had a "unifying vision" for what may have lent itself to being "a prettily packaged hodgepodge". Reviewing the album in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', Everett True wrote that it "is fiery, insurgent, fiercely proud, sprawling and sharply focused in its dissatisfaction", with Beyoncé "pick ngup the mantles of both"
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...
and Nina Simone. Writing for '' Slate'', Carl Wilson describes ''Lemonade'' as "a spectacle to rival ''
Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...
''" and "a beautiful and often disturbing kaleidoscope of poetry, feminism, racial politics, history, mythology, emotional upheaval, family, and romance that can be watched again and again and will be for years to come". Kitty Empire of ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' writes that "female endurance and pragmatism are celebrated with warmth, anger and wit on this astounding visual album" and that "it’s unlikely there will be many more albums this year that will unite high art and low in the same way as Beyoncé’s jaw-slackening latest". Jillian Mapes of '' Pitchfork'' wrote that "The increasingly signature cadence, patois, and all-around attitude on ''Lemonade'' speaks to her status as the hip-hop pop star—but this being Bey, she doesn’t stop there... ''Lemonade'' proves Beyoncé to also be a new kind of post-genre pop star". In '' The A.V. Club'' Annie Zaleski wrote that it was "yet another seismic step forward for Beyoncé as a musician" that "pushes pop music into smarter, deeper places". Shahzaib Hussain, writing for '' Clash'', stated: "''Lemonade'' is Beyoncé at her most benevolent, and her most unadulterated. Treating her blackness not as an affliction but a celebratory beacon, ''Lemonade'' is a long overdue, cathartic retribution." Sal Cinquemani of '' Slant Magazine'' wrote that the album "is her most lyrically and thematically coherent effort to date." Maura Johnston of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' wrote that its tracks were "fresh yet instantly familiar" with an "over-the-top but intimate" sound. Jamie Milton of '' DIY'' wrote that "there's so much more than an enthralling story to draw out of this all-slaying work", where "Beyoncé can count herself as a risk-taker breaking new ground, up there with the bravest." ''
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
''s Erin Lowers wrote that "If you've ever been handed lemons, you need ''Lemonade''", calling it "an album in which millions will find their own struggles reflected back to them, as therapeutic as it is utterly dazzling". Britt Julious of '' Consequence of Sound'' describes how "With nods to Voudou and Southern Black gothic storytelling, ''Lemonade'', the visual album, wove chapters of emotional grief into a piece of art about the black woman... Separated from the visual, the album itself acts as dexterously as the film, exposing the rawest elements of Beyoncé’s personal life while framing it against the universal — the machinations of internal paranoia, the all-consuming well of fury and anger, and the bottomless depths of sadness." Julious continues by praising the
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...
nature of the album: "Taken as a whole, we hear the threads of this from song to song on the record. If ''Lemonade'' is a record about dismantling the cycles of abuse, ripping open the secrets we keep hidden (especially within the closely guarded black community), and finding healing, purpose, and even greatness in the process, then it is personified in the arcs of each track... The songs stand as joined entities, two dichotomous halves of the grief process".
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...
writer Evan Sawdey felt few albums could ever be considered "as bold, complex, or resolute as ''Lemonade''," and the BBC's Mark Savage, describing ''Lemonade'' as "an album with a complex narrative arc... that demands to be heard in one sitting", noted that Beyoncé had become an albums artist with a range extending beyond that of radio play.


Accolades

At the end of 2016, ''Lemonade'' appeared on a number of critics' lists ranking the year's top albums. According to the '' BBC'', it was the critics' top album of 2016, while according to
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, it was the second most prominently ranked record of 2016, and the album that was listed at number one by the most publications (37 publications). ''Lemonade'' was ranked as the best album of the year by such publications as ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', '' Billboard'', ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', '' Digital Spy'', ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', ''
The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' ( Jon Pareles list), ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'' (Mikael Wood list), '' Pop Matters'', ''Pretty Much Amazing'', Idolator, '' Stereogum'', '' Complex'', '' Consequence of Sound'', '' Wired'', and '' US Weekly''. '' Paste'', ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
,'' '' NPR'' also included the release on their list of best albums of 2016. The album appeared within the top twenty of numerous publications year end lists including: '' Village Voice''s,'' Slant'', ''
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'', '' Spin'', '' NME'', '' FACT'', '' Drowned in Sound'', '' Uncut'', ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...
'', '' Q'', and '' Pitchfork''. ''Lemonade'' was named the best album of the decade (2010s) by '' Consequence of Sound'', ''
The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...
'' and '' Spex''. ''Lemonade'' was also named the best music video of the decade by '' The Daily Beast'', as well as one of the best movies of the 2010s by '' Vox'' and the eleventh greatest film of the decade by '' Hyperallergic''. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'', '' Billboard,'' '' Paste Magazine,'' '' The A.V. Club,'' '' WXPN The Key'', and ''
Refinery29 Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Vice Media. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Refinery29 ...
'' declared ''Lemonade'' the second best album of the 2010s. ''Lemonade'' was named the third best album of the decade by ''
Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
,'' '' Insider'', and ''The Young Folks,'' while the '' Genius'' community and Chris Willman for '' Variety'' named it the fourth best one. '' Uproxx,'' '' Noisey,'' ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
,'' and ''The Wild Honey Pie'' named ''Lemonade'' the fifth best album of the decade. ''Pitchfork'' listed ''Lemonade'' as the 41st greatest album of the decade. ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'', ''Paper'', ''Stuff'', and ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' included the album in their lists of the best 10 albums of the decade. ''Lemonade'' was included in ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'''s "Time Capsule of the 2010s". ''Lemonade'' was included in ''
Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
s top 15 biggest music moments of the decade list. ''Lemonade'' is the 26th best album of all time by ''
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
'' score. In 2020, '' Parade'' named ''Lemonade'' the best music video of all time. On ''Rolling Stone'''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, ''Lemonade'' was placed at number 32, citing the album's exploration of "the betrayals of American blackness" and "all of the country's music traditions". ''
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
'''s named ''Lemonade'' the eighth greatest risk in 21st century art, with the judges saying that Beyoncé "resisted the commercial pressure not to be political in order to stand up for what she believed in and let audiences into her personal life as never before". ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' listed it at number 25 on their ranking of the 100 best albums of the 21st century. On their list of the top 100 albums of the publication's existence, '' The Quietus'' named the project at number 9. In 2017, the album was ranked at number 6 on '' NPR''s list of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. '' Consequence of Sound'' named Lemonade the second best album of the last 15 years (2007-2022) and the 18th best one of all time.


