Latest news with #Beyhive
USA Today
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
How Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' shaped my patriotism as a new American citizen
'Cowboy Carter' reassured me that it is normal to have a complicated and, sometimes, painful relationship with a country that falls short of its promises. In April 2024, I sat across from a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer in a cream blazer, answering questions I had memorized from middle school civics. A few days earlier, I had stayed up past midnight listening to Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter." I didn't know it yet, but her album would help me process what it meant to finally become an American. I have called this country my home since I was 6. After 22 years of living here, paying taxes and spending thousands of dollars navigating the immigration system, I was now getting the chance to become a U.S. citizen on paper. For most of my life, America called me a 'resident alien.' But I was human. A poet. A critical thinker. A proud member of the Beyhive. When "Cowboy Carter" dropped, I lay next to my sleeping wife and listened to the opening track, 'Ameriican Requiem." Instant tears welled up in my eyes as the layered vocals, the buzzy sitar and the unflinching lyrics poured through my headphones. "Used to say I spoke too country / And the rejection came, said I wasn't country 'nough ..." Beyoncé croons as the song soars. Within the first few minutes of the album, Beyoncé spoke to something I had been carrying with me since I submitted my $710 citizenship application. As a queer South Asian woman navigating America's institutions – from the Transportation Security Administration to college financial aid offices – I knew what it meant to be told, implicitly and explicitly, that I didn't quite belong. Opinion: I didn't think country music was meant for Black women like me. Then came Beyoncé. As an immigrant, 'Cowboy Carter' shaped how I saw being American Over 27 tracks – coincidentally, the same number as the constitutional amendments I memorized for the civics exam – Beyoncé reclaimed a genre and, in doing so, made space for the rest of us who've been shut out of America's story. Songs like 'Ya Ya' and 'Alliigator Tears' problematized blind patriotism and laid bare the gap between America's ideals and its actions. To me, that gap never felt wider than it did in 2024. As I prepared for my naturalization interview, I watched my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, call in state troopers to suppress peaceful student protests against what human rights activists are calling Israel's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Earlier that year, the same university had dismantled its diversity, equity and inclusion infrastructure in response to Senate Bill 17, causing many of my mentors and friends to lose their jobs. On social media, I saw images of children pulled from rubble. At airports, I continued to be 'randomly' selected for additional security screenings. A TSA agent once asked if I spoke English while I was speaking English to my wife. These weren't isolated moments; they were reminders that I was always going to be seen as someone on the outskirts of belonging. Even when I excelled, I paid a price. While a UT student, I had to return part of my merit-based scholarships because I was a 'nonresident alien.' Many other scholarships were off-limits to me entirely. And still, I was expected to be grateful – grateful to have a shot at the "American dream." Opinion: Beyoncé won album of the year at last. Are the Grammys finally getting it right? Beyoncé's work of critical patriotism will long outlive her tour But I didn't feel grateful. I felt angry. And "Cowboy Carter" validated that anger. Through songs like 'Blackbiird' and 'Ya Ya,' Beyoncé demanded a reckoning. She sang what I struggled to put into words: Loving this country didn't mean ignoring its failures. It meant insisting that it live up to the promises it made. James Baldwin once wrote, 'I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.' "Cowboy Carter" serves as an act of critical patriotism, born not from cynicism but from care. The album doesn't come from a place of hate – far from it. This body of work is a practice in radical honesty rooted in love. One can hear this in its final track, 'Amen," as Beyoncé ends the album's journey with an invitation for us all to 'purify our Fathers' sins.' As the "Cowboy Carter" tour came to a close July 26, I've realized how much this one country album shaped my understanding of what it means to be American. Seeing Beyoncé open her show with "Ameriican Requiem" live – more than a year after the album dropped – overwhelmed me with the same stinging tears, goosebumps and rare sense of belonging as when I first heard it. "Cowboy Carter" reassured me that it is normal to have a complicated and, sometimes, painful relationship with a country that falls short of its promises. However, we can assert our role in shaping America's culture. Like Beyoncé, I don't need to wait for permission to belong. I can assert my agency now. A few months after my citizenship interview, when it finally came time for me to place my hand over my heart to take the Oath of Allegiance, I did so with both pride and purpose. After so long feeling like an outsider looking in, "Cowboy Carter" showed me that my belonging here isn't about assimilation or upholding the status quo at all. It's about building an America where everyone – not just those who fit a narrow mold – can be free, safe and seen. To me, that's what being American is about. Ena Ganguly was born in Bihar, India, and raised in Texas. Their work has been featured in Palette Poetry, BBC, BuzzFeed, KUT Austin Radio, The Austin Chronicle and the Courier Newsroom, and won Breakwater Review's 2024 Peseroff Poetry Prize. Find her work at or on Instagram: @enaganguly
USA Today
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
BigXThaPlug talks Beyoncé featuring his song on tour: 'I became a part of the Beyhive'
