Beyonce 'Homecoming' Documentary

Beyonce’s Homecoming is just another pin on her jacket. Homecoming to me was a unification ceremony in a musical and cultural sense. It was meant to be a collection of all that Beyonce was and will be through the lens of the HBCU experience. This woman has just refused to put out any form of mediocre content throughout her entire career. And as the Beehive was waiting patiently for a new album after the release of Lemonade, they received something better. This documentary puts any music video concept to shame and shows the blood, sweat, tears, and thought processes behind this grand staged performance.

From the first couple of minutes, I could already see the large amount of time that was taken for almost every aspect of this show. Choreography, production, thoughtfulness, it all seemed to be there and be executed to a level that sat above professional. And that’s why people just can’t get enough of Beyonce. She sets a mood wherever she performs, walks, or breathes, and the audience can feel that. They can feel the passion and the heir of royalty she presents when she performs or steps on stage.

When she walks you feel an attitude that screams “bad bitch,” “queen,” “untouchable.” The fans throughout this just seem to go so wild. And as everyone is singing lyrics to the top of their lungs, waving, and hysterically crying. You see Beyonce straight-faced staring into the distance like Nala from the Lion King. Most artists don’t receive that type of feedback when performing at Coachella. But when Beyonce steps out, it all changes. She just breathes different air. And she’s fully aware her queenly presence. The way she works the crowd throughout the performance, how meticulous she is, and the coordination of so many other variables come together so perfectly to create this fantastic performance.

She also put black culture and style at the forefront of her performance. Seeing that her career was bolstered off the fact that she was such a strong role model for so many black women. Drumlines, HBCU Bands, Steppers, Correlations to Greek life, Krumpers and break dancers. Almost all aspects of black culture within younger life and college life were represented. Beyonce was quoted that she had always wanted to attend an HBCU, and the doc expresses her deep passion for HBCU culture. Seeing that she grew up down the street from one. Countless battle of the bands viewings as a young child coerced these influences, and they carry on within her to this day. She loved the passion and effort band members possessed, and when the background instruments play you can feel the energy bounce off of them. Watching and listening was just an amazing experience in general. And the live band added an extra element or dimension within every song played. Other instruments like violins were also played through some songs.

The whole entire performance was sonically pleasing. Since we were able to hear a lot of different songs in bees discographies through a different lens. Cadences and pitches were changed, background bass was deeper, percussion was no longer singular. It just made the entire experience more immersive, like a battle of the band's performance was actually happening.

The set design for the performance was spectacular as well, Beyonce wore several different outfits. And to me, the best-looking one was the BAK sweatshirt she wore with frawned glittery heels. It had greek font which bolstered the representation of black college culture, and was within a bee yellow and pink color palette.

She also wore black leather ¾ the way through the performance, and a galaxy print dress when she came out with Destiny's Child. The queenly fit to open up the performance was also a fantastic touch. The clothing worn by the steppers and crumpers also made the show much more theatrical. It was very interesting to see them incorporate the baggy cloth and hard boot look. More serious sections were given a reprieve through more interactive and funny moments. Having the steppers sing their own chant, have them interact with the crowd, other corky moments like this allowed your tears of joy and excitement dry for a few minutes. Then Bee steps back into the light and continues to hit you with one of the best collective performances recorded. And, most of the on-stage female dancers complemented the show very well too. Whenever Bee seemed liked her movement on stage was limited at times, they seemed to pick up the slack wherever need be.

This gave the performance a reprieve from some of the more serious sections and gave themselves proper room to have more interactive and funny moments. And most of the on-stage female dancers were wearing fits that complemented everything, and I mean everything. In fact, the dancers seemed like great compliments to certain aspects of the show. What would a queen be without her followers, am I right?

Also, the sacrifices she put in for this performance were astounding to me. She stepped in her own light as a new woman and executed her goal to a tee. She created an environment that spoke to black culture, and the constant pursuit of perfection. I can't even go into how long the list of transformations and sacrifices took place, but just know, this woman hasn't gone soft in her older age. She just punches harder, works more, sleeps less, and stays striving. She just works toward for flawlessness and has gotten as close as humanly possible in my opinion. I just don't really know what her driver is, but shes just different company.

Sadly, my only gripe would be that she didn't release any new songs. Seeing that she took this new angle, it would've been amazing to see an original album floored by this HBCU culture. She took so much time curating and creating this performance, and it was amazing. But I would've liked to get some new music out of it. This "album"/ experience I think deserves a 9.5/10. And that's only because there was no new musical content being pushed, only using a current concept to influence and alter earlier works. I understand it would've made little sense to create an original album with this concept. But, I still wanted to see where she could've taken this with new music.