All The Best Pieces About Beyoncé's Lemonade

The stunning visual album marks a new chapter for the singer. Here are the most insightful, complex pieces about her latest offering.

When Beyoncé dropped Lemonade, the gorgeous visual album, the world stopped. The project draws heavily on themes of betrayal, forgiveness, growth, and community. With poetry from Somali-British writer Warsan Shire, traditional Yoruba body paint by Brooklyn-based Nigerian artist Laolu Senbanjo, and an undeniably Southern Gothic setting, the work is an impressively rich reflection of the African diaspora.

But at its core, Lemonade is a deeply vulnerable project that speaks directly to, for, and with black women in particular. Below are some of the best pieces written by black women, joining Beyoncé in the conversation she invited us into — scarf tied, edges laid, and lemonade stirred.

1. Clover Hope, "Lemonade Is Beyoncé's Body and Blood," Jezebel

2. Brittany Spanos, "How Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' Reclaims Rock's Black Female Legacy," Rolling Stone

3. Doreen St. Félix, "A Love Profane," MTV News

4. Melissa Harris-Perry, "A Call and Response With Melissa Harris-Perry: The Pain and the Power of 'Lemonade,'" Elle

5. Amani Bin Shikhan, "'Lemonade,' Love, and Being a Black Girl Who Becomes a Black Woman," Noisey

6. Dominique Matti, "Why Lemonade Is for Black Women," Medium

7. Ashleigh Shackelford, "Bittersweet Like Me: When the Lemonade Ain’t Made for Fat Black Women & Femmes," Wear Your Voice

8. Ijeoma Oluo, "Beyoncé's Lemonade Is About Much More Than Infidelity and Jay Z," The Guardian

9. Diamond Sharp, "Beyonce's 'Lemonade' Is an Anthem for the Retribution of Black Women," Vice

10. Amanda Parris, "Eight Black Canadian Women Dissect Beyoncé's 'Lemonade,'" CBC

11. Judnick Mayard, "Beyoncé Brings Wonderful Witchcraft, Healing Powers in 'Lemonade,'" Billboard

12. Sajae Elder, "When Life Gives You Lemons: A Thematic Breakdown of Beyoncé's Surprise Album Lemonade," Noisey

13. Jamelia, "Piers Morgan, you don't like Beyoncé in Lemonade because her blackness isn't white enough for you any more," The Independent

14. Nichole Perkins, "What to Read After Watching Beyoncé’s Lemonade," Fusion

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