Should we Bow Down to Beyonce?

March 20th, 2013

BeyonceBowDown

On Monday Keyshia Cole took to her Twitter to call out Beyonce for her Bow Down track. Keyshia tweeted, “Can’t stand when people all self righteous when it’s convenient it makes them look good. Lmao! But can still talk sh– when convenient 2 FOH”. Cole then wrote, “First “Women need to Stick together” now b—–s better Bow. Smh. But it’s all G! Chicks stay shooting the s—. But when I speak my mind its a prob. #Well #StayMad”.

The statements made by Keyshia left a lot of Beyonce fans angry. But speaking as a pretty big Beyonce fan myself, I actually have to agree with Keyshia. What’s with the inconsistency, Beyonce?

Now don’t haphazardly pull out the female empowerment argument. I actually don’t know if Beyonce means any of this “Bow down b——” sentimentality. She definitely meant to convey that she’s a strong, hard-working female, yes, but what I actually think it is is that she’s trying to be something that she’s not with her sound. Can I just say it?

I don’t think Beyonce thinks she’s cool.

In Beyonce’s documentary Life Is But A Dream she revealed that she struggles with trying to stay current and how stressful it is to keep up. I’m wondering if Bow Down is a reaction to the influx of female r&B and rap artists like Rihanna, Azealia Banks, and Rita Ora who claim to be Unapologetic, who start Twitter-beefs, and who use lyrics like “R.I.P. to the girl you used to see”. These girls are young, gorgeous, and bad-ass and that’s their niche. They can Instagram pictures of themselves with bags of weed, with fierce looking nails, with a “I don’t give a s—” attitude. They can swear on their Twitter accounts and won’t get slammed like Beyonce would if she did. It works for them because that’s who these girls are.

Beyonce isn’t that. Beyonce is Survivor, Independent Women, Girls, Who Run The World, Love On Top, I Was Here.

Now I’m all about character evolution but this just seems disingenuous. Kinda like when Taylor Swift released the video for Trouble. It didn’t seem like a believable story with Taylor in the video, evoking Rihanna-like imagery. And this Beyonce track makes me want to cringe. The end of the Bow Down continues with the inclusion of I Been On which is reminiscent of Azealia Banks’ Van Vogue. And the swearing? The beat on Bow Down? Could have easily been a Rihanna track. It’s a shame this song is just so catchy.

Come on, Queen Bey! You didn’t have to tell us to bow down, we already did. And please stop calling us b—-es. I’d appreciate that.

What do you guys think? Do you agree with Keyshia? Was this a Fail-once? Or do you think Beyonce is just doin’ her? Check out the explicit track below and sound off in the comments section.