By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Beyonce is without a doubt one of the biggest names in music right now, but with that kind of success comes plenty of scrutiny and criticism. And Beyonce is seeing that quite a bit these days as she’s already endured and conquered the lip sync scandal as a result of her Inauguration performance, and then there’s of course her current scandal surrounding her new music “Bow Down.” Keyshia Cole expressed her issues with the song on her Twitter account (and was handled by the BeyHive promptly), and even Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh expressed during his show that he finds the lyrics to the song offensive. However, he completely missed the whole message of the song and thought Beyonce was telling women to bow down to their men.
Not everyone is outraged though. Besides Beyonce’s loyal fans, singer Meshell Ndegeocello expressed that the song made her want to dance and she also feels Keyshia Cole needs to have a seat and stop critiquing everyone on Twitter. However, Meshell isn’t the only celebrity who’s standing behind Beyonce, it appears that T.I. and Tiny also don’t see what all the fuss is about. Tiny says she she thinks the song is “hot.” T.I. just feels artists should be able to say what they want in their music. Although he says he hasn’t heard the song yet, he says Beyonce shouldn’t apologize for offending some people. Especially since artists should be able to make the music that is true to them.
T.I. tells E! News:
“I haven’t even heard it, but my guy, Trae the Truth, he actually called me and told me somethin’ about it, but I hadn’t heard it myself.
“B is the epitome of success, pretty much embodies everything that it is to be upper echelon performer. As artists, as long as we are being true and honest to our hearts and what we really feel, that’s what we owe the people. [Beyoncé] shouldn’t be apologetic about it. We owe it to the people to give our true feelings because that’s where the best music should derive from—your sincerest, passionate feelings.”
I agree with them. People want Beyonce to be humble but they love that Rihanna is ratchet and rappers brag all the time. I’m convinced that Beyonce will get criticized no matter what she does. Let her be.
Very true!
Cosign. And you know what, I don’t think she gives a —- any more. I don’t blame her.
This is nothing but the damn truth! People want Beyonce to be humble and be a punching bag to everyone else because she has a great life. But she’s human. The average chick would have went off a long time ago. She has a right to get mad and go off sometimes.
Agreed T.I.
I figured they wouldn’t care. T.I. is a rapper. That’s all he does is brag in his music. The real issue I have with the backlash is that so many women are mad about it. These are the same women who call other women all kinds of names and stab each other in the back. There is no such thing as sisterhood in the real world. Hypocrites.
Honestly, those ladies need to get laid and stop caring.
*Standing Ovation* Yes! I was thinking the same thing. How are they crying foul and crying for sisterhood when they are nasty to other women on a regular basis? They all need to have a stadium of seats.
I think the song is meh… Bey could’ve put out a better track than that.
I have to say I agree. Yes, I stan for Bey but I really didn’t expect people to be so butthurt about this. People are like, “She’s telling me to bow down!” And honestly, if you feel that way, that just means you’re insecure. I took the song as an anthem for women who are fed up by other women tearing them down. And Beyonce knows how that feels all to well. Love the song and I don’t care how these weak females feel about it.
Beyonce just made the insecure people tell on themselves with the song. If you think she’s talking to you, then you need to question why you feel that way. Chances are you’re pretty lame. I’m still dancing to the song. Happy Friday loves.
Agreed! Insecurity is a b-tch!
Only hater b-tches with no life get mad when another woman gets cocky. Get your life you pathetic creatures.
Anyway…Hey boos! It’s Friday yall! 😉
LOL Happy Friday boo.
I have to cosign with T.I. I think people like to put artists in a box. They have a right to evolve and try different things when they feel good and ready to. And we still don’t know if that was a real single or just a teaser song to create buzz.
People try to bring Beyonce down all the time. She still wins every single time. If I were her, I wouldn’t worry about it. And it looks like she isn’t. People will be mad about everything when you appear to have everything. Oh well.
Tiny and Tiny are a trip. Love them together. Oh, and Bey can sing whatever the hell she wants. The same people on soap boxes aren’t angels either.
