I remember being so confused the first time I listened to Renaissance. I didn’t get it. Like it takes some…thing to start off your first solo album in 6 years (JUSTICE FOR “THE GIFT” DOE I LOVE THAT ALBUM 🥲 )with the vocal loop “These muthafuckas ain’t stopping me.”
But then I listened to the album again. And again. And again. And when I wasn’t listening to it, I was wondering when I could listen to it again.
RENAISSANCE — rebirth — is a portal. Listening to it changes you.
These are wealth codes. You WILL become rich if you can embody the messages she’s transmitting.
But we’re being challenged to think beyond the money.
Becoming materially wealthy is a natural byproduct when you’re abundant in self-love, self-confidence, + self-belief.
But there’s a catch. The only way this works is if you believe you’re the protagonist of these songs.
Got it? Let’s go 🚀
You see it (ah-ah-ah-ah), yeah
You see it when you look to me
I didn’t want this power (I ain’t want it)
I didn’t want this power (I ain’t want it)
The power she’s talking about isn’t external — it’s internal.
And it’s in all of us.
Some people are just more aware of it than others.
You know love is my weakness
Don’t need drugs for some freak shit
I’m just high all the time, I’m out of my mind
I’m tweaked (tweaking, tweaking)
You don’t need any substances to get to where she’s taking us.
I been thugging for my un-American life lights in these deep flawless skies
Off the deep end (yuh), such a heathen
Why they let me outside? (Yeah), I pull relief in (yeah)
Bring that beat in, now I can breathe again
“Heathen”… “un-American”… This is a primal call to return to our roots.
Who were we before the world labeled us?
We’re invited to take our first breath as our newly remembered selves.
This a reminder
Remember who you are.
Damn, I love the burning of the dagger
From the words that you say (fuck, yeah)
Dancin’ in the mirror, kiss my scars
Because I love what they made (ooh, yeah)
Alchemy is transmuting lead into gold.
Emotional pain, physical pain…all those things you see as shit?
You think you were dealt lead.
That’s potential gold.
She’s a god, she’s a hero
She survived all she been through
Confident, damn, she lethal
Might I suggest you don’t fuck with my sis
How can you know what being high feels like if you’ve never been low? That is, how do you know something without knowing its opposite?
There are no shortcuts to truly experiencing authentic confidence + unbridled joy.
Comfortable in my skin
Cozy with who I am
Comfortable in my skin (cozy, cozy)
Comfortable in my skin
Feet up above your sins
I love myself, goddamn (cozy, cozy)
This natural, ingrained confidence can’t be fucked with.
I’m one of one
I’m number one
I’m the only one
Don’t even waste your time trying to compete with me (don’t do it)
No one else in this world can think like me (true)
If an earlier version of me had heard someone express the confidence of these lyrics, my automatic reaction would’ve likely been some form of “WHO ARE THEY TO BE SO CONFIDENT ?!?! 😡”
But now I shrug: “Who are they not to be? 🤷🏿♀️”
Because I now KNOW those things to be true for me: I AM 1 of 1. I AM #1. I AM the only one. Don’t even waste your time trying to compete with me. No one else in this world can think like me.
I got pearls beneath my legs (U-N-I-Q-U-E)
My lips, my hands, my hips
I got diamonds beneath my thighs
Where his ego will find bliss
Can’t find an ocean deep (U-N-I-Q-U-E)
That can compete with this cinnamon kiss
Fire beneath your feet, music when you speak
You’re so unique
Because that’s the beauty of this universe. No one else has that same unique combination of quirks, traits, experiences, astrological placements etc as you.
That singularity should be enough to feed your confidence for eons.
The most wondrous thing is that this confidence is our birthright. We just have to reclaim it.
Bet you you’ll see far
Bet you you’ll see stars
Bet you you’ll elevate
Bet you you’ll meet God
’Cause I feel like fallin’ in love
I’m in the mood to fuck something up
’Cause we gon’ fuck up the night
This song is love. This song is light.
It captures that anticipatory energy that buzzes about in early summer. It’s 10-pm-on-a-Friday-the-night-is-young-energy.
