“Lemonade” by Beyoncé

“Lemonade” was released on April 23, 2016 by twenty-time Grammy award winner, Beyoncé. It was her sixth studio album and it received both public and critical success. The album fuses elements of pop, hip-hop, rap, reggae, blues, rock, and other genres. The album’s diversity of sound and samplings of all different types of music are part of the reason it was so successful. The album won “Best Urban Contemporary Album” at the 2017 Grammy Awards.

“Lemonade” was also successful because of it’s storytelling element. Though every album released tries to tell a story of some sort, “Lemonade” goes that extra mile. Along with the music and videos released, the album was paired with a short sixty-five minute film of the same title. It tells the story of Beyoncé trying to keep her marriage to rapper, Jay-Z, together. She explores her own revelation about his extramarital and how she subsequently felt about it and decided to move on. She delves into the realities of learning to move past such a thing as infidelity in a relationship and how music and her heritage as a black woman helped her do that. To read more about the reason “Lemonade” was written, read here.

Perhaps the most popular song from the album, “Formation” tells the story of a woman finding herself and learning to keep it moving despite everything life throws her way. She does all this while also exploring the socioeconomic and racial disparities in the South. Her performance at the 2016 SuperBowl was both lauded and criticized widely for its political nature. The music video for “Formation” can be viewed on the “Song Bites” page of my blog.

“Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse

“Back to Black” was released on October 27, 2006. It was the second and final album released by British singer-songwriter, Amy Winehouse. The album spawned five singles, “Rehab,” “You Know That I’m No Good,” “Back to Black,” “Tears Dry On Their Own,” and “Love Is A Losing Game.” It also won The Best Pop Vocal Album at the 50th Grammy Awards in 2007.

“Back to Black explored the complex relationship between Winehouse and a number of her former flames. She chronicled how those relationships influenced her drug use and subsequent self-harm through the use of other substances. In “You Know That I’m No Good,” Winehouse sings about all the problems she sees in herself and despite knowing they exist, how hard it is for her to change because of how badly she’s been hurt. Winehouse’s music is influenced by jazz groups of the 1950s and 1960s and the genre of R&B, and the dark, soulful sounds of her music play into the themes that she sings about on this album.

Winehouse joined “The Twenty-Seven Club,” in 2011 when she died of an overdose. Her music still lives on today.

“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Lauryn Hill

“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” was released on August 25, 1998. It was the debut album of singer and rapper Lauryn Hill and she released it after touring with her former group, The Fugees, and becoming involved with fellow band member Rohan Marley. She became pregnant with their child, and this experience inspired the creation of this album. She said years later in an interview about the creation of the album, “Every time I got hurt, every time I was disappointed, every time I learned, I just wrote a song.”

The album was overwhelmingly praised by critics and listeners alike. They liked how Hill gave a woman’s view on life and love. These views can be heard in various lyrics throughout the album such as in the song, “Doo Wop (That Thing).” In the song, she raps, “More concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his women/Him and his men, come in the club like hooligans/Don’t care who they offend, poppin’ yang (Like you got yen!)” Hill also explored her relationship with God on this album in songs such as “Lost Ones” and “Forgive Them Father.” These songs were supposedly direct attacks on fellow Fugees members Wyclef Jean and Pras. To learn more about the history of the Fugees and the inspiration of Hill’s album, read here.

“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” ultimately went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1999.

“True Blue” by Madonna

“True Blue” was Madonna’s third studio album and it was released on June 30, 1986. Madonna showcased her views on love, marriage, and her hopes and dreams. The album was different than her two prior albums, however, in that she was trying to appeal to an older audience who tended to be skeptical of Madonna due to her risque nature of dress and music. “True Blue” was considered Madonna’s most “girly” album and it arguably gave us some of her greatest hits. Madonna experimented by adding flourishes of classical music to many of the tracks on the album, which is typically considered much more refined.

The album was an ode to Madonna’s husband at the time, actor Sean Penn. She dedicated the album to him. “True Blue” was recorded from December 1985 to April 1986 during their first year of their marriage. The two had a truly loving marriage and still have a lot of love for each other, and this has been chronicled over the years. According to Billboard Magazine, Sean Penn said in March 2018 that he “loves his first wife very much” and always will. “True Blue” has a wide variety of romantic songs, including, “Open Your Heart,” “Jimmy Jimmy”, and “La Isla Bonita.” Each of these romantic songs is written in a major key and sounds extremely happy and upbeat to showcase the feeling of being in love.