Awards

"Formation" won in three categories at the 2016 BET Awards for Video of the Year, the Centric Award, and the Viewers Choice Award. At the
2017 BET Awards Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...
Beyoncé was nominated in 7 categories and won 5, including
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...
, Video of the Year for " Sorry" and Best Female R&B/Pop Artist. The ''Lemonade'' film was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Variety Special and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special. From the four categories, Beyoncé was nominated in the two mentioned. The album's visuals received 11 nominations at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. They included Breakthrough Long Form Video for ''Lemonade'', Video of the Year,
Best Pop Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop was first given out in under the name of Best Pop Video, as MTV began to put several teen pop acts in heavy rotation. Nominations, however, were not just limited to pop acts, as dance, R&B, pop/rock, and reg ...
,
Best Direction The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly rename ...
, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography for "Formation",
Best Female Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Y ...
and Best Art Direction for "Hold Up", and
Best Choreography The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner ...
for "Sorry" and "Formation". Beyoncé went on to win eight of her nominations, including Video of the Year and Breakthrough Long Form Video. She received two nominations at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards Japan for Best Album of the Year for ''Lemonade'' and Best Female Video International for "Formation", eventually winning for Best Album of the Year. At the
2016 Soul Train Music Awards The 2016 Soul Train Music Awards was held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 6, 2016. It was later aired on Centric and BET on November 27, 2016. The ceremony, hosted by Erykah Badu for the second year in a row, honored art ...
, Beyoncé was nominated for eight awards including Best Female Artist, ''Lemonade'' for Album of the Year, and "Formation" for Song and Video of the Year. Beyoncé went on to win all four awards. ''Lemonade'' won Best TV Show – Special or Limited Series at the
African American Film Critics Association The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) is the world's largest group of Black film critics that gives various annual awards for excellence in film and television. It was founded in 2003 in New York City. History The association wa ...
. At the 2017 NAACP Image Awards, ''Lemonade'' was nominated for Outstanding Album and Outstanding Variety – Series or Special, "Formation" was nominated for Outstanding Song and Outstanding Music Video, and "Freedom", featuring Kendrick Lamar, was nominated for Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration and Outstanding Song. The album received four awards, including Outstanding Album, Outstanding Song and Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration for "Freedom" and Outstanding Music Video for "Formation". At the 2016
ADG Excellence in Production Design Award The ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards are awards presented annually by the Art Directors Guild (ADG) to recognize excellence in production design and art direction in the film and television industries. Honorees are presented with an aw ...
s, ''Lemonade'' received the award for Best Awards or Event Special, as well as "Hold Up", "6 Inch" and "Denial" all being nominated for Best Short Format: Web Series, Music Video or Commercial. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, ''Lemonade'' received three nominations:
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...
,
Best Urban Contemporary Album The Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for quality works on albums in the urban contemporary subgenre within the R&B field. Honors in several categories are presented at t ...
and
Best Music Film The Grammy Award for Best Music Film is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs. ...
. "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
" received three as well: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and
Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...
. " Hold Up" was nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance, " Don't Hurt Yourself" for
Best Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...
and " Freedom" for Best Rap/Sung Performance. Beyoncé went on to win two awards, Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Music Video for "Formation". ''Lemonade'' won Outstanding Television Documentary or Special at the 2017 Black Reel Awards. ''Lemonade'' won a Peabody Award in Entertainment, along with the following description by the board of jurors:
Adroitly bringing together stories about betrayal, renewal, and hope, ''Lemonade'' draws from the prolific
literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...
, musical,
cinematic Cinematic describes anything related to ''cinema''. It may refer to: any movie updates, cinema nights, cinematic review Film-related * Cinematic cutscene, a sequence in a video game that is not interactive * Cinematic music, original music writt ...
, and
aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
sensibilities of black cultural producers to create a rich tapestry of poetic innovation. Defying genre and convention, ''Lemonade'' immerses viewers in the sublime worlds of
black women Black women are women of sub-Saharan African and Afro-diasporic descent, as well as women of Australian Aboriginal and Melanesian descent. The term 'Black' is a racial classification of people, the definition of which has shifted over time and a ...
, family, and community where we experience poignant and compelling stories about the lives of
women of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered " white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the ...
and the bonds of friendship seldom seen or heard in American
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
. This innovative and stunningly beautiful masterpiece challenges us to readjust our visual and sonic antennae and invites a reckoning with taken for granted ideas about who we are. For the audacity of its reach and the fierceness of its vision in challenging our cultural imagination about the intimacies and complexities of women of color, we recognize ''Lemonade'' as a Peabody Award winner. —The George Foster Peabody Awards Board of Jurors


Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Lemonade'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, with 653,000 album-equivalent units, out of which 485,000 were pure album sales. This made the highest opening-week sales for a female act of the year. Subsequently, she broke the record she previously tied with
DMX Earl Simmons (December 18, 1970 – April 9, 2021), known professionally as DMX, was an American rapper and actor. He began rapping in the early 1990s and released his debut album ''It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'' in 1998, to both critical acclaim ...
, by becoming the first artist in the chart's history to have their first six studio albums debut at number one. In the same week, Beyoncé became the first female artist to chart twelve or more songs on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the same time, with every song on the album debuting on the chart. Additionally, ''Lemonade'' was streamed 115 million times via Tidal, setting a record for the most-streamed album in a single week by a female artist. The album slipped from number one to number two in its second week, selling 321,000 album-equivalent units, out of which 196,000 were pure album sales. It remained at number two in its third week selling 201,000 album-equivalent units, out of which 153,000 were pure album sales. ''Lemonade'' was certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...
(RIAA) in June 2016. According to Nielsen's 2016 year-end report, it had sold 1,554,000 copies and 2,187,000 album-equivalent units in the United States. Following its April 23, 2019 release on all streaming services, ''Lemonade'' returned to the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200 at number nine, while its only added song, the original demo of "Sorry", debuted at number four on the US
R&B Songs Hot R&B Songs is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular R&B songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations, digital download sales and streaming data. It was establish ...
. On May 20, 2019, the album was certified double platinum for shipments of two million copies, and triple platinum on June 13, 2019, for shipments of three million copies. In Canada, the album debuted at number one with sales of 33,000 copies. The album debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
selling 73,000 copies in its first week of release, with 10,000 equivalent sales (14% of the total sales) accounting for streaming, marking the largest ever for a number-one album since the chart began including streaming. The album marked the singer's third number-one album on the chart and was certified platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...
(BPI) on September 9, 2016, for shipments of 300,000 copies. All of the album's tracks also debuted within the top hundred of the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. As in the US, 2020 is the first year since release that the album has not appeared on the UK Chart. In Australia, ''Lemonade'' sold 20,490 digital copies in its first week, debuting atop the Australian Albums Chart and becoming Beyoncé's second consecutive number-one album in the country. It received a platinum certification from the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...
(ARIA) for shipments of 70,000 copies. ''Lemonade'' also peaked atop the charts in numerous European and Oceanic countries including Ireland and Belgium, where it spent five and seven weeks at the summit, respectively, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland and Sweden. In Brazil, it debuted at number one and received a platinum certification from Pro-Música Brasil.


Impact and legacy


Music industry

''Lemonade'' has been credited with reviving the concept of an album in an era dominated by
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
and
streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...
, and popularizing releasing albums with accompanying films. Jamieson Cox for ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...
'' called ''Lemonade'' "the endpoint of a slow shift toward cohesive, self-centered pop albums", writing that "it’s setting a new standard for pop storytelling at the highest possible scale". Megan Carpentier of ''The Guardian'' wrote that ''Lemonade'' has "almost revived the album format" as "an immersive, densely textured large-scale work" that can only be listened to in its entirety.
Myf Warhurst Myfanwy Warhurst (, born May 29, 1973) is an Australian radio announcer and television personality, best known for her work at Triple J radio station and on ABC Television's long-running music-themed quiz show '' Spicks and Specks''. she has a ...
on ''Double J'''s "Lunch With Myf" explained that Beyoncé "changed
he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
to a narrative with an arc and a story and you have to listen to the entire thing to get the concept". ''The New York Times''' Katherine Schulten agreed, asking "How do you talk about the ongoing evolution of the music video and the autobiographical album without holding up ''Lemonade'' as an exemplar of both forms?" Joe Coscarelli of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' describes how "some brand-name acts are following Beyoncé’s blueprint with high-concept mini-movies that can add artistic heft to projects," with
Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...
's '' Endless'' and
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
's ''
Please Forgive Me "Please Forgive Me" is a song by Canadian rock musician Bryan Adams. It was released in October 1993 as the only single and bonus track from his first greatest hits compilation album, '' So Far So Good'' (1993). The single reached number seven on ...
'' cited as examples of artists' projects inspired by ''Lemonade''. Other projects said to have followed the precedent that ''Lemonade'' set include
Lonely Island The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio, formed by Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg, and Jorma Taccone in Berkeley, California, in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program '' Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). The thr ...
's '' The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience'', Thom Yorke's ''
Anima Anima may refer to: Animation * Ánima (company), a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002 * Córdoba International Animation Festival – ANIMA, in Argentina Religion and philosophy * Animism, the belief that objects, places, and creatur ...
,'' Sturgill Simpson's '' Sound & Fury'', and Kid Cudi's '' Entergalactic'', which were all albums released with complementary film projects''.'' Beyoncé's use of various genres on ''Lemonade'' has been credited with setting the precedent for music to transcend genre, with '' NPR'' writing that the album "leads us to this moment where post-genre becomes a thing". The use of various genres has also been credited with kickstarting the reclamation of certain genres by black people. "
Daddy Lessons "Daddy Lessons" is a song recorded by the American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, '' Lemonade'' (2016). The song was written and produced by Wynter Gordon, Beyoncé, Kevin Cossom and Alex Delicata. The song's music video is part of a ...
" has been credited as starting a trend of "pop stars toying with American West and Southern aesthetics," as well as setting the precedent for "The Yeehaw Agenda," the trend of reclaiming black
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaqu ...
culture through music and fashion. " Don't Hurt Yourself" has been credited with the reclaiming of rock by black women, with Brittany Spanos for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' writing that "the re-imagination of what rock can be and who can sing it by Beyoncé and her superstar peers is giving the genre a second life – and may be what can save it."


