Beyoncé - Video For “7/11”
I love this video. It looks like videos we make and put on Instagram. It makes me think of my sister and I cutting up at Beyoncé’s On The Run Tour concert this past August while I was in California. It’s fun. Carefree. It’s being happy…just because. I mentioned to Janet Mock that the video "reminds me of when you’re with friends and being silly before going out that night" and Janet replied "it looks like future us when we get together in real life and sip and giggle and shake and skip and say all the yaaaaases." (Side note: I will die ever hanging out with Janet! Love her writing, her passionate and powerful voice, her kindness, her beauty and her fellow #BeyHive spirit!) Janet also mentioned something that is really true: "all the things Beyoncé is doing in ‘7/11’ are the things we do when we listen to a Beyonce song." Yoncéption.
Truth be told, I personally like the song. I like every action being described with accuracy. It reminds me of her song “Get Me Bodied” and other songs like “Cha-Cha Slide” by DJ Casper. I can see inspiration from those hotel balcony twerk videos that populate YouTube. (It also made me think of the “cheers" I would do with other Black girls as kid, naming our every action while doing them.) It has a great track and whether it’s the cute dances she does alone, the solo twerking or the group ass shaking, so many dances work with the song. And when she says "man this feel like rollin’ dice" I swear (beyond a denotative allusion to craps/trick dice) I thought of dudes on the corner rollin’ dice, talking shit, laughing with same gender friends, having a good time. Well…she’s having her good time with other women. No harm in that. The non-dancing shit is hilarious. Like using her foot like a phone. And nunchucks. And hideous Christmas sweaters. And playing with the blow dryer. Red cups filled with drinks that spill. Skateboarding across the floor. Jumping on the bed (and Blue Ivy is there [0:58]; like "hi, being silly and having fun isn’t diametrically opposed to being a mother and responsible"). Being silly in hotel hallways. All the laughter. The kazoo at the end. I love all of this.
I…don’t care if the actual song isn’t deemed “equal” to her original BEYONCÉ album songs, because a kindergartener could tell you that is not the point. We know she can sing. We know she has high production aesthetics, visuals, choreography and perfectionism the way Michael Jackson did, and stage presence like Tina Turner, and generational womanist impact like Janet Jackson does for her generation. We know she has a long ass resume filled with awards. Again, not the point. The point? Women, especially Black women CAN BE AND ARE HAPPY. It is okay. I promise. Like I mentioned when I briefly spoke about Solange’s wedding photographs, Black women’s joy is only a threat to those who already hate us and cannot define their own happiness without our misery. (I elaborate on this in Misogynoir and The Concerted Effort To Deny Black Women Joy; some people even take it as far as denying your activism and your politics if you ever have any moments of joy; beware of such people; trust me.)
Beyoncé is heavily critiqued for her controlled image (that’s power actually, being able to control your image, presence and art, even if people are going to harass and degrade what you create), yet there are times like this video and parts of her Instagram and Tumblr feeds where it’s her being less controlled or “finished” and “polished” and instead being really carefree. I like both presentations, actually. I love the level of skill, creativity, story-telling, aesthetics, visuals and actual music of her last album and her discography itself. The perfectionism…I am here for. (Virgo problems, hehe.) But…I also love her selfies, and her off-stage personal fashion photos on her Instagram and videos like this one for “7/11.”
"I’m spinnin’ while my hands up…" ❤
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