Lyrical Sensitivity

8.2.22

Beyoncé Renaissance 7.29.22

Whether you are a beats person or a lyrics person, what an artist has to say will also stick. Lyrics have won people over, lyrics have been used against artists, and some lyrics just rub people the wrong way. One of the world’s most favorite artists, Beyoncé is currently dealing with backlash from a specific lyric in song from her new album she released on Friday.

Beyoncé’s album Renaissance released this past Friday, which is sure to charts when the week one numbers roll in. Her lead single from the album, Break My Soul, saw over 21,000,000 million views on the lyrical video in one month. She released the official video just twenty-four hours ago which has already received 1,000,000 views. If there is one thing about Beyoncé, she is going to do millions. What could she possibly do or say to upset people?

On one of Beyoncé’s new songs, Heated, she uses the word “spaz” twice in one line, which has seemed to make many upset. Her lyric specifically sung, “Spazzing on that ass, spaz on that ass”. This is a word that derives from the term sporadic, with the definition being of someone with a disability. Beyoncé has received plentiful backlash from this term, as well as female artist Lizzo has when using the same term.

Lots of the Bey Hive has been out trying to cover for her suggesting the term means something else in their culture, and though it may be true, that just will not cut it for the masses. A representative from Beyoncé’s has suggested that although the term was not used in a way meant to cause harm, she will be updating the lyric on the album.

What are your thoughts on Beyoncé’s new album?