Contemporaries

Several musicians were inspired by ''Lemonade''. American rapper Snoop Dogg named his fourteenth studio album ''
Coolaid ''Coolaid'' is the fourteenth studio album by American rapper Snoop Dogg. It was released on July 1, 2016, by Doggystyle Records and eOne Music. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2015 to 2016 at the Doggystyle Studios Records, in ...
'' (2016) after ''Lemonade.'' British girl group Little Mix cited ''Lemonade'' as an inspiration for their album '' Glory Days'' (2016). American rapper Cardi B was inspired by ''Lemonade'' for her upcoming album, which she says is "going to have my ''Lemonade'' moments". Naming ''Lemonade'' one of her favorite albums ever, English singer-songwriter Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice said that it helped her to "put in more thought to what makes a good album flow". American singer The-Dream wrote a response to ''Lemonade'' titled "Lemon Lean" in his EP ''Love You to Death'', saying that the album changed the way people think about their relationships. American singer Lauren Jenkins used ''Lemonade'' as the inspiration for her album and long-form music video ''No Saint''. American comedian Lahna Turner released a visual album entitled ''Limeade'' in homage to ''Lemonade.'' American singer Matt Palmer was inspired by ''Lemonade'' to create his visual EP ''Get Lost''. American musician Todrick Hall's second studio album ''
Straight Outta Oz ''Straight Outta Oz'' is the second solo studio album and original musical, written and produced by American singer-songwriter and YouTube celebrity Todrick Hall with music produced by Jeeve Ducornet and wiidope, released on 23 June 2016. Featured ...
'' was made as a visual album due to ''Lemonade''. British singer-songwriter
Arrow Benjamin Dean McIntosh, known professionally as Arrow Benjamin, is an English singer and songwriter. He is known for collaborating with Naughty Boy and Beyoncé on the track "Runnin' (Lose It All)". Benjamin also co-wrote and performed backing vocals on t ...
was also inspired by ''Lemonade'' for his 2016 EP ''W.A.R. (We All Rise)'', saying: "Every piece on this project was created from a visual, so that's why I was extremely inspired when I saw ''Lemonade.''" Ann Powers for '' NPR'' opined that Fiona Apple was influenced by ''Lemonade'' when implementing black musical traditions on her 2020 album '' Fetch the Bolt Cutters'', while
Jenna Wortham Jenna Wortham is an American journalist. They work as a culture writer for '' The New York Times Magazine'' and co-hosts ''The New York Times'' podcast ''Still Processing'' with Wesley Morris. In 2020, with Kimberly Drew, Wortham published '' B ...
for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' drew a parallel between both albums as "blueprints for how to take in all that emotion and kind of how to push it back out in a way that’s cathartic and constructive". Dan Weiss of '' Billboard'' wrote that
Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...
's '' Now'' "couldn't have existed without" ''Lemonade'', as an album that "completely changed the course of breakup album history" in which the artist is "someone at their full creative peak pushing herself into new niches, dominating new musical territories." Kadeen Griffiths from '' Bustle'' states that ''Lemonade'', as an album that deals with issues related to black women, "paved the way" for
Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
' ''
Here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...
'' and Solange's ''
A Seat at the Table ''A Seat at the Table'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Solange. It was released on September 30, 2016, by Saint Records and Columbia Records. While recording the album, Solange released an EP, titled ''True'' (2012) and ...
.'' Danielle Koku for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' stated that ''Lemonade'' aided the return of African mysticism to pop music, writing: "By taking African mysticism to the world stage, Beyoncé stripped it of its ancient pagan labels." Many critics have noted that Jay-Z's thirteenth studio album '' 4:44'' (2017) is a response to ''Lemonade'', with Jay-Z referencing lines from ''Lemonade'', such as the "You better call Becky with the good hair" line on Beyoncé's " Sorry", with Jay-Z retorting: "Let me alone, Becky" in "Family Feud". At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards (2017), Adele dedicated her
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...
award to Beyoncé and said: "The artist of my life is Beyoncé... the ''Lemonade'' album, is just so monumental." In a 2021 interview with ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', Adele claimed that Beyoncé should have won the said award instead of her. After the show, she went into Beyoncé's dressing room and "said to her, like, the way that the Grammys works, and the people who control it at the very, very top—they don't know what a visual album is. They don't want to support the way that she's moving things forward with her releases and the things that she's talking about." She revealed that the award she received in the mail was broken and that she wedged a lemon into the broken part, and went on to claim that, " r erfriends who are
women of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered " white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the ...
, 'Lemonade''was such a huge acknowledgment for them, of the sort of undermined grief that they go through." American musician
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
called ''Lemonade'' "a great work, a great art piece". U2's Bono included "Freedom" in his "60 Songs That Saved My Life" project to celebrate his 60th birthday, writing: "In my 60 years, I was served many platters but rarely one like the Queen Bey's album ''Lemonade''."


