Bey Ain't Slick

For far too long we’ve been giving her passes and today I say enough is enough. People are literally afraid to write about this shit because of the inevitable blow back from people who worship Beyoncé like white Brits worship their actual Queen monarch. So here goes…

Beyoncé is not above criticism. That’s the first thing. I understand the stance many Black people take when another Black person casts an unflattering light on your favorite Artist or celebrity, but not all of it is hating. A lot of it is warranted. And every charge I make in this article is coming from a major fan and someone who used to wanna collaborate with the woman. Understand that I have bias, but that’s not making me not wanna hold Beyoncé accountable for her trash ass actions as of late and the precedent it sets for aspiring “bosses”. And just know she ain’t the only member of the upper echelon guilty of this shit. I’mma take shots at a few other entertainment giants, just you wait.

What set this think piece I didn’t wanna find myself writing into motion was the information stirring around that Mrs. “of course sometimes shit go down when it’s a billion dollars on an elevator” is only paying her dancers and other various performance staff $250 a day without benefits when they are perfoming at the highest level in the world. I’m even flattering her in my critque so please uncock your pistols. I have caught up on all the tea and these claims are supported by many of the lead performers and solidarity exists within that community. It’s hard to substantiate every last bit of wrong in this whole ordeal, but that’s the crux of the situation. Take me at my word cause there are reciepts for days.

Added this because apparently I can’t be trusted with my word.

Moving back retroactively to the Shawn Carter Foundation Gala (which is where that tacky ass clutch in the picture is from) we find our favorite vocal angel arm & arm with her sell out husband Jay Z (NFL partnership, nuff said) who gave out Rolex and bottles of champage as invitations to a room full of people worth billions of dollars who only raised $6 million. That’s just stingy. But that’s been written about enough. I just think it’s crazy who get’s in these rooms in the name of seeming to authenticly coming from nothing. Like Fabolous. You know the dude that head butt his then girlfriend and knocked her teeth out? Not Beyoncé’s fault, hell no, but why are abusers around a self proclaimed Feminist? Why are you letting your man invite him? Why did Rihanna try and normalize him at her last few events (which I find quite disgusting considering her history)? The answer is money and optics. The message comes off as “rich Black men who are seen as legendary can make the mistake of domestic violence and still deserve A Seat At The Table” (see also Nas who beat Kelis). I just can’t square these conflicts of interest. I need somebody to make it make sense. Because remember, birds of a feather flock together. Beyonce blink twice if you need help. I'm fucking serious. He cheated, who knows if there’s a domestic violence story in there. I don’t put shit past no man at this point. It’s also part of the reason why I stopped identifying as such.

Y’all was saying on Twitter that she and him was seperating themselves from Kanye & the rest of the Kardashians cause they too messy, but they just hanging out with domestic abusers opposed to people who hang out with rapists (see: Ian Connor, A$AP Bari). I mean the percieved craziness is alarming and no one wants to be near it, but I mean that’s another thing that rubs me wrong as fuck. If y’all was that close and y’all got all this access, TO ME they had a real responsibility, even up until today, to get Kanye some real fucking help. But now the nigga done went full Jim Jones and I’m expecting him to have a field fulla dead bodies anyday now. I know every man’s life is their own, but everybody’s their brother’s keeper until it’s time to actually be your brother’s keeper. And what Kanye needed was family. They were that. He got abandoned, discarded and spoken of like the schizophrenic child that people throw in a mental institution and forget about.

But let’s turn our attention to Ivy Park. Y’all remember when she had the Top Shop partnership and it got exposed for using sweatshops. And then she got an owership stake. Then she put out a really vague statement about better working conditions. I’m sorry mama that ain’t trasparent enough for me, a nigga that knows better. I wanna know how much the people getting paid to make these clothes that’s sold at a 1000% increase are really making. Because we know she did this with the intention of making hand over fist. And if she’ll stiff the ones working with her side by side, you think she gives more of a fuck about the welfare of someone in Indonesia she ain’t gone see but for a photo-op MAYBE? I think not. But that’s just my Black ass that wasn’t born yesterday. But I really don’t blame her and I’ll tell you why…

I blame this infection and corruption of her mind and politics on Jay Z. That hardcore capitalist shit has been in the raps since day one and we see he’ll do anything for a check and act like it’s benefiting “the culture”. I don’t know how investing in police suverillence techonolgy is helping my Black ass, but I’ll be sure to let you guys know when I find out. The point is she’s adopted his shady business practices of doing something with great optics and poor execution. There’s no real desire to make responsible products more than there is a desire to produce at scale and profit as much as possible so that they can create more music calling us broke as fuck. Y’all sure as fuck took the top off that Maybach! * cries in poverty *

It wasn’t always like this. I saw somebody talking about Derion jeans and that got me thinking about Baby Phat, FUBU, Rocawear and the likes and somewhere along the way these people forgot where the fuck they came from & who they catered to. The support that got them to where there are now: niggas from the bottom! They stopped listening. Instead they take pictures and speak to us through vague captions stunting from Mt. Olympus with the other gods until they find an interviewer that wont ask too many tough questions and lines up with their PR schedules and music releases. Everything is calculated. And it has to be if you plan on wealth hoarding. I wanna contextulize a billion dollars for y'all.

My Black ass knowing this cannot in good faith continue supporting Beyoncé until she gets real. What does that entail to a motherfucker like me? Well, a recognition of socialist/communist values like quardupling her dancer’s pay to AT LEAST stack a day with a benefits package instead of making them rely on the connections they make to sustain a living. Then making sure the people making her clothes are making the equivalant of $20/hr for whatever country the work is getting outsourced to (I've been made aware she was paying Sri Lankan's $6.17 a DAY since first writing this article). They deserve to make about relatively $140+ a day for their skilled labor and anything else is a slap in the face. Just cause someone’s in a poor country doesn't mean they don't deserve a living wage. And just because your wage was slightly better than what everyone's else is offering doesn't make it an appropriate wage. Cause the profit margins are all in her favor otherwise. Finally, maybe reconsider the affiliation with King Capital. Because if he’ll be the NFL’s pet negro that tells you all you need to know about your future right there. You’ll find yourself eating out some white people’s hand if you stick with my man’s. Or worse… The revolution comes and we don’t spare you because you made a bunch of fire music. You’ll get eaten like the rest of the rich. This is just a little food for thought. I pray it reaches you Queen Bey.