It reminds us that we don’t need to go to church to meet the divine.
Go where nobody’s been (wanna go where nobody’s been)
Have you ever had fun like this? (Have you ever had fun?)
I wanna go missing
I need a prescription
I wanna go higher, can I sit on top of you?
God is love.
God is FUN.
Ahh (release ya anger)
La-la-la-la (release ya anger)
La-la-la-la (release ya mind)
La-la-la-la (release ya job)
La-la-la (release the time)
La-la-la-la (release ya trade)
La-la-la-la (release the stress)
La-la (release the love, forget the rest)
It’s like we finally got the permission to unload the burdens we’ve been carrying. But we never needed permission.
We go ‘round in circles, ‘round in circles
Searchin’ for love (‘round in circles)
We go up and down, lost and found (‘round in circles)
Searchin’ for love (yeah, yeah)
Looking for something that lives inside me
Looking for something that lives inside me
If you’re not careful, life can feel like a wild goose chase a lot of the time.
The second you place your power in other people, you lose.
I’m finally on the other side, I finally found the urge to smile
Swimmin’ through the oceans of tears we cried (tears that we’ve cried)
You know you got church in the morning (the morning)
But you’re doin’ God’s work, you’re goin’ in
Like “CUFF IT”, we’re reminded that we can find God in unexpected places. Yes, shaking your ass in the middle of a sweaty club is worship.
You’ve been through some shit. What is more divine than remembering who you are, not in spite of, but BECAUSE of those hardships?
Love of God = Love of Self
Boy, I know you can’t help but to be yourself ‘round me
Yourself ‘round me, now
And I know nobody’s perfect, so I’ll let you be, I’ll let you be
She never sings the title but the energy is there. I like to imagine it’s the result of…breaking in a new couch 👀
It’s a breezy meditation on romantic love. That kind of deep healthy love doesn’t take away from our love of self — rather it enhances it.
It’s the way you listen when I’m cryin’
You let me lean in
It’s the way you want one more kiss after you said you were leavin’
But I like it, baby (yes, I like it, baby, yes, I like it baby)
Yes, I like it, baby (like it, baby)
Fuck your other half. No one can complete you cuz you are whole on your own.
Two people — whole in + of themselves — can come together to create something new.
It’s less 1/2 + 1/2 = 1 and more 1 + 1 = 2.
Baby, come over (baby, come over)
Come be alone with me tonight
All these emotions (all these emotions)
It’s washing over me tonight, ah
Ok this is my fave song on the album and it’s 6+ mins long so I got A LOT to say.
“VIRGO’S GROOVE” is “Gift from Virgo” ’s Higher Self.
“VIRGO’S GROOVE” makes me want to serve my man. And I don’t even have a man 🤪
Right here, right now
Iced up, bite down
Baby, lock it, right now
I want it right here, right now
Cuddled up on the couch
Motorboat, baby, spin around
Slow-mo coming out my blouse
I want it right here, right now
Let’s talk about the Virgo archetype.
A friend described Virgos as the Earth angels of the zodiac.
A Virgo lives to serve.
Virgo energy purifies everything it touches.
Virgo energy is slow and thorough and detailed. Great for sex.*
*I’m a Leo but I got a lot of Virgo placements in my chart so I’m biased 🤪but I’m also right 😗
But I need more you on me and me on you, oh
And I need more nudity and ecstasy, oh
(On this magic ride)
Baby, you can hit this, don’t be scared
(Baby, you can hit this, don’t be scared)
It’s only gonna get you high
Female sexual energy is divine.
It’s magnetic. It transforms all who are worthy enough to dive into her waters.
You gotta go deep to get high.
Taste me (taste me), that fleshy part
I scream so loud, I curse the stars
You don’t need no excuse
To touch somebody (touch me)
To love somebody (love me)
To trust somebody (will you trust me?)
Now go ahead and hug somebody ’cause I can see the light in you
As we approach the climax, we’re reminded that to love and be loved is a constant commitment to witness and be witnessed.
“I can see the light in you.”
Virgo energy urges us to embody that light, our highest potential.
