During the award winning Interview Show "What's cookin this week?", the famous television host Hala Ariqat got a chance to interview world-wide singer Beyonce. I was thrilled as a Journalist to experience such an interview as Hala was able to thoroughly discuss Beyonce's impact of music on her community after her album "Lemonade" dropped this Friday.
Hala Ariqat: Welcome back from our short break on "Whats cooking this week"! I'm sure you are all curious about checking under your seats to see if you won those tickets to the Beyonce concert, but I just have to discuss all this hype on Beyonce's album Lemonade itself. Alright please be honest with me, were any of you even expecting Beyonce to drop her album?
Audience: (Shakes their head with surprise)
Ariqat: Wow... Well I guess only Beyonce can pull a Beyonce. I think we should just ask her. Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for.. Please give an applause and a warm welcome to Queen B herself!
Audience: (cheering and applauding)
Hala Ariqat: Good morning Beyonce, it is great to have you here on my show today!
Beyonce: Good morning to you too Hala! Thank you, it is my pleasure to be here. Honestly I love starting my day with enthusiasm and I feel like interviews are the best way to begin my day.
Hala Ariqat: Wow, I am really glad to here that! You know, I always tell my family and friends how you've always been such great inspiration to me. Not just personality wise but also, with your music. I feel you really empower younger generation of girls, especially after your new album drop with your strong and passionate lyrics.
Beyonce: To be honest, I always tell myself that we are not taught to know what we want to be in life, it is just something natural. As a young girl, I always knew that I wanted to become a famous singer but not any famous singer. I always wanted to be different and have that strong impact on my audience. So my goal is to always work hard to be a women of worth and empower younger generations through my music.
Hala Ariqat: I can totally agree with your statement! Now tell me Beyonce, in your recent hit "Flawless" you quote a definition stated by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adicie where he says: "Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes"...
Beyonce: Oh yes absolutely!
Hala Ariqat: Compared to early hits during 2007 like "Upgrade U" and "Single Ladies", I feel like you now have a different drive and message you want reach to your audience which is empowerment, why do you feel the need to incorporate this to your song?
Beyonce: Well I need to take the advantage of being able to reach to many younger generations, especially girls so I decided to shift from writing music only about love and relationships, but also embrace topics like empowering women. I made this shift because I think important women's issues sphere of politics , education and social equality are usually over shadowed.
Hala Ariqat: What I love about the song is how the most popular lyric from that song which is "I woke up like this" that lit up literally all of social media and became a lyric printed on items like hats and I-phone cases.
Beyonce: Gotta love my Beehive fanbase!
Hala Ariqat: Definitely! Now as Beyonce, how do you feel being a voice for younger girls looking up to you as you earn you title of a modern day feminist? Do you feel like its a lot of pressure?
Beyonce: I'm going to be totally honest with you, it is pressure knowing the amount of press-talk and news articles being published about you and your work however.. this does not stop me for sending my message out their to younger generations. Empowerment. Specifically, the advocacy of women's rights.
Hala Ariqat: What you're saying about empowerment, I feel like this is evident through your album Lemonade specially the song "Formation".
Beyonce: Yes I honestly worked hard for the finished outcome of the music video "Formation" and I feel like I'm getting great feedback already which is what I am proud of.
Hala Ariqat: You surely embrace aspects of your culture like "Baby hair with afros" and "Jackson five nostrils" as well as cultural remarks like having hot sauce in your bag. Being "A texas Bamma" as you mention in your song, in your opinion, what makes this hit so important to the empowerment of black culture?
Beyonce: Well, with the song "Formation" I am expressing a deeper perspective of empowerment specifically, empowering of black culture. The video as you probably watched is set in Louisiana which is a famous slave port. I chose to set it there to express freedom and resistance towards the horrible crimes committed in history. You can see scenes of black women making a circle and taking pride of their natural hair.
Hala Ariqat: Something that also caught my attention was the image of little boy in front of the cop. What was the purpose of this visual?
Beyonce: Speaking frankly, I wanted to highlight the next cut which is the phrase "Stop shooting us". I mean the purpose of this whole video is all about embracing our culture that empowers us to have a black visionary, a "formation" of a black future with power and equality.
Hala Ariqat: With that being said, did you hear how dropping a surprise project is known as "pulling a Beyonce" after half a million copies of the album "Lemonade" was sold in the first day with 1.2 million tweets in 12 hours?
Beyonce: (Laughs) Wowww! I actually never heard of that statement.
Hala Ariqat: Well you do now and if I may ask, what was your overall intended impact of your R&B music in your community?
Beyonce: I always strive to express my message through music in terms of political, social or racial equality of women in order to empower ones cultural identity and feel confident with who they are. You know, I always thank my Beehive fanbase for always being there for me because as an artist, I feel like you need that boost to get you going and success to me, is their true love and support. I really cannot thank them enough.
Hala: It is great to here you are truly appreciative of your ride-or-die beehive fanbase as they perceive you as their role model. Honestly speaking, do you having any role models you look up to that inspire you?
Beyonce: To be honest Hala, my mama is my number one inspiration because I believe she's the one that always motivates me to follow my dreams and work hard. I'm truly blessed to have her in my life.
Hala: I'm so happy to here that she supports your dedication to work. Do you think there will be any upcoming projects?
Beyonce: You never know, I might pull a Beyonce anytime soon!
Hala: Cant wait for that! Well, thank you so much for taking your time to attend this interview. It was great to here your intended purpose of your style of music as well as opinions on your fanbase. I truly appreciate it Beyonce.
Beyonce: No, thank you Hala for having me on your show I've always been a fan of "What's cookin this week" and I am glad we had a wonderful time discussing my album drop.
Hala: Can everyone give a big round of applause to Queen B!
Audience: (Applauses)
Hala: Stay tuned so we find out who's the next winner of the Beyonce tickets. I'm Hala Ariqat and you're watching Whats cooking this week.
Published by Journalist: Katy William
4/27/2016
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