The FINAL final warning will be the deluxe edition

“Life is too short to last long”

That’s…um. Uh.

I’m very far from a poptimist or a Beyonce listener, but I caught Lemonade on HBO after watching GoT and was captivated. I kept thinking that I was hearing the absolute antithesis of Kanye’s Pablo–a fully-planned, thoughtfully executed, and conceptually cohesive album. Kanye called Pablo his gospel album, but that designation seemed only true during the first song; Lemonade, however, is more befitting of that title: it has gospel hues, and it’s also soulful, deeply introspective, and ultimately expressive of Christian forgiveness. Lemonade also just suddenly, unexpectedly, appeared–an audio-visual project in full– whereas Kanye, as some of you might have heard, kept delaying his album and (keeps?) altering his songs, appearing uncharacteristically unsure of himself and his music.

Actually, it’s appropriate that I first saw Lemonade after Game of Thrones, a show that underscores the volatility of power. Just a short five years ago, Jay Z and Kanye anointed (perhaps rightfully) themselves as kings on “Watch the Throne,” yet now we see them stumbling through major personal and financial PR nightmares. Meanwhile Beyonce expresses her own tribulations on Lemonade and comes off as self-assured, dominant, and even merciful. I’ve never bought into the whole Queen Bye thing, but the idea of the Queen usurping the Kings is too rich to pass up here.

Man, that looks sooooo fake. In fact, I actually found the original totally real photo that was taken from.

Life gave her lemons.

Or maybe Jay-Z is just a huge piece of shit.

If you watch the movie (ahem, “visual album”) there’s some additional subtext. Like how it’s the black women in their families who prepare the lemonade, and the recipes are handed down between generations of these women. So Beyonce is connecting her lemons-to-lemonade story with a lineage of black women trying to make the most of the hand they’re dealt (often by the men in their lives).

Drake: “Imma fix Views”

Sorry, I spelled “torrents” wrong.

Pitchfork gave Lemonade an 8.5! (aka a woman’s 9.5)

No

anne hathaway is the most becky bitch that’s been birthed. white woman, exit stage left. thanks

Yeah, I don’t think an album that has the word swag in the lyrics so many times can be in that ranking.

if you’re reading it its too late was so crappy but this seems Ok so far

I mentioned on the RIP Prince thread that Morri$$ey (see what I did there, Stephen?) has throat cancer, and that the conspicuous silence coming from him on the matter would indicate a less than positive prognosis.

Now I find myself wishing that he’d hurry up and die already so he can stop destroying what little love I have left for him.

Also, I think it’d be rather fitting if the Queen outlived him.

move over, “nothing”. paisley park is about to hijack your spot behind mall of america for things to do in minnesota.