Alternate album titles for Renaissance could’ve been: I”m A Grown A** Woman, I’m Gonna Talk My !@#$, I Have Sex, I Have GREAT Sex, How Come You’re Not Having Great Sex?, and Ain’t I Pretty? Every one of those titles could’ve replaced the actual one, and been equally as accurate.
The later title I created paraphrases from Muhammad Ali. It was one of the boasts/ battle cries he uttered in his heyday. And it’s totally apt for Renaissance. Queen Bey is now a 40 year old woman who created an empire these last 25 years. She’s given us saucy talk and lyrics in the past decade, but she’s never really stunted on us for an entire album (Although 2013’s Beyoncé came really close). On Renaissance, Beyoncé knows that since she’s given us enough pop chart toppers and world beater albums in her career, she can now…talk her ****, secure in her place as an undisputed legend.
And man, she lets.it.GO on this album. This is a lioness’s roar of self love, celebration, and dropping it like it's hot. If you want to get a clear idea of this album's direction, check out the single Church Girl. It's a nuclear blast of fun, raunch, the spiritual, and sexiness in one song. It's also pretty much the makeup of the rest of the LP, and it's just as brilliant.
Beyoncé did not come to play with us on this album, and we should all be thankful. Renaissance is the last great album of the summer, in the conversation for Album of the Year (Lizzo is going to give her a fight with her Special album), and a gift to dance floors, parties, and barbecues for the rest of the year. All hail Empress Beyoncé.
The Grade: A-
Teachers Note: The hottest, sexiest R&B album from a woman since Janet Jackson's Janet in 1993. Renaissance is gale-force excellence from arguably, America's most exciting artist. And oh yeah…Church Girl will be an anthem in a week.
(This album is available on all streaming services)
