Bey’s performance of “Diva,” also featured an incredible mashup of Drake’s “Headlines,” Jay-Z’s “Hovi Baby” and “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” followed by O.T. “Drunk in Love” was again cued back up, and the band incorporated Fast Life Yungstaz’s “Swag Surfin” into the moment as everyone onstage did the unifying dance.ġ5. Later, Beyoncé stood and sang on a beam that extended over the crowd for “Drunk in Love.” A few seconds in, the song paused and Nina Simone’s version of “Lilac Wine” played while a man and woman danced to the sorrowful lyrics.ġ4. Master P’s 1995 single “Bout It, Bout It” was also heard incorporated into “Been On.”ġ3. King Havoc, one of the flex dancers who performed, shared his excitement of getting to dance with Queen Bey on Instagram.ġ2. Flexing is a street dance, which originated in the 1990s in predominantly black areas of Brooklyn, New York. For this point of the show, a group of flex dancers also entered the stage and turned and twisted their bodies to the sluggish bass. Houston met Brooklyn for Bey’s “Bow Down/I Been On.” She paid homage to chopped and screwed, a slowed down production technique pioneered by the late Houston native DJ Screw.ġ1. “Crazy in Love” to the black national anthemġ0. When Beyoncé re-emerged at the top of the bleachers, the band played horns from The Wiz’s “Emerald City Sequence,” which in the film announces the presence of The Wizard, played by late comedian Richard Pryor. Shortly after, Beyoncé disappeared from the stage, as the band played Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” followed by Jay-Z’s “Family Feud,” which samples the soulful and angelic gospel group The Clark Sisters’ “Ha Ya (Eternal Life).”Ĥ. Although Beyoncé did not attend a black college and pledge a sorority, she is very much adjacent to the culture via her father Mathew Knowles, who is an alumnus of Fisk University, a historically black college in Tennessee, and is also a member of the Divine Nine fraternity Omega Psi Phi.ģ. The train of her cape featured glittery Greek letters of her own sorority Beta Delta Kappa, which made its debut at this performance. (BeyHive fans can already buy Nefertiti-inspired merch on Bey’s website.)Ģ. Beyoncé opened the show by marching in to her band’s rendition of “Do Whatcha Wanna” by New Orleans’ Rebirth Brass Band, while donning an Egyptian Queen Nefertiti-inspired headdress. Here are 32 black cultural references we spotted while watching Beyoncé’s biggest and blackest performance yet. The performance falls in line with her other recent blackity-black moments, following her 2016 Black Panther Party-themed Super Bowl halftime show and her 2017 Grammy performance, which both were explicitly dedicated to black culture - and especially black women.īut this set was particularly magical: A new black Greek letter organization was born, we milly-rocked, swag-surfed and crip-walked, and mini-tributes to trap, reggae, afrobeat, chopped and screwed, New Orleans bounce and go-go music were standout moments in an already amazing show. This news comes a year after Bey launched the Formation Scholars Awards Program for current or incoming female students of Howard University, Spelman College, and the Berklee College of Music and Parsons School of Design. The universities receiving support through her initiative BeyGood are Xavier, Wilberforce, Tuskegee and Bethune-Cookman. On Monday, Beyoncé continued to build on her support of HBCUs with the announcement of her Homecoming Scholars Award Program that will give four HBCUs grants of $25,000 each. Her entire wardrobe was designed by black designer Olivier Rousteing, who heads the French fashion house Balmain. Her go-to tour dancers Les Twins also returned to deliver splashy footwork. Bey was joined by her husband Jay-Z, her sister Solange and fellow Destiny’s Child members Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland. And the set was definitely a family affair. The night also marked Bey’s homecoming to the performance stage following her yearlong maternity leave. Many of the musicians are reportedly part of an HBCU tribute marching band called Drumline Live, which features members from Florida A&M University, Hampton University, Prairie View A&M University and other black colleges.įor many viewers, the night offered a two-hour primer on black college life - but for HBCU students and alumni, this was homecoming. Her theatrical stage set featured football field bleachers, where the marching band and majorettes dressed in yellow and black (a nod to the BeyHive). The performance was boosted by its vibrant aesthetics and the big-brass sounds of band members from historically black colleges and universities.
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