Renaissance: 10s Across the Board

A number of recent releases from popular music artists have been generously colored by queer colloquialisms. It's not unusual for deep cuts of Black, queer lingo to make their way into the general public lexicon, often thanks to cis black women who tend to have proximity to both mainstream and queer cultures in some way and the unique ability to synthesize them. Although, these appropriations are not always in good faith. Many non queer/non Black people who interact with the culture tend to overstep boundaries of what is and isn't acceptable, even going as far as taking ownership of intellectual and creative property that they know they have no credit at all in inventing. "Tea", "Shade", "Cunty", etc are not quips from a crass grandmother that kids secretly repeat when adults aren't around, nor are they "Gen Z lingo". It is important that within our already structurally marginalized Black and Latinx cultures we recognize the contributions of our queer communities who fail to fit within the lines we have the nerve of drawing amongst ourselves.

Beyoncé's Renaissance album and world tour of the same name did the important work of highlighting queer culture made by and for Black and Latinx communities. A long-time supporter of Black queer culture, the Renaissance album/tour feels like the perfect thank you letter to a loyal fan base from someone that in many ways can attribute their success to the innovations and experiences of Black queer people. The official open letter, penned by Knowles, lists those she has dedicated the album to. In it she specifically mentions her Uncle Johnny, who she describes as “...My godmother and the first person to expose me to a lot of the music and culture that serve as inspiration for this album.” “Uncle Johnny made my dress-” was not simply a catchy lyric to add to an already intoxicating track. By invoking his name another beautiful, Black queer hero, unfortunately taken prematurely by HIV like many others, has been memorialized in the most deserving way. This seemingly subtle detail is what sets apart the love letter to queer culture and people that is Renaissance. From Uncle Johnny, to Moi Renee, TS Madison, Kevin Aviance, Kevin JZ Prodigy, Honey Balenciaga– Renaissance the album, the tour, the movement has given all the iconic girls their 10’s and certainly receives nothing less than 10’s across the board.