Do I really need to ask?
If you’re friends with me, or in fact have even ever met me, the answer is probably not.
My love affair with Beyoncé started early in her Destiny’s Child days, with the release of ‘The Writing’s on The Wall’ album in 1999. I was hooked on the tracks and the message of the then four- piece girl group from Houston, Texas, who called for men to respect them and to work hard to earn the affections of these beautiful, talented young women.
As any Destiny’s Child fan will know, their line-up changed in 2000 to the final three-piece of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. That same year saw the release of ‘Independent Women,’ taken from the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack. The track became an anthem for Girl World, encouraging women worldwide to rely on themselves and to celebrate working hard to earn their own money. But better than that, it united women- ‘All the women, who are independent, throw your hands up at me!’ became a tagline for women everywhere to be happy for their friends and sisters who got job promotions, who bought their own watches, who bought their own cars.
Whilst the lyrics in the song denoted material success as something for women to aspire to, the main message that we shouldn’t rely on others to provide for us and should instead realise that we hold the key to achieving anything and EVERYTHING we want was sung out loud & clear.
The success of Destiny’s Child grew but the group decided to part ways to follow solo pursuits in 2004, after the release of their triple platinum selling album, ‘Destiny Fulfilled.’ The groups’ enormous success ended on a high note. The trio separated to continue their personal career ambitions and remained best friends. They celebrated the successes their former band members had, spoke with pride of how happy they were to see their friends living their own personal dreams, and, even with the differing success rates between the former group members, there never seemed to be any hints of jealousy or bitterness.
Since her Destiny’s Child days, the former lead singer Beyoncé has broken records and lives a career rivalled by no other female artist, ever. At only 30 years old it might seem too early to discuss Beyoncé’s legacy- but there is no other way to recognise the incredible achievements she has had in just those 30 years…
In 2009, The Observer crowned her the Artist of the Decade and in December 2009, Billboard recognised her as the most successful female artist of the Noughties. In 2007, The Root magazine ranked her 13th on their list of The 100 Most Influential African Americans. She is one of only 3 females on the Billboard’s Top 100 songwriters for having co-written 8 number one singles from the Billboard charts. Her first solo single ‘Crazy In Love’ became the number 1 track on VH1’s Top 100 Greatest Songs of the Noughties. She has won a staggering 16 Grammy awards, and in September 2009 had sold a phenomenal 75 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
But it’s not just the statistics that make Beyoncé brilliant- it’s the way she gets people talking. We admire her because we know very well that she’s worked hard and made sacrifices to live the life she does. We are inspired by her – hence the craze of learning and videoing our own versions of the ‘Single Ladies’ choreography (if you haven’t done it yet, DO IT) – after all, if it’s good enough for the President of the United States…
And on that subject, who watched her performance of ‘At Last’ at the Presidential Inauguration in 2009 and didn’t cry? Not me. Seeing her just hold it together whilst Barrack and Michelle Obama danced into the history books gave me goose bumps. It was a beautiful moment that recognised how far society has come in treating people as equals and who better to give us the soundtrack than Beyoncé Knowles?
As Brits, we were delighted to have Beyoncé headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury earlier this year, becoming the first woman to headline the festival in 20 years. And she didn’t disappoint. The thing that we can all agree on – whether you’re a fan of her music or not – is that she deserves ALL the success she gets. She is incredibly talented,both vocally and as an all-round performer, but she works hard to be the very best and makes no secret of it.
Her most recent announcement that her and her husband Jay Z are expecting their first baby sent Twitter crazy, resulting in an insane 8, 868 tweets per minute about the news! And this is my point- we’re HAPPY for her. We have seen her work hard from the age of 15 to achieve unrivalled global success.
Beyoncé is every bit a modern day superwoman. She is adored the world over and, best of all, she has the girls on her side. As she works hard to fulfil her own dreams and push herself with new challenges in fashion, production, choreography and now motherhood, we in turn feel inspired to do the same in our own lives – to achieve our own personal dreams.
As females, we can often be each other’s biggest critics. Instead of this, we should aim to break our own records in a positive fashion. ‘Sometimes we don’t reach for the stars and are satisfied with what people tell us to be satisfied with. But I’m just not going for it.’- Beyonce.
So don’t be satisfied until you feel your Destiny is Fulfilled.
Remember to ask for what you want. Bey wanted a ‘Ring On It’ and she got it! Work hard for what you want and celebrate your hard work when you get your desire. Remember, ‘I walk like this ‘cause I can back it up’- Ego.
And at the end of the day, remember how you were raised and how those inspirational women in your life taught you to be a lady. Next time you feel a little jealous of your friend who got that job before you, or your bezzie who bought herself that brand new dress – stop. Be happy for her and compliment her, praise her, let her working hard inspire you to do the same.
That jealous comment on the tip of your tongue? Don’t say it. I bet your ‘Momma taught you better than that!’-Survivor.