Cultural impact


Art and literature

''Lemonade'' has inspired artists in media other than music, including art, literature, film, television and theatre.
Misha Green Misha Green (born September 22, 1984, in Sacramento, California) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. She is best known as the showrunner of the supernatural series ''Lovecraft Country'' on HBO and creator and executive producer of ...
, creator of the 2020 television series ''
Lovecraft Country Lovecraft Country is a term coined for the New England setting used by H. P. Lovecraft in many of his weird fiction stories, which combines real and fictitious locations. This setting has since been elaborated on by other writers working in the ...
'', described how ''Lemonade'' inspired the direction and flow of the show's score, saying: "What Beyoncé did on ''Lemonade'', with bringing in the poems and taking us on this collage of a journey, that wasn’t just music and visuals.
t was T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
also words and really using those words as a score."
Bill Condon William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including '' Gods and Monsters'', '' Chicago'', '' Kinsey'', ''Dreamgirls'', ...
, director of the film '' Beauty and the Beast'' (2017) says the visuals behind ''Lemonade'' inspired him for the movie: "You look at Beyoncé's brilliant movie ''Lemonade'', this genre is taking on so many different forms… I do think that this very old-school break-out-into-song traditional musical is something that people understand again and really want.". The
Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
's 2018 production of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's Antony and Cleopatra featured a costume inspired by ''Lemonade'', with costume designer Evie Gurney describing how she wanted to draw a parallel between Cleopatra and Beyoncé, as the latter is "a woman in the public eye who was subject to a lot of scrutiny ndactually created a platform for herself to take back the narrative of her own story, and it was an extraordinary act of power." The character of Catherine of Aragon in the West End and Broadway musical '' Six'' was inspired by "''Lemonade''-era Beyoncé". Ellie Kenrick's 2018 play ''Hole'' at the Royal Court was described by its directors as "a stage version of Beyoncé’s ''Lemonade'' album", as an artwork about feminism and historical oppression of women that consists of song, dance and spoken word. Fashion stylist Salvador Camarena paid homage to ''Lemonade'' by designing a room dedicated to the album during
Modernism Week Modernism Week is a 501(c)(3) organization which provides public education programming fostering knowledge and appreciation of modern architecture, the mid-century modern architecture and design movement, the Palm Springs School of Architecture, ...
, saying "That album is such a visually stunning album. There are so many iconic looks from the video, I kind of wanted to implement that world into that room." The young adult
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...
''A Phoenix First Must Burn'' edited by Patrice Caldwell, which explores "the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic", has the aim of "evoking Beyoncé’s ''Lemonade'' for a teen audience". A 2017 video game titled "Lemonade Rage" was created in homage to ''Lemonade'' and the "Hold Up" music video. The cover of Marvel's 2017 '' America'' comic book paid homage to the "Formation" music video, with its illustrator saying "America is a comic that is all about representation, feminism and fighting for what’s right... I could think of no better parallel than Beyoncé."


Trends

Sales for Warsan Shire's
chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...
"Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth" increased by 700 to 800% after her poetry was included in the ''Lemonade'' film. Beyoncé's mention of Red Lobster in "Formation" increased sales at the restaurant chain by 33%, which made employees rename popular menu items after Beyoncé and call the effect the "Beyoncé Bounce". Designers of the costumes that Beyoncé wore in the ''Lemonade'' film spoke with '' Complex'' about the impact that this had on their careers; for example,
Natalia Fedner Natalia Fedner is an American fashion designer, inventor and actress, best known for inventing a six-way stretch metal textile. Early life and education Fedner was born in Chernivtsi, in the Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine), and immigrated to Colum ...
, who designed Beyoncé's dress for "Hold Up", stated that because of the dress's inclusion in Lemonade, "I was on ' Entertainment Tonight' being hailed as a 'designer to watch'." The inclusion of imagery from the 1991 film '' Daughters of the Dust'' in the visuals for ''Lemonade'' helped bring the film back to theatres, with director Julie Dash stating that ''Lemonade'' "just took me places that I had not been seeing in a long, long time. It just re-confirmed a lot of things that I know to be true about visual style and visual metaphors. And the use of visual metaphors in creating, redefining, and re-framing a Creole culture within this new world." The popular "Lemonade braids" hairstyle worn by black women is named after a hairstyle that Beyoncé wore in ''Lemonade''. Georgia Murray for ''
Refinery29 Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Vice Media. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Refinery29 ...
'' sourced the 2020 fashion trend of wearing yellow to ''Lemonade'', writing that Beyoncé's yellow dress in "Hold Up" "kickstarted an obsession with yellow that we’re still seeing the effects of today". The use of the lemon and bee emojis increased due to the release of Lemonade, with a
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
spokesperson telling ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
:'' "Before ''Lemonade'', the lemon emoji had no meaning. Since the launch of ''Lemonade'', the emoji has taken on a meaning of its own". The MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Long Form Video, which Beyoncé ultimately won at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, was reintroduced after 25 years due to the ''Lemonade'' film.


