MUSIC REVIEWS
Beyonce - B'Day
David Allun Jones
It might be cause she hails from Texas that Beyonce adores anything big. Big voice, big hair, big productions, big beats; even her first name carries a certain epic quality. On her second solo release, B’Day, Destiny’s Favorite Child aims to be even more larger-than-life, satisfying those who critiqued her debut from being too graceful and ballad-heavy by exaggerating every aspect of her personality for a rawer new sound. This is the album that “Crazy In Love” was supposed to lead off, one in which Beyonce throws all care to the wind and unleashes an inner beast that’s proud to be confident and super-sexy, not at all as apologetic and reserved as she was before.
An obvious attempt to rebel against an image of Daddy’s sweet and innocent Southern belle, B’Day charges forward without looking back, throwing away poise, rationality and prettiness for songs that at times feel less like songs and more like crazed confessionals she’s been to afraid to set free. The lush, 70’s R&B of “Deja Vu” is only a decoy to get you thinking that she’s bringing more of the same. Soon as the horns have died from that modest banger, brittle hip hop beats take over, skating and bouncing with nary an adjoining melody, leaving big holes for Beyonce’s heated dialogue to fill. On “Ring The Alarm”, Be heads over the edge, shamelessly hollering “I’ll be damned if I see another chick on your arm” amidst wailing sirens and sharp handclaps. After all the hard work she’s spent on upgrading her beau, she makes it clear that she’d rather stick with him then see someone else benefit off the riches she brought him. “What about my body, body? You don’t want my body, body”, she asks on the following track “Kitty Kat”, fully aware any man must be crazy to pass up on her ample curves. In nearly the same breath, she refuses to muse on his idiocy, packing up her things and communicating to her goodies “Let’s go kitty kat/ He don’t want you any more”.
When it’s time to go out, Miss Knowles is even more gung-ho. You thought she was getting nasty on the relatively PG-rated “Lose My Breath”? Here she slaps on her “Freakum Dress”, entices men to “come sit on mama’s lap” on “Suga Mama”, then hits the floor to sweat out her perm all for the sake of getting men to “Get Me Bodied”. With each glimpse of “girl gone wild”, though, Beyonce makes sure you don’t mistake her for some silly ho. She may be getting loose for the evening, but her traditional values remain in place. On one cut, she silently laughs at one gawker transfixed by her skimpy outfit and flirty eyes: “Little did he know/ My man gonna take it off tonight”.
After storming her way through eight dynamic tracks, the mood shifts downbeat but none of her lyrical bite is lost. “Irreplaceable” flutters with sweet guitars and airy harmonies but beneath the cloudy arrangement is another check to the male race (“I could have another you in a minute/ Matter fact he’ll be here in a minute”).
At times so unstable, you fear Beyonce is headed for a Mariah Carey-sized emotional breakdown, B’Day turns out to be just the opposite. She’s a woman no longer swept away by fairy tales and men in shining armor as past-life situations have turned her too cynical. Though she’ll probably never lose that hope that a prince is waiting out there somewhere, for the first time Beyonce sounds like the “bug-a-boos” and “triflin, good for nothing type of brothers” she’s kindly brushed off in the past will be departing her life with more than just bruised egos. In every woman there’s a Lorena Bobbitt ready to materialize given the right push, B’Day is the introduction of Beyonce’s.
