Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s new album addresses infidelity, slams Trump

https://nypost.com/2018/06/17/beyonce-and-jay-zs-new-album-addresses-infidelity-slams-trump/

Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s new album addresses infidelity, slams Trump
By Chuck Arnold
June 17, 2018 | 10:18pm | Updated

On their surprise joint album, “Everything Is Love,” Jay-Z and Beyoncé maintain that they’re still crazy in/drunk in love.

“You did some things to me/Boy you do some things to me/But love is deeper than your pain/And I believe you can change,” sings Beyoncé on album closer “Lovehappy.” “Sometimes I thought we’d never see the light.”

After Beyoncé’s 2016 album “Lemonade” and Jay’s 2017 LP “4:44” grappled with his infidelity, “Everything Is Love” reveals that they are still united, for better or worse. The release — available exclusively, for now, on Jay’s streaming service Tidal — was announced yesterday during the London stop on their On The Run II Tour (which hits the New York area on Aug. 2 and 3).

Opener “Summer” sets a romantic mood for “Everything Is Love,” with Bey cooing, “I wanna drown in the depths of you . . . in the water so blue” over some midtempo soul reminiscent of her 2011 LP “4.” Meanwhile, Jay comes in midway through the song, coolly countering, “I brought my sand to the beach.”

They continue to profess their devotion amidst the bass thickness of “713,” which takes its title from the area code of Beyoncé’s Houston hometown. “Ain’t no way to stop this love,” she sings; “Never knew a love like this,” he returns.

But Bey and Jay leave no doubt that their happiness has come the hard way.

“I can’t believe we made it,” she intones over the eerie beats of “Apeshit,” one of two tracks featuring Pharrell behind the boards.

On “Boss,” they flex about their power couple status. “It’s disturbing what I gross/Survey says you not even close,” Jay-Z says. B responds with a brag: “My great-great grandchildren already rich.”

The couple strikes a “Bonnie and Clyde” gangsta pose on “Heard About Us,” on which Beyoncé threatens, “Watch your mouth when you’re around us.” The song also addresses the rumors that Jay-Z fathered a love child with another woman. “Billie Jean in its prime/For the thousandth time, the kid ain’t mine,” he says over a deceptively breezy bounce.

But the two get outside of their marital bubble on “Black Effect,” which comments on police injustice against blacks. “Get your hands up high like a false arrest/Let me see ’em up high, this is not a test,” Jay commands.

Meanwhile, the bonus track “Salud!” takes a swipe at Trump: “Your president is tweeting ’bout Hov like he know us,” Jay jabs.

In the end, “Everything Is Love” doesn’t approach the artistic heights of “Lemonade” or “4:44” — it lacks the musical and lyrical vision of those bold works. Nor is there an insta-classic collaboration such as “Crazy in Love” or “Drunk in Love.” But the album takes you further inside the Carters’ private, imperfect world. Rest assured: everything is still love.

• This topic was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by JackPMiller.