Every Sunday, I bust out of my old-man rut, my well-worn musical genres of indie rock and Beethoven and Bach, and instead fathom the unfamiliar depths of Arvo Part, Miguel Bose and Childish Gambino.
Which leads one prayerful morning to EVERYTHING IS LOVE, the surprise album by the Carters, otherwise known as Beyoncé and Jay-Z, which illuminates how America's royal couple shapes and controls their narrative by, counterintuitively, baring their infidelities and inner lives to their fandom.
When Bey and Jay-Z sing about making love on the beach and in their Lambo, with the taste of Corona Light and lime on their lips, the man for a moment transported back to a night in the projects, we know their stories to be true; the telling details emerge as if from a personal journal.
Through the arc of the album, we sense how far these two artists have traveled, in both emotional and physical space. It’s their choice to hold onto each other despite other temptations, and to embrace, even flaunt, their fame and wealth.
But is it all a play?
Writers of memoirs, after all, select the facts that fit their master narratives. They have the power to conceal the contradictions that would corrupt their narratives with nonsense and absurdity. Still, Bey and Jay-Z insist they are being truthful: “Fake news y’all choose, we no lie/No photoshop, just real life.”
The Carters remind me of our friends who present their best selves on social media; let’s learn about their beautiful friends and families, their awe-inspiring projects, oh, the places they will go. There’s pain in the past, but the triumph is now.
Which brings us to the Carters’ elaborate video set in the Louvre, the dancers drifting, then pulsating, through the galleries, the serene couple contemplating the Mona Lisa.
The video's soundtrack is the middle-finger song "APESH*T," which proclaims that, despite the odds and the haters (and zero Grammys for Shawn), Bey and Jay-Z have made it in love and in work. They have earned the right to swagger, so they will swagger. Because who wouldn't want to see a lover or a crowd going apesh*t over you.
Tom Huang is assistant managing editor for features and community engagement.
