Ten years ago today, Beyoncé came through with what some consider to be her magnum opus. The album in question is, of course, Lemonade. This began as a Tidal exclusive that was then released as a 65-minute film on HBO. As soon as this project came out, it became a sensation. A project that everyone had to listen to. If you were a fan of music, you had to give this a chance. Overall, this succeeded as being one of Bey's most critically beloved works of art. A project that will likely stand the test of time. On the album's anniversary, we highly recommend you give it a listen. One of those projects that only comes around once in a generation.
Release Date: April 23, 2016
Genre: Pop & R&B
Tracklist for Lemonade
1. Pray You Catch Me
2. Hold Up
3. Don’t Hurt Yourself ft. Jack White
4. Sorry
5. 6 Inch ft. The Weeknd
6. Daddy Lessons
7. Love Drought
8. Sandcastles
9. Forward ft. James Blake
10. Freedom ft. Kendrick Lamar
11. All Night
12. Formation
Awards & Commercial Performance
Lemonade was an awards juggernaut. At the Grammys, it received numerous nominations, taking home two awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Music Video for "Formation." Recently, Rolling Stone made the claim that Lemonade was the greatest album of the 21st Century. It was also declared the best album of the 2010s by publications like Consequence of Sound and The Associated Press.
In terms of sales, the album has been a massive success for Beyoncé. It is currently four-times platinum. Furthermore, it immediately went number one on the Billboard 200. Despite being a Tidal exclusive at first, it eventually made its way to all other platforms, which made it accessible to everyone, thus contributing to better numbers as time went on.
What Did HotNewHipHop Commenters Think?
At the time of our review of Lemonade, Drake's Views had just come out. As a result, many of our readers were comparing the two albums. Furthermore, it feels as though the trolls had completely taken over the conversation. "As far as female RnB singers go... Drakes not that far behind Beyoncé," one reader wrote. "That user rating is a joke. If This album gets a 49% user rating than Views should get something like a 15%," said another. Whole some were attemping to give the album a fair shake, others just wanted to complain and compete for the top comment. Ultimately, it is a perfect distillation of internet forums in 2016.