Parodies and homages

''Lemonade'' was parodied and was paid homage to in various media. In an episode of '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' titled "Kimmy's Roommate Lemonades!", character
Titus Andromedon Titus Andromedon (born Ronald Wilkerson) is a main character on the Netflix original series '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'', portrayed by actor Tituss Burgess. Character life Born Ronald Wilkerson in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, where he was ...
parodied the videos for "Hold Up", "Sorry" and "All Night" after he suspects his boyfriend of infidelity, coining the term "Lemonading". This episode was subsequently nominated for two Emmy Awards: Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics for the "Hold Up" parody "Hell No", and Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series for Tituss Burgess. The "Hold Up" music video was also paid homage to in ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...
,'' ''Making a Scene with James Franco'', '' The Ellen DeGeneres Show,'' ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second ...
,'' and '' The Daily Show.'' ''
SNL ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...
'' produced two sketches on ''Lemonade'': one entitled "The Day Beyoncé Turned Black" after Beyoncé released the "unapologetically black" "Formation", and the other entitled "Melanianade" which parodied the "Sorry" music video featuring impersonations of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's female family members and aides. In a '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'' sketch titled "Beyoncé Lemonade Late Night Aftermath", females staffers empowered by ''Lemonade'' paid homage to the visuals, costumes, songs and poetry featured in the film. ''
The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28a ...
'' produced a parody entitled "Lemonjames: A Visual Monologue", where James Corden gave his monologue by recreating parts of the ''Lemonade'' film such as the "Pray You Catch Me", "Don't Hurt Yourself" and "6 Inch" music videos. Actress Goldie Hawn and comedian Amy Schumer produced a parody of "Formation". The Season 2 premiere of ''
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' is an American romantic musical comedy-drama television series that premiered on October 12, 2015, on The CW and ran for four seasons, ending on April 5, 2019. The series was created, written, and directed by Rachel Blo ...
'' featured a musical number that was an homage to ''Lemonade'', including parodies of "Formation" and "Pray You Catch Me". For Beyoncé's 36th birthday, various black female public figures recreated a costume that Beyoncé wore in the "Formation" music video, including Michelle Obama and
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
. The first episode of British comedian James Acaster's 2020 podcast titled ''Perfect Sounds'' (in which Acaster discusses why 2016 was the greatest year in music with various comedians) featured
Romesh Ranganathan Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan (born 27 March 1978), is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and often self-deprecating comedy. Ranganathan has made numerous appearances on television comedy panel shows, and in 2016 he co-p ...
and focused on "the genius of ''Lemonade''".


Intellectual response

''Lemonade'' has also received notable attention from scholars and authors outside the music industry. In partnership with the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, a talk at Seminole State College "discussed how Beyoncé embodies the conjure woman in her iconic audiovisual work ''Lemonade'' as a contemporary revision of Zora Neale Hurston’s groundbreaking study of conjure and its place in Black women’s spirit work."
Museum of Design Atlanta Located at 1315 Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, "MODA is the only museum in the Southeast devoted exclusively to the study and celebration of all things design." Overview The Museum examines how design affects people's dai ...
(MODA) announced "The ''Lemonade'' Project", a twelve-month series of conversations centered around the visual album. The series will explore the themes of race, gender and class addressed by the album. Kinitra Brooks and Kameelah Martin have produced "The Lemonade Reader", described as "an educational tool to support and guide discussions of the visual album at postgraduate and undergraduate levels, hichcritiques ''Lemonade''’s multiple Afrodiasporic influences, visual aesthetics, narrative arc of grief and healing, and ethnomusicological reach."
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
professor Omise’eke Tinsley wrote a book entitled "Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism" that was released in 2018, which "analyzes Beyoncé’s visual album, ''Lemonade'', in relation to the sexuality and gender of Black women". University of Albany professor Janell Hobson produced a lesson plan based on her class on ''Lemonade'', saying "Beyoncé’s ''Lemonade'' stimulates class discussions and assignments as a highly visible pop project striving to create deeper conversations on the meanings of Blackness, womanhood, and feminism." Dissect Podcast have since dedicated their sixth season to "Beyoncé’s masterwork ''Lemonade''." The host, Cole Cuchna and cohost Titi Shodiya, "make leaps of interpretative wonder, fusing insights, music theory, instrumentation, and lyric interpretation with social analysis to empower fans to build deeper connections with Beyoncé’s artistry."


Race and identity

In a 2020 ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article titled "The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century", which contained 35 prominent black artists talking about the work that inspires them most, American actress
Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...
relayed about ''Lemonade'' as a game changer "visually, musically, but also sociopolitically, and anthropologically. The release of "Formation" and the consequent performance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show caused both conversation and controversy due to its "unapologetic Blackness". Many articles and think pieces were produced discussing the importance and meaning of the song and performance, such as the BBC, who produced an article entitled "Beyoncé's Super Bowl performance: Why was it so significant?", and ''
TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009. Awards ''TheWrap'' has won awards for its journalism, incl ...
'', who produced an article entitled "Why Beyoncé's Formation’ Matters So Much: A Perfectly Choreographed Political Debut Before 112 Million." ''Lemonade'' as a whole also inspired many think pieces, particularly written by black women, that analyze the messages and significance of the album, such as Miriam Bale for '' Billboard'' who named ''Lemonade'' "a revolutionary work of
black feminism Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gend ...
". Megan Carpentier of ''The Guardian'' named the album "a pop culture phenomenon" and wrote: "It is not an exaggeration to say that there is no other living musical artist who could ignite such a broad and unavoidable conversation just by releasing a new album – even a visual one." Writing in the same publication, Syreeta McFadden noted that the "
Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...
" video depicts archetypal southern Black women "in ways that we haven't seen frequently represented in popular art or culture". Melissa Harris-Perry of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine said that "Beyoncé publicly embraced explicitly feminist Blackness at a politically risky moment."