I think this is a non issue. Rappers brag all the time, there’s nothing wrong with Bey doing the same thing.
So it doesn’t bother you that one minute she’s preaching sisterhood and I love my sisters and the next minute she’s being as misogynistic as her husband and other male rappers, as Nicki Minaj, as Rihanna, by calling women B-TCHES??? That doesn’t vex your spirit just a little bit? I mean…………….c’mon y’all. Sure artists can change, but going full-on vulgar to show a difference? Beyonce? OUR Beyonce?!?! C’MON! This is drastic. I don’t think she’s bringing out the “insecure” in folks, lol, but I do think everyone is just shocked by this demeanor.
Please get off of your soapbox. Until you can take your same outrage with this song and direct it to everyone else who has called women b-tches, this sounds hypocritical. In the real world, there is no sisterhood and there is not unity among people…OF ALL RACES. People are overall mean and nasty to each other. They dogged Beyonce out for YEARS and she finally responds, shows anger and emotion like most of us do and now you’re on a soapbox? Stop. Let her be flawed. We all are. You included.
But b*tches is a horrible word for us to refer to one another. And to hear it come from Beyonce at THIS POINT IN HER CAREER is just. I don’t know how to process it. I’ve never been cool with b*tches this, nappy-headed hoes, that. IT IS ALL MISOGYNISTIC. There are other ways to ‘critique’ and to ‘elevate’ your placement over others without resorting to such viciousness. So because the world is a nasty place, Beyonce, arbiter of sisterhood, should just gone on and contribute to all the nastiness, too? Why not? Is that what you’re saying? Beyonce showed anger and emotion before in her songs but she wasn’t so vulgar. She “read” the haters in the nice, classy, elegant way HER BRAND has dictated for the past 17 years. This is going to hurt HER BRAND if her entire album is like this; seething and venomous and bite back-like. I was hoping for an evolution of ‘4’…still hoping that is what she will return with.
So I’ll get off my soapbox now and join the masses and allow Beyonce to be great and flawed and a b*tch, like we all are, eh?
A month ago, everybody was up in arms about the Onion calling a little black girl a c*nt, but it’s okay that WE continue to call each other n*ggas and b*tches because that’s just peachy-king for sisterhood, right? I just… I can’t.
So you’re going to compare a 9-year-old being attacked to a grown woman RESPONDING to being attacked in her music? That makes no sense.
It’s 2013. Women call each other b-tches. They even call themselves “bad b-tches.” They also back stab each other in the workplace, break up relationships/marriages, and criticize each other on Twitter (ie. Keyshia Cole). Not to mention they talk about each other viscously on the blogs, and you’re mad because Bey snapped and did a song for the women who have been nasty to her for all these years? Now here’s my turn to say, “I Can’t.”
I’m paralleling the constant negative associations to BLACK WOMEN in the media. I don’t support what Keyshia did IN PUBLIC but she has her right to her opinion. Not all black women use that word or refer to themselves as such. We all do. So the song is for the WOMEN who’ve done her wrong? I thought it was for the world at large and the media who have been against her—at least that’s what her troupe of stans are saying on other forums and boards. Oh wait, but you are correct indeed, she said B*TCHES which is a gendered term and the definition for a female dog in heat, I believe. You are right. She indeed snapped and she is well within her rights to do so and she is well in her right to create a vicious song to retaliate against those B*TCHES that have done her wrong and not respected her and her place in music history….
From RHOA to Nicki Minaj to Rihanna and now Beyonce to how we are portrayed in most movie roles to how we are awarded for those roles, the negativity thermometer just went up a notch with Beyonce adding to it with this vicious song. It is not IN HER BRAND to act like this. If so, then Ring the Alarm, Diva and Ego would’ve charted harder and been more memorable than her biggest song to date. This is the reason for the head-scratching. If Beyonce was like Millie Jackson straight out the gate, her coming with this song wouldn’t phase me. But she ain’t Millie. She’s BEYONCE and BEYONCE don’t do direct. Her momma taught her better than that.