Four days ago, the Carters blessed us with an unexpected album drop for Everything Is Love, which is a joint album between Jay-Z and Beyoncé even featuring a little bit of Blue Ivy. Following the release of their independent albums, Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Jay-Z’s 4:44, Everything Is Love a united front from the couple on social injustice, love, and acknowledgment of their place in the African-American community.
In the song “Ape Sh*t” (the album’s break out hit) the Carter’s incorporate the Migo’s Quavo and a sample track converting it into a trap-symphony hybrid. With Beyoncé’s hard verses and Jay Z direct shots to the Grammy’s and the NFL, the song calls out racial inequalities in America while making it very clear that black culture has penetrated upper white society. Jay-Z raps:
I said no to the Super Bowl/You need me, I don’t need you/Every night we in the end zone.
The Carters continue this motif throughout the album while incorporating other aspects of their life such as friends, family, and their love for each other.
In the song “Friends The Carters” talk about the bonds of friendship by bragging about the strength and quality of their own. Beyoncé sings:
Your friends are foes/My friends are goals/Closer than kin, our souls exposed/Your friends are frauds, all they want is applause, yeah/And my friends, real friends, closer than kin.
“Black Effects” opens with a woman narrating the different types of love and how they all come together to make a whole. The love of children, love of self, love of God, love of your partner, and love of humanity are all listed. Everything Is Love is the couple’s reflections of all those things and how it effects their place in the African-American community.
The album in all is deep thought provoking and very upfront about where the Carter’s hold their values. It is a powerfully vulnerable insight into their lives allowing them to be a more of a relatable couple.
By Stephanie Avery
