Beyoncé’s Renaissance holds hidden messages as a love letter to Black and queer creative visionaries.
Beyonce’s seventh studio album Renaissance embodies decades of dance music. She infuses Chicago house, R&B, synth-pop, and ‘70s disco through carefully chosen collaborators, samples, and sounds. Here are five songs in Renaissance that serve as a subtle nod to historic Black queer dance music.
- IM THAT GIRL
The opening track “I’M THAT GIRL” opens up with a vocal snippet from underground Memphis rapper, Princess Loko. Her verse on the 1995 Tommy Wright III track “Still Primpin” becomes the backbone of the song. Having died at the age of 40 in 2020, Princess Loko, the pioneer of Memphis hip-hop never found mainstream success in her lifetime. Though, her experimental, fast-paced, dynamic verses and melancholy lyricism over booming 808 drums helped shape Memphis rap. Her contributions to hip hop gave birth to the artistry in today’s top charting artists like Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion and countless others.
- COZY
Renaissance’ deep house anthem “COZY” shines light on the LGBTQ+ community through the features of two Black trans women: co producer and legendary Dj Honey Dijon and media personality Ts Madison who’s 2020 “B–tch I’m Black” video message reinforces the Black pride that permeates the song. A Beyoncé fan account @BIacklsKing on Twitter also notably pointed out the lyrics in the second verse that describe the colors of the progress pride flag, a flag created in 2018 by queer nonbinary artist and graphic designer Daniel Quasar, celebrating a more diverse and inclusive society.
- ALIEN SUPERSTAR
Near the end of Beyonce’s ballroom inspired track, “ALIEN SUPERSTAR,” is the voice of creative visionary and Black activist Barbara Ann Teer from her 1973 speech “Black Theater.” In 1968, Teer founded the Harlem National Black Theater, the first revenue-generating Black theater arts in the United States, encouraging Black creative expression. The song is also co-written by current R&B singer-songwriters like Lucky Daye, Labrinth, Leven Kali, and 070 Shake.
- BREAK MY SOUL
The Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia – who was previously sampled on Beyonce’s 2016 track “Formation” – opens on lead single “BREAK MY SOUL” with vocals from her 2014 song “Explode.” Freedia is a widely credited New Orleans artist who contributed to popularizing hip hop’s bounce music. The song also samples ‘90s house classic “Show Me Love” by Robin S., who expressed gratitude to Beyoncé and Jay-Z in an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Thank you so much for giving me my flowers while I’m still alive.”
- PURE / HONEY
Renaissance’ penultimate track “PURE/HONEY” takes us to the ballroom dance-floor. The “Pure” half opens with drag queen Kevin Aviance’s 1996 track “Cunty (Wave Edit)” and includes elements of Mike Q’s 2011 song “Feels Like” featuring Kevin Jz Prodigy. The “Honey” half samples 1992 song “Miss Honey” by late drag performer Moi Renee, who allegedly died by suicide in 1997.
Eight months after its summer release, Beyoncé’s spirited dance record Renaissance still brings us warmth in even the coldest of winters. In a heartfelt statement on her website, Beyoncé also dedicates the album to a late gay figure in her life, uncle Johnny who exposed her to “a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album.”
