Beyonce slayed the world with Lemonade, and she also slayed side chicks, cheaters, and
her stormy family history. Even years later, we're still untangling hidden messages. Here's
what we found out.
Is there any doubt that many of the lyrics in Lemonade deal with Beyonce's marriage to
Jay Z? The artist basically confirms it by referencing the miscarriage she suffered before
giving birth to Blue Ivy on January 7th, 2012. In the spoken-word intro of "Sorry," Beyoncé
speaks to the man who, quote, "killed" her, singing:
"What are you going to say at my funeral now that you've killed me?... Here lies the mother
of my children both living and dead?"
In the same song, Bey spits: "Big homie better grow up." Now close your eyes and think back
to her 2003 hit "Crazy in Love." Remember when Jay-Z refers to himself as "Big Homie"?
As Vox reports, the song "Sorry" charts the emotional fallout of a woman dealing with
her lover's affair. If Jay-Z betrayed Beyonce in real life, there's plenty of evidence to
suggest she ultimately forgave him… besides the fact that the couple is still together.
For example, Beyonce is alone throughout most of the "Sandcastles" video, singing:
"I know I promised that I couldn't stay, baby. Every promise don't work out that way."
Unexpectedly, Jay Z makes an appearance partway through the video. It's a subtle message,
but a strong one.
As Jay-Z told David Letterman on the Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction:
"I have a beautiful wife who is understanding and knew that I am not the worst of what I've
done. And we did the hard work of going to therapy."
This begs the question: If Jay-Z cheated, who did he cheat with?
Here's pop star Rita Ora on Access Hollywood in 2017, reacting to the news that Beyonce
and Jay Z were having twins.
"I mean, I couldn't be happier, I swear. I mean, knowing the history I've had, and, you
know, without Jay-Z, I probably wouldn't be here, I would have still been in London."
Even-keeled, kinda boilerplate response, right? Well, the year before, furious Beyonce fans,
otherwise known as the Beyhive, accused Jay Z's other protege of being the infamous "Becky
with the good hair" mentioned at the end of "Sorry."
You're probably wondering, "Why her?" Let's consider the evidence. On April 21st, 2016,
Ora posted a photo on Instagram where she's wearing a bra with lemons on it… along with
a necklace fastened to a charm that's distinctly shaped like the letter "J."
Regardless of whether Ora was just being cheeky, the timing was considered suspicious. She
promptly deleted the photos after the Hive attacked… but screenshots are forever.
Remember when Beyoncé's sister Solange went nuts on Jay Z in an elevator? The unpleasant
business went down at a Met Gala after-party in May 2014. At the time, Us Weekly reported
that Solange flipped out on fashion designer Rachel Roy before she attacked Jay Z... because
she thought the pair were getting a little too cozy at the party.
In case you aren't familiar with Roy, here she is explaining the philosophy behind her
lifestyle vlog, "The Life."
"With every decision we make, with every choice we make, we're designing the life that we
wish to live."
Following the skirmish, no one acknowledged what started all the drama... but Roy may
have outed herself on Instagram as being the real "Becky with the good hair."
In a since-deleted post from the morning after Lemonade's release, Roy wrote:
"Good hair, don't care."
The Beyhive immediately stung her, even altering her Wikipedia page to say she died under a
lemonade stand.
After barely surviving the wrath of Queen Bey's loyal subjects, Roy tweeted:
"I respect love, marriages, families, and strength. What shouldn't be tolerated by anyone,
no matter what, is bullying, of any kind."
Notice that she doesn't deny being involved?
In the song "Daddy Lessons," Beyoncé touches on her real dad's relationship with her mother,
Tina Knowles. According to the Daily Mail, Tina and Mathew Knowles divorced in 2011 after
Mathew fathered a child with another woman. Beyoncé sings:
"My daddy warned me about men like you. He said... 'When trouble comes in town, men like
me come around.'"
Sounds like Beyoncé's dad taught her how to avoid cheaters because… well, it takes
one to know one, right?
In a spoken interlude, Beyoncé says:
"In the tradition of men in my blood, you come home at 3 a.m. and lie to me. What are
you hiding?"
Throughout Lemonade, Beyoncé implies that infidelity might be a family curse going back
generations… or is it a blessing in disguise?
During one spoken interlude, she says:
"The past and the future merge to meet us here. What luck. What a f—--ing curse."
Later, she says:
"True love brought salvation back into me. With every tear came redemption."
In one segment, Beyonce even shares her grandmother's real lemonade recipe. And in the video for
"Freedom,"she includes footage of Jay Z's grandmother Hattie celebrating her 90th birthday.
At one point in that video, Hattie says:
"I always find the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made
lemonade."