Source: Bryce Anderson / GQ / Bryce Anderson / GQ
In a new interview, Beyoncé addresses her pivot away from making music videos for her recent album releases, referring to them being “a distraction” at times.
After being an artist who has helped shape the idea of music videos with her past releases, fans questioned why Beyoncé didn’t release videos for her last two albums, Renaissance and Cowboy Carter. In a cover story interview with GQ, she laid out the reasons why it was time for her to move away from having visuals as part of her music projects going forward. “I thought it was important that during a time where all we see is visuals, that the world can focus on the voice,” the singer shared. “The music is so rich in history and instrumentation. It takes months to digest, research, and understand.”
“The music needed space to breathe on its own,” Beyoncé continued. “Sometimes a visual can be a distraction from the quality of the voice and the music. The years of hard work and detail put into an album that takes over four years! The music is enough. The fans from all over the world became the visual. We all got the visual on tour. We then got more visuals from my film.” The superstar did leave a little bit of potential room for a change of mind, revealing that among other creative activities that she enjoys, “I also edit for fun.”
Fans have clamored for videos from Beyoncé for her last two hit albums, imagining they would be on the level of those visuals she delivered for her 2016 album Lemonade and Black is King, her 2020 collaborative film with Disney and Blitz Bazawule reimagining the lessons from The Lion King for young Black girls and boys. The multiple Grammy Award winner also spoke about her love for other female artists out now including Raye, Victoria Monét, and Chloe x Halle as well as expressing her love for the classics from Motown legends Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.
Source: Bryce Anderson / GQ / Bryce Anderson / GQ