Academic study

Since its release, the album has spawned a large syllabus of literature and academic studies. The University of Texas at San Antonio offered a class in the Fall of 2016 based on the album. The course, titled "Black Women, Beyoncé and Popular Culture", explored how the visual album "is a meditation on contemporary Black womanhood," before advancing and diving into the "theoretical, historical, and literary frameworks of Black feminism," according to the syllabus. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosted a "Lemonade Week" in April 2017, which featured discussions on feminism, theatrical performances, celebrations of African-American women writers and poets, and choreography tutorials.
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
hosted "The Lemon Drop": a discussion that explored the nuances of ''Lemonade.''
University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkans ...
offered a course that analysed the influence of Black feminism on Beyoncé and ''Lemonade.''
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
ran two courses that explored politics, race and gender through the study of ''Lemonade''. Michigan State University hosted a discussion on ''Lemonade'' as part of their series for "exchanging ideas and exploring the lived experiences of underrepresented and marginalized communities".
Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students ...
based a writing class on ''Lemonade'', where "students get to examine how they fit into the power systems around them". Valdosta State University offered a course on ''Lemonade'', "unpacking the many themes found in "Lemonade," including Black identity, feminism, marital infidelity, sisterhood, and faith." The College of Charleston hosted a discussion by Black feminist scholars, exploring "Beyoncé's use of southern landscape, Black women, music, and African-based spirituality".
University of North Georgia The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public senior military college with multiple campuses in Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013 by a merger of North Georgia Coll ...
offered a class entitled "Okay, Ladies, Now Let’s Get in Formation: Intersectional Feminism in Beyoncé’s Lemonade" that explored the music, lyrics and visuals of ''Lemonade''.


Track listing

;Notes * signifies a co-producer. * signifies an additional producer. * signifies an additional director.


Sample credits

* "Hold Up" ** contains elements of " Can't Get Used to Losing You", performed by Andy Williams, written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman ** embodies portions of "
Turn My Swag On "Turn My Swag On" is a song written and recorded by American rapper Soulja Boy Tellem. It was released in October 2008 as the third single from his 2008 album '' iSouljaBoyTellem''. It was performed at the 2009 BET Awards. The song topped the U ...
", performed by Soulja Boy, written by
DeAndre Way DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peake ...
, Antonio Randolph and Kelvin McConnell ** contains elements of " Maps", performed by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, written by Brian Chase, Karen Orzolek and
Nick Zinner Nicholas Joseph Zinner (born December 8, 1974) is an American guitarist for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a record producer. Zinner is an accomplished photographer. Musical career Before forming the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs with Karen O and ...
. * "Don't Hurt Yourself" ** features samples from " When the Levee Breaks", performed by
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
, written by James Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. * "6 Inch" ** embodies portions of " My Girls", performed by Animal Collective, written by
Dave Portner David Michael Portner (born April 24, 1979), also known by his moniker Avey Tare, is a musician and songwriter who co-founded the American experimental pop band Animal Collective. He has released three solo albums, as well as three collaborative a ...
,
Noah Lennox Noah Benjamin Lennox (born July 17, 1978), also known by his moniker Panda Bear, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-founding member of the band Animal Collective. In addition to his work with that group, Len ...
and Brian Weitz ** contains samples from " Walk On By", performed by Isaac Hayes, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. * "Freedom" ** contains a sample of "Let Me Try", performed by Kaleidoscope, written by Frank Tirado ** contains a sample of "Collection Speech/Unidentified Lining Hymn", performed by Reverend R.C. Crenshaw, recorded by Alan Lomax ** contains a sample of "Stewball", performed by Prisoner "22" at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, recorded by Alan Lomax and John Lomax, Sr. * "All Night" ** contains elements of " SpottieOttieDopaliscious", performed by OutKast, written by André Benjamin, Antwan Patton and Patrick Brown. * "Sorry (original demo)" ** interpolates " Young, Wild & Free", as performed by Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa and Bruno Mars. * ''Lemonade'' ** contains a sample of "
The Court of the Crimson King "The Court of the Crimson King" is the fifth and final track from the British progressive rock band King Crimson's debut album, ''In the Court of the Crimson King''. Released as a single, it reached No. 80 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, th ...
", performed by King Crimson, written by Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield.


