From Dangerously in Love to Cowboy Carter: my own Beyoncé Renaissance

I wrote this article over a year ago after my feed flooded with hundreds of social media snippets of Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour in Europe (with that now first and infamous stiff crowd in Stockholm) and the United States. Life got in the way and it remained on my drafts until this past few days, after realising that Beyoncé is back on (a shorter) tour with Cowboy Carter.

Stumbling upon her Renaissance concert videos was the first time I was listening intently to anything from the performer in almost 20 years.

A couple of years ago, Cuff It was THE song that going absolutely viral as a Tiktok dance. And you might cringe at this, but one way to confirm a song's popularity nowadays is through its Tiktok usage. Just remember Harry Styles' Watermelon Sugar, Lola Young's Messy (thanks Sofia Richie!) and more recently, Doecchi's Anxiety.

Let's dive in the past, to Summer 2003...

I bought Beyonce's Dangerously in Love (CD) album in 2003, as soon as it got out. I was 17 years old, living in Southern France, I had just finished lycée (high school) with my Baccalauréat exams completed (whilst watching Roland Garros) and was about to start my Business school journey.

I was completely obsessed with Beyoncé, her music and her visuals. She was just 5 years older than me and a black female I started looking up to.

I know all the songs from that album by heart. Crazy in Love was, without a doubt, my 2003 Summer Anthem. If you were alive and into pop culture at the time, do you remember we were at the time asking ourselves if she was really with Jay Z or if it was just a music partnership? Time answered that one.

I remember I wanted to have the same blonde hair as Beyoncé for so many months. I even asked my hairdresser to bleach my hair. She advised against it. I was devastated at the time, and now I feel grateful. I never took the leap to change my hair colour but I am sure my long weave years (from 2004-2009) were very much inspired by Beyoncé's ones. I always had long hair but I had recently cut it (for the most stupid of reasons) and Beyonce's long blonde curls had made me dream.

Music and hair inspiration aside, as time went by, I didn't listen to any other of her new albums in 20 years, even if a few of my friends raved about them. No, I have never heard any song on the Lemonade album, I don't scream when Partition comes up like someone I know does, as I have never really listened to them.

Leaping to 2023...

I got mesmerised all over again and it was thanks to... her daughter Blue Ivy and the aforementioned TikTok Effect. My favourite songs from the Renaissance album are: I like Cozy but I LOVE Alien Superstar (the transition choreography during the tour is iconic) and Energy (the "everybody go on mute" on concert is tremendous!).

And to 2024-2025...

My favourite songs from the Cowboy Carter album are: I listened to Jolene a lot, but my favourite has to be Riiverdance (from listening to the album) and Sweet Honey Buckiin from watching the concert choreography with her daughter Blue Ivy.

Beyoncé, the artist and the mother

I cannot but imagine what scenes we would have if Michael Jackson or the Spice Girls were in this era and had their concerts and families so deeply sucrinitized and meme'd on social media like Beyoncé's concerts and family now is. After suffering years of attacks on her family, her husband, her children, her pregnancies, her sister, her former Destiny's Child bandmates, her body, Beyoncé retreated. She stopped doing interviews, she never did a reality show, her social media is highly visual and curated and does not allow for a real glimpse into her life. She became, before our eyes, a myth we can only hypothesise about.

And in the midst of all the mystery, the Renaissance tour introduced us to the incredible talent of Blue Ivy, her oldest daughter, as a 11-year dancer.

Her poise and focus made me so emotional every time I would see such a little girl performing before thousands of people around the world. In the Renaissance documentary, released theatrically after the tour, we discover Blue asked to be there and worked hard to be there, not being pushed by her mother or as an overcompensation of a lack of talent, to perform night after night.

Blue's confidence only grew with her coming back to perform for the Cowboy Carter Tour. She grew up tremendously from little girl to young girl in the past couple of years but also as a dancer. Where she used to be lead by Beyoncé's dancers, she now leads them. At every performance, she is growing before our eyes, with focus whilst performing and being a cheeky teenager winking and blowing kisses to the crowds when the routine is over. With her 7-year old sister Rumi now on stage during the Protector performance, you can also see that first daughter ethic and how she feels responsible for her little sister too. I cannot but feel excited for what is to come for Blue as an artist with her mother and on her own in the upcoming years.

Growing with Beyoncé (and seeing Blue Ivy grow)

It's not just her children who are growing before our eyes, so is Queen Bey. Beyoncé's is truly defining what being 40 is for me. She is still filled with stamina, creativity and beauty. She is not 20 anymore and she is more secure than ever. She is not only an artist, but she is a mother and responsible for hundreds of jobs for the ecosystems who deliver for her concerts, tours, album production and overall life. She wanted to showcase them - and not hide them - with flashy overalls during the Renaissance tour, so we could recognise them. She winks at her crowd when they chant her bodyguard's name. She is distant when in the know with us as her audience. I don't think anyone is as big as she is nowadays and can move the crowds she can - excluding teenager-aimed concerts. It's a pleasure to grow old along Beyoncé. I cannot wait for what else she has in tow for us.

Do you like Beyoncé? Have you followed her career or just specific moments like me? What is your favourite album or song? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to read it.

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