The Internet's finest reactions to Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

The Internet’s finest reactions to Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’

Beyonce and Bruno Mars perform during the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show in Santa Clara in February.

Beyonce and Bruno Mars perform during the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show in Santa Clara in February.

(Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
Share via

Queen Bey graced the world with a new visual album Saturday night and the internet, rightly, lost its ever-loving mind. 

Her first album since 2013’s self-titled “Beyoncé,†rumors about a new album had been swirling for months and the flames of anticipation were only fueled by HBO, who last week released a trailer for their Beyoncé mystery project entitled “Lemonade.†

The hour-long mini-movie aka visual album was full of lush visual and searing lyrics, but what, really, was “Lemonade†about?

Jay Z

Well, Jay Z, for one. 

Rumors have long swirled about the state of the Jay/Bey union, with things reaching a particularly fevered pitch May 2014 when footage was released of Beyoncé’s sister Solange attacking Jay Z in an elevator after a post-Met Gala party while Beyoncé looked on. The prevailing theory about what sparked the incident was that Jay was messing around on Bey and Solange was not having it.

And “Lemonade†seems to suggest that Solange wasn’t wrong!

Let's see how Twitter felt about the majority of "Lemonade" which included lyrics like â€œYou can taste the dishonesty / It’s all over your breath as you pass it off so cavalier" and "Why can't you see me? Everyone else can."

Hoo, boy.

https://twitter.com/annetdonahue/status/724047833473544193
https://twitter.com/BrettSVergara/status/724047935097458689

Twitter seemed to think that Beyoncé's righteous anger had been in the works for some time and, more than that, was the perfect comeuppance for a philandering rap god. 

https://twitter.com/OsitaNwanevu/status/724047503671218176
https://twitter.com/Ziweeee/status/724047060664725504
https://twitter.com/theshrillest/status/724051374724390912

Becky 

The internet was equally inflamed by the end of "Sorry," a song committed to eviscerating a cheating lover's apology, at which point Bey sings â€œHe better call Becky with the good hair.â€

Oh dang, who's Becky? 

https://twitter.com/michaelcollado/status/724046420676730880
https://twitter.com/JackeeHarry/status/724045713852760064

And right around the time where the internet was sadly coming to terms with the fact that the identity of Becky, if there were such a thing, will likely never be known, the most internet thing ever happened.

Becky outed herself.

https://twitter.com/Aissablabla/status/724205055700774913

What!?

Where most people would have enough good sense as to not poke the proverbial BeyHive, Rachel Roy, New York fashion designer and alleged cause of Jay Z's elevator beatdown at the hands of Solange, posted a photo to Instagram saying, "Good hair, don't care."

As one might expect, she was immediately inundated with unsavory opinions, locked her Instagram account and advocated her pro-family, anti-bullying beliefs on Twitter. 

https://twitter.com/Rachel_Roy/status/724279585613963265

Rachael Ray

It being the internet, however, reading comprehension is not always at its finest so some fans, in their haste to defend Beyoncé's honor, rushed to chasten chef Rachael Ray whose only crime was having a similar name to an accused Becky. 

https://twitter.com/NathanZed/status/724286289709686785

Thankfully, whatever intern is running the Rachael Ray Show Instagram account has a sense of humor, as this recipe for "Lemon shake-up" appeared on Sunday.

What we learned

Where were we?

Right, "Lemonade."

Beyond the drama and intrigue, audiences seemed changed by watching "Lemonade" in a pretty profound way. 

Beyoncé's message of rage and love and forgiveness and power was one that only she could deliver and, for the most part, it moved people.

https://twitter.com/RaquelWillis_/status/724058856419151872
https://twitter.com/courtenlow/status/724057974449295360
https://twitter.com/_beatricek/status/724058496476418050

Well, maybe not everyone was moved.

https://twitter.com/billyeichner/status/724307067058704384

Hot sauce

Ultimately, it was none other than television royalty Shonda Rhimes who made the most important discovery of all.

Hot sauce is the name of the bat. 

Truly, "Lemonade" is the "Citizen Kane" of our time.

https://twitter.com/shondarhimes/status/724319337637519362

MORE:

Fierce Beyoncé puts Jay Z on final notice, then turns bitterness into 'Lemonade'

Beyoncé shakes things up again with the release of her album 'Lemonade' on Tidal

Rachel Roy: Who is the woman people think is Becky in Beyonce's 'Lemonade'?

Advertisement