Personnel

Credits from the album's liner notes, Beyoncé's official website, and Spotify ;Musicians * Beyoncé – vocals * Jack White – vocals & bass guitar * The Weeknd – vocals * James Blake – vocals & piano ; jupiter bass * Kendrick Lamar – vocals *
MeLo-X Sean Rhoden, known professionally MeLo-X, is an American disc jockey and record producer. MeLo-X co-wrote two songs for Beyoncé's ''Lemonade'' album in 2016: " Hold-Up" and " Sorry". MeLo-X is one half of the electro/dancehall/reggae duo Electric ...
– background vocals *
Ruby Amanfu A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sap ...
– background vocals * Chrissy Collins – background vocals *
Belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, cent ...
– additional vocals *
Arrow Benjamin Dean McIntosh, known professionally as Arrow Benjamin, is an English singer and songwriter. He is known for collaborating with Naughty Boy and Beyoncé on the track "Runnin' (Lose It All)". Benjamin also co-wrote and performed backing vocals on t ...
– background vocals * Diplo – background vocals ; drum programming *
King Henry There have been many monarchs adopting the name "Henry". Years shown below are the regnal years. {{tocright Byzantine Empire * Henry of Flanders (1205–1216) ( Latin Empire) Castile * Henry I of Castile * Henry II of Castile * Henry III of ...
– background vocals, drum programming & guitar * Jr Blender – drum programming & guitar * Derek Dixie – drum programming ; additional instrumentation ; drums & band session leading ; horns arrangement * Mike Dean – drum programming & keyboards * Patrick Keeler – drums * Jon Brion – string arrangements * Eric Gorfain – strings & orchestrations * Daphne Chen – strings * Charlie Bisharat – strings * Josefina Vergara – strings * Songa Lee – strings * Marisa Kuney – strings * Neel Hammond – strings * Susan Chatman – strings * Katie Sloan – strings * Amy Wickman – strings * Lisa Dondlinger – strings * Terry Glenny – strings * Ina Veli – strings * Gina Kronstadt – strings * Yelena Yegoryan – strings * Radu Pieptea – strings * Crystal Alforque – strings * Serena McKinney – strings * Leah Katz – strings * Alma Fernandez – strings * Rodney Wirtz – strings * Briana Bandy – strings *
Anna Bulbrook Anna Bulbrook is an American musician. She previously played violin and provided backing vocals for American rock band the Airborne Toxic Event. Early life Anna Bulbrook is from Boston. She began playing violin at age four. She attended Columbia ...
– strings * Grace Park – strings * Richard Dodd – strings * John Krovoza – strings * Ira Glansbeek – strings * Vanessa Fairbairn-Smith – strings * Ginger Murphy – strings * Adrienne Woods – strings * Denise Briese – strings * Ryan Cross – strings * Geoff Osika – strings * Fats Kaplan – strings * Lindsey Smith-Trestle – strings * Mark Watrous – strings & hammond organ * Randolph Ellis – horns * Peter Ortega – horns * Christopher Gray – horns * Richard Lucchese – horns * Patrick Williams – harmonica * Eric Walls – guitar * Courtney Leonard – bass * Marcus Miller – bass * Jack Chambazyan – synths * Boots – synth arrangement ; additional programming * B. Carr – additional programming *
Too Many Zooz Too Many Zooz is an American music group based in New York City, consisting of Leo Pellegrino (baritone saxophone), Matt "Doe" Muirhead ( trumpet) and David "King of Sludge" Parks ( drums). Formation and viral fame Pellegrino and Muirhead met ...
– additional instrumentation * Myles William – additional programming * Matt Doe – trumpet * Swae Leead-libs * Big Freedia – additional background ad-libs * Kevin Garrett – piano * Vincent Berry II – piano * Canei Finch – additional piano ;Technical * Beyoncé – vocal production ; executive production * Greg Koller – string engineering ; keyboard engineering ; bass engineering * Stuart White – recording & engineering ; mixing ; additional production * Vance Powell – recording * Joshua V. Smith – recording, additional overdubs & Pro Tools editing recording * Ramon Rivas – second engineering * Mike Dean – engineering * Derek Dixie – assistant recording engineering * Eric Caudieux – Pro Tools editing recording ; keyboard recording * Jon Shacter – engineering assistance * Lester Mendoza – additional instrumentation recording ; band recording engineering ; horn recording * Ed Spear – additional studio assistance * Tony Maserati – mixing * Jaycen Joshua – mixing * John Cranfield – assistant recording engineering , assistant mix engineering * Tyler Scott – assistant mix engineering * James Krausse – assistant mix engineering * Miles Comaskey – assistant mix engineering * Arthur Chambazyan – assistant mix engineering ; studio assistance * David Nakaji – assistant mix engineering * Maddox Chhim – assistant mix engineering * Dave Kutch – mastering * Teresa LaBarbera Whites – A&R executive


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


All-time charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


See also

* Album era * List of ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums of 2016 * List of ''Billboard'' number-one R&B/hip-hop albums of 2016 *
List of number-one albums of 2016 (Australia) The ARIA Albums Chart ranks the best-performing albums and extended plays (EPs) in Australia. Its data, published by the Australian Recording Industry Association, is based collectively on the weekly physical and digital sales of albums and EPs ...
* List of number-one albums of 2016 (Belgium) * List of number-one albums of 2016 (Canada) * List of number-one albums of the 2010s (Czech Republic) * List of number-one albums of 2016 (Ireland) * List of number-one albums in Norway * List of number-one albums of 2016 (Portugal) * List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden * List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2010s * List of UK R&B Albums Chart number ones of 2016


References


External links

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Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' and Information Resources
a Resource Guide from the Maryland Institute College of Art * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemonade (Beyonce album) 2010s musical films 2016 albums Albums produced by Diplo Albums produced by Jack White Albums produced by Just Blaze Albums produced by Mike Will Made It Albums produced by James Blake (musician) Albums recorded at Record Plant (Los Angeles) Art pop albums Beyoncé albums Beyoncé video albums Columbia Records albums Concept albums Films directed by Beyoncé Peabody Award-winning broadcasts Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album Albums produced by Beyoncé Surprise albums Visual albums