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When it was announced that Beyoncé would be added to the star-studded lineup of performers for the 2014 Grammy Awards, I am sure I can speak for most when I say that the overall viewer anticipation of music’s grandest event grew tremendously. After all, Beyoncé has proven to be one of the most exciting and dynamic performers of the current generation. Although I was overjoyed by the singers announcement that she would be performing, I was unsure of what song she could perform without receiving a significant amount of media backlash. With her latest album, Beyoncé is far more raunchy, vulgar and unapologetic than she has ever been in her previous efforts. With this in mind, I was intrigued to see what exactly Beyoncé was going contribute to the history of one music’s most important nights.
Beyoncé opened the show with a performance of her gritty single “Drunk In Love” with her husband, Jay-Z, right by her side. Despite the fact that I do enjoy the song, I did not particularly care for the performance of the record. The overall energy of the performance was rather low and showcase lacked the impact of some of Beyoncé’s previous performances. While I was just a bit disappointed with singers showing at the 2014 Grammy’s, a UK newspaper went as far as to call the pop diva a “whore”. The singers performance of the song was quite sexually suggestive and lyrics follow suit but to call the woman a whore is bit outlandish. In a time where musical artists are more sexually explicit than they have ever been, it is rather baffling that this newspaper decided to use such a shocking title. Secondly, to imply that an artist is a whore because they are in tune with their sexuality and know how to use it to sell their music and other products is quite unfair. Sexuality has been used as a form of artistic expression since the beginning of time, and will continue to be one of the ways that people express themselves until the end of time. Yes, Beyoncé’s outfit was revealing and some of her choreography was sexually suggestive. At the end of the day, we have seen far more sexually daring performances in the past and will continue to see them as music continues to evolve. For a newspaper to expect artists to stifle themselves creatively and artistically for the sake of the “children” is very unfair and and is a fine example of how there is a double standard placed upon women who express themselves sexually in society.
Watch the performance below: Do you think this newspaper was justified in their reaction?
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