Free Little White Lies by Brianna Baker Page B

paradigm of power, confidence, beauty, and strength for black women to emulate—that I believe paying for her music is the least I can do to show my respect and support. Perhaps I’m an unwitting victim of the Beyoncé conspiracy, after all.
    So when I got the “SURPRISE” Instagram message just after midnight, I had no choice but to dive in headfirst. Geopolitics paper be damned. My amateur analysis of the Syrian civil war can wait. As of right now, this night belongs to Beyoncé. And because of my newly standardized Blog Before Homework policy (jk, teachers!) I have no choice but to devote these remaining hours of darkness to exploring the 14 songs and 17 videos of Beyoncé’s “secret” album. Of course I’ll be sharing my thoughts about the songs and videos with you, dear reader, in my first all-Beyoncé installment of
LWL
.
    Please bear with me, as I am very much a novice at writing about music. I may have written a few clever lines about Kanye, but I’ve never even attempted to write a proper music review. And that’s not what I’m about to do here. Rather, I will share my immediate impressions of the work at hand. I may not even write in complete sentences. But hey, it’s the Internet. And it’s very late and getting later.
    Btw, since
BEYONCÉ
is being touted as a “visual album,” I’ll focus on the videos and leave writing about the songs to the millions of music critics out here in the blogosphere. Now without further ado, let’s do this!
    Note from Karl:
Dear reader, if you wish to see more of the Beyoncé post—and trust me, it’s worth it—please consult Appendix 2
.
    Friday, December 13, 2013 (Gchat):
    Coretta White - 3:12 PM
    hello there
    Karl Ristoff - 3:12 PM
    well hello
    so what did you think?
    Coretta White - 3:22 PM
    I liked it.
    Karl Ristoff - 3:24 PM
    You did? whew. We are talking
    about the Beyoncé conspiracy, right?
    Coretta White - 3:24 PM
    yes. ha
    Karl Ristoff - 3:24 PM
    Any feedback from your pals at school?
    Coretta White - 3:25 PM
    Did you write that with your opinions or what you thought mine would be? Everyone at school freaked out about it. they woke up to find that the album had dropped, and also that LWL had covered it overnight
    Karl Ristoff - 3:26 PM
    That stuff about your mom was completely imagined of course but if it was way off, I figured you’d change it. was surprised at your light editing touch
    Coretta White - 3:26 PM
    I actually did have beyonce albums when I was young … but I never liked pink. My mom asked me about that, and I said I just added it for layers
My favorite color was and is gray. I imagine yours is green
    Karl Ristoff - 3:27 PM
    It is. Not that I’m obsessed with making money, but I do enjoy spending it. How’d your paper go?
    Coretta White - 3:28 PM
    meh, nothing to write home about I think my teacher was impressed because of the blog post so thanks for getting me points!
    Karl Ristoff - 3:29 PM
    I hear that. What did YOU think of the Beyonce album? And all those videos!! you’re welcome!
    Coretta White - 3:29 PM
    I think Beyonce is making a statement
    Karl Ristoff - 3:29 PM
    it was fun to write. not easy, though
    Coretta White - 3:30 PM
    and she is changing her image
    Karl Ristoff - 3:30 PM
    What is her statement? And from what to what?
    Coretta White - 3:30 PM
    it was that she was just the queen, and there was no need to talk about others. Now i think there is an underlying theme of “I’m the baddest bitch. WHAT” And I’m a bad bitch, nasty bitch, queen bitch, lady to J-Hova
    Karl Ristoff - 3:31 PM
    She is a bad bitch for certain.
    Coretta White - 3:31 PM
    and classy of course I think she is now just a representation of every side of a woman that is desirable
    Karl Ristoff - 3:32 PM
    Yeah, maybe there’s some healthy rivalry going on between them, too. that’s going keep both of them motivated as individuals, and even stronger as a team. She def covers a lot of bases.
    Coretta White - 3:32 PM
    Never stops. I’m not like