'Renaissance' Is A Love Letter To The Black Queer Roots Of Dance Music
essence.comBeyoncé is the preacher, and her music is the gospel, then Renaissance is her Resurrection Sunday sermon. Her seventh studio album is not only a place for Beyoncé to breathe new life into the musical stylings of Donna Summer and Diana Ross, but an altar call to those who have forgotten who made house and disco music: Black queer and trans people.
Lynnée Denise defines house music in Harper’s Bazaar as “joy, a rhythmic theory of escape, accentuated by what could be called fatal pleasure—the war on drugs and addiction, coupled with dangerous freedom marked by a lurking “big disease with a little name.”The album is a memoriam to Uncle Jonny, the singer’s late uncle.
Shortly before the album’s release, Beyoncé memorialized her uncle in a personal statement on her website: “A big thank you to my Uncle Jonny.
He was my godfather and the first person to expose me to a lot of music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album.”Later in the statement, the singer thanked “the pioneers who originate culture, to all of the fallen angels whose contributions have gone unrecognized for far too long.
