Her ongoing trilogy project – currently consisting of the queer-inspired dance album Renaissance (2022) and Americana epic Cowboy Carter (2024) – has highlighted the contributions of Black pioneers to American musical and cultural history, spawning the U.S.
[39] In early 2001, while Destiny's Child was completing their third album, Beyoncé landed a major role in the MTV made-for-television film, Carmen: A Hip Hopera, starring alongside American actor Mekhi Phifer.
[120][124] "Eat, Play, Love", a cover story written by Beyoncé for Essence that detailed her 2010 career break, won her a writing award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.
Other publications discussed the polarized attitude of the UK music establishment in response to a Black woman performing on the same stages and to the same crowd sizes that were past reserved for legacy rock acts.
[150] Beyoncé received critical acclaim[151] and commercial success, selling one million digital copies worldwide in six days;[152] Musically an electro-R&B album, it concerns darker themes previously unexplored in her work, such as "bulimia, postnatal depression [and] the fears and insecurities of marriage and motherhood".
[207] Beyoncé is featured on the film's soundtrack, released on July 11, 2019, with a remake of the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" alongside Donald Glover, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, which was originally composed by Elton John.
Choreographed by friend and past collaborator Fatima Robinson, Beyoncé was applauded for choosing to perform on the Compton tennis courts Venus and Serena Williams practiced on in their childhood instead of at the venue.
[251] In October 2024, Levi's launched a four-part global campaign with Beyoncé titled "Reiimagine" that will stretch into 2025 and focus on women's history of the company, using Cowboy Carter track "Levii's Jeans".
[274] Her early songs with Destiny's Child were personally driven and female-empowerment themed compositions like "Independent Women" and "Survivor", but after the start of her relationship with Jay-Z, she transitioned to more man-tending anthems such as "Cater 2 U".
[303][304] Her other musical influences include Rachelle Ferrell,[305] Aaliyah,[306] Janet Jackson,[307] Prince,[308] Lauryn Hill,[298] Sade Adu,[309] Donna Summer,[310] Fairuz,[311][312] Mary J. Blige,[313] Selena,[314] Anita Baker, and Toni Braxton.
[318] Her fourth solo album, 4, was inspired by Fela Kuti, 1990s R&B, Earth, Wind & Fire, DeBarge, Lionel Richie, Teena Marie, The Jackson 5, New Edition, Adele, Florence and the Machine, and Prince.
[323] In 2006, Beyoncé introduced her all-female tour band Suga Mama (also the name of a song on B'Day) which includes bassists, drummers, guitarists, horn players, keyboardists and percussionists.
[354] Emmett Price, a professor of music at Northeastern University, wrote in 2007 that he thinks race plays a role in many criticisms of Beyoncé's image, saying white celebrities who dress similarly do not attract as many comments.
[355] In 2008, the French personal care company L'Oréal was accused of whitening her skin in Feria hair color advertisements, responding that "it is categorically untrue",[356][357] while Beyoncé reportedly pressured H&M to use "only natural pictures" instead of retouching images in a 2013 campaign.
The release of "Formation" on February 6, 2016, saw her celebrate her Sub-Saharan Black African ancestry, with the song's music video featuring pro-black imagery and a shot of wall graffiti that says "Stop shooting us".
[397] She would later align herself more publicly with the movement, sampling "We should all be feminists", a speech delivered by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a TEDx talk in April 2013, in her song "Flawless", released later that year.
She advocated to provide equal opportunities for young boys and girls, men and women must begin to understand the double standards that remain persistent in our societies and the issue must be illuminated in effort to start making changes.
[405] In December 2012, Beyoncé along with a variety of other celebrities teamed up and produced a video campaign for "Demand A Plan", a bipartisan effort by a group of 950 U.S. mayors and others[406] designed to influence the federal government into rethinking its gun control laws, following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Posting a link to the 100 Days of Kindness campaign on her Facebook page, Beyoncé voiced her support for transgender youth and joined a roster of celebrities who spoke out against Trump's decision.
[450][451][452][453] In The New Yorker, music critic Jody Rosen described Beyoncé as "the most important and compelling popular musician of the twenty-first century ... the result, the logical end point, of a century-plus of pop.
"[482][483] She is known for coining popular phrases such as "put a ring on it", a term for marriage proposal, "I woke up like this", which started a trend of posting morning selfies with the hashtag #iwokeuplikethis, and "boy, bye", which was used as part of the Democratic National Committee's campaign for the 2020 election.
[484][485] In January 2012, research scientist Bryan Lessard named Scaptia beyonceae, a species of horse-fly found in Northern Queensland, Australia after Beyoncé due to the fly's unique golden hairs on its abdomen.
In addition to departments in marketing, digital, creative, publicity, fashion design and merchandising, the company houses a state-of-the-art editing suite, where Beyoncé works on content for her worldwide tours, music videos, and television specials.
[529] A yearly $500,000 is funding cosmetology school scholarships and salon business grants across five cities chosen for their large, diverse community of hair stylists: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Clementon.
[533] The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPINET) wrote Beyoncé an open letter asking her to reconsider the deal because of the unhealthiness of the product and to donate the proceeds to a medical organisation.
[548] Including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, sixteen artist stakeholders (such as Kanye West, Rihanna, Madonna, Chris Martin, Nicki Minaj and more) co-own Tidal, with the majority owning a 3% equity stake.
[579] Michelle Gass, the CEO of Levis Strauss & Co., shared insights regarding the advantages of the company's collaboration with Beyoncé, emphasizing that the advertising campaign could significantly enhance sales in the women's clothing segment.
[589] In April 2011, Beyoncé joined forces with U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, to help boost the latter's campaign against child obesity[590] by reworking her single "Get Me Bodied".
[610] Later that month, Beyoncé released a remix of J Balvin and Willy William's "Mi Gente", with all of her proceeds being donated to disaster relief charities in Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.S. and the Caribbean after hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and the Chiapas and Puebla earthquakes.
Beyoncé also showed support for those fighting against other issues in Africa, such as the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon, ShutItAllDown in Namibia, Zimbabwean Lives Matter in Zimbabwe and the Rape National Emergency in Liberia.