Beyonce Knowles – singer, songwriter, virgining actress, fashion icon and mogul, cosmetics spokeswoman, what else?  The former Destiny’s Child front-woman is everywhere…. And I can’t stand it or her.

Singer

Unlike most popular, modern “artists”, level of talent is not my issue with her.  I think Beyonce is a talented singer.  Although, I don’t always care for her over-use of vibrato and numerous runs, I’ve got to give it to her.  She knows how to manipulate her voice and image to sell you a song.  Unlike Jessica Simpson who has a good voice but has no idea how to effectively/properly use it.)  While I am a lover of ballads, Beyonce also knows how to make danceable radio hits.

Performer

The energy she puts into her music is delivered 10-fold in her performances.  Thankfully, Beyonce is know to actually sing live, heaven forbid.  She can shake it in high-briefed underwear and stilettos but still manages to sing most of her song live.  (Everyone’s back-up singers carry a live performance nowadays anyway.)  Even if you feel your ears will bleed if you have to hear her current hit on the radio or VH1 one more time, you still want to see her perform it on the upcoming award show because she’ll undoubtedly be there and put on a good show.  (Unlike Britney, there’s no prediction or hope of a train wreck.)

Image/Fashion

Beyonce was introduced to us all as the pretty, going blond, half-naked front-woman of Destiny’s Child.  While it made me sad that she was the only one that sang (look back at En Vogue, four beautiful and talented lead and backup singers), I was saddened more by their outfits.  The brightly colored oversexed images of the late 90s/early 2000s just get a little old for me.  I understand the purpose but Destiny’s Child was actually talented.  Breasts, abs and thighs don’t make a good song but they do seem to help sell records, if not sell them completely.  It was more strange to me that her mother was the one designing for and dressing this group of teenage girls like THAT.  Obviously her parents were more comfortable with her college-age sexuality than mine would’ve been.

Over the years, Beyonce has managed to stay sexy and exposed but somehow class it up just a bit every year.  I’m not saying that every outfit is classy but as a whole (even if I don’t care for the outfit). she looks good.  I’m no longer ashamed to look at her.  I’m more intrigued.

Blond

My only withstanding issue with her image is the blond.  She’s a beautiful brunette.  The blond is unnecessary.  Unless albino or contingent upon another natural genetic condition, black people are not supposed to be blond.  Embrace your natural tones.  Love them.  (For some reason, Queen Latifah is the ONLY black person I don’t get mad at for going blond.  I LOVE her.  She can do no wrong.  And I’ve just given up on Tyra altogether.)

Acting

Honestly, I’ve only seen “eh” from her.  She hasn’t done that bad of a job but I haven’t seen a lot of depth in her characters.  It’s easy to act like a diva.  Vulnerability and layers are different.  She’s not quite a box office draw or distraction for me.

I respect Beyonce and wish her the best.  The girl works her ass off.  I just think she’s over-exposed which is more our fault than hers.  She seems like a cool person and manages to keep her private life private.  But I need her to disappear for a while.  Make us miss you.  I’m only contributing to my main complaint with a blog post dedicated to her.

As talented as she is, I’m going to have to disagree with Kanye.  Beyonce is great but she’ll need another 20-30 years of longevity before we can compare her to Tina Turner.  We all thought Britney was the new Madonna and look at that tragic assumption.

Searching my iPod for “No, No, No”,

Jo’van

December 10, 2008
Categories: The World...As I See It (Everything Else), Whole Truth, The . Tags: blond, celebrity, over-exposed, overrated . Author: tjovand . Comments: Leave a comment