And finally, over 3/4 of the way through the song, we reach the central thesis:
Everybody want somebody (I want you)
Everybody got somebody (I got you)
So come over and want my body ‘cause
You are the love of my life (the love of my life)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (my life)
You’re my life, baby, you’re the love of my life
“You are the love my life.”
She’s up there (like physically in her register + metaphorically).
She sings this refrain like it’s an inevitable, a foregone conclusion.
Love elevates us.
Love — in all its forms — brings us closer to God.
Baby, love me, love me, love me
And, baby, let me love you back
Touch me, touch me, please me
Kiss me boy
You’re the only love of my life
Hear how her voice rapidly descends from her thinner falsetto to her fuller head voice.
She descends from cursing the stars to tell her lover to love her, touch her, please her, kiss her in the here and now.
It’s like a dare: “Yeah, you took me high but can you make me feel it in my body?”
Move out the way
I’m with my girls and we all need space (Woo!)
When the queens come through part like the Red Sea
Move out the way
How many times Imma say it?
Issa home run when the team touch base
This is real Moses energy.
Walk into a function like your energy just parts the crowd.
I want to make you shine (Queen come through)
This is how I move, this is how I move
This is why I live, sweet moments like this
To be royalty you gotta embody royalty.
You know how in order to sleep, you have to pretend to be asleep first…?
They teach it all backwards: Do/achieve/obtain XYZ and THEN you’ll be ABC. Nope. It’s the other way around.
Got a lot of bands, got a lot of Ivy on me
I gotta fan myself off, I gotta fan myself off
I gotta cool down (heated, like Coco Chanel, put me up in jail)
I gotta cool it down (heated, like stolen Chanel, put me up in jail)
This song feels like a pot on the stove about to boil over.
Feminine energy is fire. It’s chaos. It’s wild.
Never met a girl with a mind like this, no, no
To give you space at a time like this, my love
Never met a girl so fine like this, no, no, no, no, no
With a waist that whine like this, my love
There’s something spiritual about a woman wining her waist, her sacral.
On a subconscious level, we’re reminded of the cyclical nature of creation. Sacral energy is sexual energy is creative energy.
What’s more spiritual than creation itself?
Tip, tip, tip on hardwood floors
Ten, ten, ten across the board (with a waist that whine like it)
Give me face, face, face, face, yah
Your face card never declines, my God (ooh)
Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Mmh, yummy, yummy, yummy, make a bummy heated
The pot’s spilled over. The heathen comes out again. She can’t be contained. She can’t be tamed.
Ass gettin’ bigger
Racks gettin’ bigger
Cash gettin’ larger
He thought he was loving me good, I told him, “Go harder”
She thought she was killin’ that shit, I told her, “Go harder”
After offering us some affirmations, Beyoncé challenges us alllll to do better.
She’s like a personal trainer that urges us to get that one last burpee in cuz she knows you have it in you even tho you don’t think you do.
Dream bigger.
Know that booty gon’ do what it want to
Can’t hit it one time, multiple
I know you see these racks, racks, racks on me
Now come and get high-igh-igh-igh-igh-igh
I could talk about the extended metaphor Beyoncé uses to compare her pu$$¥ to crack and how it relates to the government-funded War on Drugs + the lingering effects on the black family…
Or I can just leave this tweet here cuz it sums up all our feelings when we first heard this song:
How can a song titled ‘America Has A Problem’ have the lyric “that booty gon’ do what it want to”, I thought this track was gonna be about George Floyd 😭
— Jason Okundaye (@jasebyjason) July 28, 2022
Idk what she put in this song cuz it’s physically impossible for me to not pop my pu$$¥ *aggressively* whenever this comes on.
RENAISSANCE was released hours after the New Moon in Leo.
New Moon = new beginnings
Leo = the performer, the creative; confidence, authenticity
This album serves as an invitation for us to step into that energy.
The vocal cascade in the final seconds feels like a triumphant end to a triumphant album.
But it doesn’t feel like the end.
It feels like we’re just getting started.
THANKS FOR READING 💛✨🌀🧚🏿♀️🛸🖖🏿♾
Template DESIGN BY Michelle Saya