Long ago a trio of provocative, vocally talented and empowering female singers known as Destiny's Child came to power and poise with singles like "Independent Woman" and "Survivor," telling women to stand up and dominate. It was a promising time for the girls who looked up to them and the careers these three young women were forging for themselves. In the midst of such a prosperous grouping there was a clear leader; Beyoncé Knowles. Having the most successful solo launch of the three landed her in the spotlight for many years to come, since then numerous hit singles have established Beyoncé as the vanguard of R&B within the pop music landscape. For Beyoncé's most recent release BEYONC, a visual counterpart was released for each track on day one in the form of a music video. She made no press release, held no interviews and had total control in the booth and on the adventurous aesthetic. This pivotal shift in the Beyoncé dynamic has transformed her into a daring mainstream artist who shuns traditional release schedules and hype-building tactics. In this bold new age of Yoncé, the seductress with a snarl from Houston, anything is possible if you sing along and listen when she tells you life is but a dream, because everything and anything can happen in a dream if you believe in yourself.
10. Me, Myself And I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S37SGxZSMc A slow motion thud transfused under Beyoncé's smooth coy lines represents the earliest example of her unmitigated independence in Me, Myself and I. The solitude within loss sets the mournful tone in the light of empowerment at the hands of the listener. Beyoncé instills strength in the individual and invokes the ability to curse away demons of self-doubt. Her signature sound was always there but the message was just taking form, searching for the power within. This represents her first step to exploring a bigger picture of maturity and leadership in a field mainly reserved for male superstars. As a complete package her debut solo album Dangerously in Love divorced her from her identity as "one of the girls from Destiny's Child" to simply "Beyoncé", a declarative arrival of intent of utter control, and going forward her music would grow even fiercer as she learned to navigate the highs and lows of the music industry.
Two years on in Los Angeles and I am no closer to unearthing the secrets to its successes and riches as portrayed on inspirational programming like The Hills and NUMB3RS, maybe I just haven't joined the right cult yet. My hobbies include buying music on analog formats, considering the implications of Inception to this day and not sunbathing. I might be bewildered, but its better than sitting pretty and ignorant.
