There is a lot to take in with this properly brilliant music video.
In case you missed it late on Saturday night, Beyonce and Jay-Z – aka The Carters – suddenly released their new album Everything Is Love.
Something of a trilogy ender following her epic Lemonade release and his 4:44 response, the new album features Migos, Cool & Dre, Ty Dolla Sign, and an all-star production team.
The first single ‘Apeshit’ was co-written and co-produced by Pharrell Williams, and the video was released alongside the album drop, which you can watch right here:
Clip via Beyoncé
The video was filmed within the Lourve museum, directed by Ricky Suiz (who previously directed the video for ‘Yonce’), and is overflowing with potential imagery and symbolism.
Twitter user @itsmeheidi_h has broken down the artistic works and how they’re represented by Beyonce and Jay-Z within the music video, and it is nothing short of incredible.
Y’all this #Apeshit video has me losing my shit. This moment right here is the fulfillment of my art history degree. Beyoncé’s vision and talent is unmatched. Stay tuned for some thoughts. #Beyoncé #EverythingIsLove pic.twitter.com/IMrVlyl6wf
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
1) The visual and lyrical message of #Apeshit is that Beyoncé and Jay-Z have MADE IT. They own the motherfucking Louvre which has been and still is a white-centric space with a history deeply rooted in colonialism. Thus, centering black bodies in this space is radical. pic.twitter.com/lLafST2Urd
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
2) The first shot of the duo is in front of the Mona Lisa, the most recognizable portrait in the museum. People from around then world flock to the Mona Lisa to take their picture with her (i.e. next image). Beyoncé (and Jay-Z I guess) is visually asserting herself as Mona Lisa. pic.twitter.com/smpysAEDyy
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
4) Winged Victory (Nike) of Samothrace, an Ancient Greek statue of the goddess of Victory. Beyoncé’s costuming mimics the folds of the statues drapery and positions her as Victory. She is clothed in white, imitating the statue’s current bleached state. pic.twitter.com/7tvexxCBbf
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
5) Here, Beyoncé once again models herself as a Greek statue, this time the Venus de Milo. However, in this shot she wears a nude bodysuit with wrapped hair, reframing both goddesses of beauty and victory as a black woman. This dismantles white-centric ideals of beauty. pic.twitter.com/W8vRT9hoNo
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
7) In this painting Napoleon is crowning his wife Josephine empress, a moment chosen to highlight his supposedly god-given right to rule. “I’ve got expensive fabrics” is a direct reference to the expensive clothing worn by Josephine and Napoleon for political reasons. pic.twitter.com/DoVdKVDHQX
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/itsmeheidi_h/status/1008220174359523329
9) Another work by David that is heavily featured in #Apeshit is The Intervention of the Sabine Women. I’m going to be brief on this one and just note that (white) female fear evoked by (white) male violence is juxtaposed w/ (black) female empowerment (“get off my dick”). pic.twitter.com/DxJ9BL25Ne
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
10) This can be extrapolated as an allusion to historical white violence against black bodies, specifically sexual violence against black female bodies which are centered in #Apeshit as beautiful and powerful. pic.twitter.com/9GLNzmHifN
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
11) Next we see a celebration of black love in addition to black beauty. Subtext of this image is death (stab wound on chest), specifically the endemic murder of black men due to police brutality and the consistent devaluation of black lives. pic.twitter.com/d8vbMdpKrq
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
13) Benoist’s Portrait of a Black Woman is one of the only portraits of black women in the history of Western art until the 20th century or so. It was completed by a female artist, possibly in support of the abolition movement. Now we have a female creator + black independence. pic.twitter.com/QB9c09y2W2
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
15) It is also thought that this image is critical of slavery. Jay-Z is obviously juxtaposing himself with the man in Gericault’s painting in addition to other clearly problematic portrayals of black men from the nineteenth century which depict them as exotic or animalistic. pic.twitter.com/xsdaduibcB
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
16) At the time this is how black men and women were portrayed and is often their only representation w/in museum spaces. #Apeshit highlights this and acknowledges the images of their predecessors while simultaneously presenting blackness as equal to whiteness w/in museum spaces. pic.twitter.com/YANU4fVNKd
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
17) Some more overt symbolism that references current events include the comparison between the Discus Thrower and the men who kneel and the spears and the men with raised fists. Here we see allusions to protest against police brutality against unarmed black men and women. pic.twitter.com/REtVz4uWCK
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
18) Essentially, #Apeshit is not only a brilliant celebration of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s success but a self-aware acknowledgment of their success in the face of historical/current oppression as well as an expression of gratitude to their predecessors who are too often forgotten. pic.twitter.com/fUDae55N5w
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
19) This is apparent in the lyrics
“I can’t believe we made it” and “This is what we’re thankful for.” Beyoncé recognizes and celebrates her accomplishments in addition to the oppression of others in a historically white space, an act which in and of itself is radical. pic.twitter.com/Iq61PmzyxL— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
20) She is the Queen. Her vision is unmatched. Also she rented out the motherfucking Louvre. What a goddess. Intelligent. Beautiful. Victorious. I will stan forever. I’m going to go listen to the rest of #EVERYTHINGISLOVE now. Hope y’all enjoyed the start of my dissertation.✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/1G5t7cd6nh
— queen curly fry (@itsmeheidi_h) June 17, 2018
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