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter featured music from emerging rapper BigXThaPlug in one of the interludes on her "Cowboy Carter" tour. Not only is he confident the exposure will have a lasting impact on his career, he says he's gained a community. Beyoncé recently concluded her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit Tour at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas on July 26 after 32 shows in nine cities across the U.S. and Europe. The tour proved to be a revolutionary spectacle filled with fashion, different music genres and cultural commentary. While the singer was known to change elements like the set list and high-fashion wardrobe, some components stayed the same at each stop — including an interlude that featured BigXThaPlug's song "The Largest." Born Xavier Landrum, the 27-year-old artist has emerged as one of pop culture's rising stars. This year alone, his crossover music has allowed him to step foot on a wide range of stages — from Coachella Music Festival to Morgan Wallen's inaugural Sand In My Boots Festival and CMA Fest. When asked about the impact of Beyoncé including his music on her tour, his initial response focused on the community aspect. "I became a part of the Beyhive," he told the USA TODAY Network, joking that he didn't need to submit an application or know Beyoncé's full discography to be welcomed with open arms. "I got to skip all of that and just be in the Beyhive, so I'm forever grateful and blessed for that for sure," he said. He expects fans' embrace to continue. "Of course it's going crazy in the blogs right now, but as far as like streams and everything — they're listening right now, but I'm not going to see (the full effect) until like maybe three months from now," he said. "Everything's going to spike up out of nowhere ... and I'm going to know exactly where it came from — the Beyhive." In the last five years, the Dallas-bred rapper has released two studio albums and a handful of EPs. BigX's upcoming project will feature country tracks and a mix of other trap and hip-hop sounds. As fans know, Beyoncé first released her eighth studio album, "Cowboy Carter," in March 2024. It has since made history and broken multiple records. As Beyoncé's first country album, she deliberately featured country legends and emerging Black country artists while putting a spotlight on country music's Black roots. BigX said by including his song on her tour, Beyoncé underscored the importance of his music. "It not only signifies what I'm doing, but it shows that I'm not the only one that is willing to do it," he said. "It makes me feel good that there's somebody out there that's trying to push what I'm pushing." He ended with a short message to the singer, "I love you Beyoncé." Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network's Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
Buzz Feed
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Why Gen Z Doesn't Like Age Gaps In Relationships
Is a five-year age gap in a relationship a little untoward? What about a three-year gap? On social media, Gen Zers ― at least those who are chronically online ― are constantly debating the ethics of age gaps. Even if some relationships are perfectly legal, that doesn't necessarily make them ethical, many say. It's little wonder then that age-disparate relationships are cause for so much conversation: Having grown up alongside the #MeToo movement, Generation Z is well versed in unbalanced power dynamics and the language of consent. And lately, there's been plenty of celebrity pairings to interrogate. There's the obviously icky examples, like the recent, short-lived romance between Aoki Lee Simmons — Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons ' 21-year-old daughter — and restaurateur Vittorio Assaf, 65. Earlier this month, viral photos showed the pair flouncing around on vacation in St. Barts. Yes, they're both consenting adults, but it was still unseemly, critics said. If anything, the argument that they're both of age is 'something groomers cling to,' as one young woman on Threads put it. 'Adulthood was meant to signify voting/draft age,' she wrote. 'But everyone knows your prefrontal cortex is not fully formed at this age.' (This difference between so-called brain age and chronological age ― you might be 21 but your brain is undeveloped! ― often gets brought up in these kinds of conversations.) There are gender-swapped examples too, like actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson and filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson, a now-married couple who met while working on a 2009 John Lennon biopic called Nowhere Boy. At the time, he was in his late teens and she was a mother of two in her early 40s. 'I didn't relate to anyone my age,' the actor told The Telegraph in 2019, reflecting on when they first met. 'I just feel that we're on the same wavelength.' Some fans aren't convinced. 'We def aren't talking about male grooming victims enough and this is literally proof,' one person wrote in a highly shared TikTok video about their coupling. Then there's the less expected critiques: Is four years too much of an age gap? 'At 25, I wouldn't even date a 21 year old,' reads one tweet with around 80,000 likes. What about 10 years? Fans of Billie Eilish were up in arms in 2022 when the then-20-year-old singer revealed that she was dating fellow musician Jesse Rutherford, who was in his early 30s. One viral tweet about the 10-year age gap reads: 'jesse rutherford was alive during george h w bush's presidency . billie eilish cannot legally drink.' Long-established relationships aren't safe, either. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively 's 11-year gap has been scrutinized. And recently, Beyhive members have begun debating whether Beyoncé was 'groomed' because she was 19 when she started dating Jay-Z, who was in his early 30s. Non-celebrity couples are getting called out, too. 'I was 19. My now husband was 27. My now 13yo child calls him my 'predator,'' one woman wrote on Threads alongside laughing emoji, probably only half-joking. Why Gen Z Seems To Have Such An Aversion To Age Gaps Is Gen Z just more prudish on this subject than prior generations? Not necessarily, said Justin Lehmiller, a research fellow at the Kinsey Institute and the host of the Sex and Psychology Podcast. He's been studying age-gap relationships for roughly 20 years and said the stigma around age-disparate relationships is long-standing. In 2008 ― when terms like 'cradle robber' and 'cougar' were bandied around a lot more than they are now ― Lehmiller co-authored a study that found age-discrepant couples reported experiencing significantly more social disapproval than people in gay or interracial couples. So the discomfort around these types of relationships isn't anything new. What is new, according to Lehmiller, is how comfortable Gen Z feels about publicly and vocally disapproving of these relationships ― even on people's personal Instagram pages. (Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson recently spoke out against the 'bizarre' online judgment they've received. Eilish and Rutherford brushed off the criticism from overly concerned fans by dressing up as a baby and an old man one Halloween.) 'To some in Gen Z, age-gap relationships read as being inherently exploitative because they perceive age discrepancies as necessarily creating a power imbalance that favors the older partner,' Lehmiller told HuffPost. What's also changed is which parties tend to receive the brunt of the judgment. In the past, people were often scornful of both the younger and older partners in these relationships. Historically, the younger partners, especially when they were women, endured labels like 'gold digger' ― with the implication that they were the ones doing the exploiting. That terminology doesn't always fly with Gen Z. 'That perception seems to have largely disappeared when you look at what Gen Z is saying,' Lehmiller noted. 'They seem to cast the younger partners as victims who are being preyed upon or 'groomed.'' Gigi Engle, a certified sex and relationship psychotherapist and resident intimacy expert for dating app 3Fun, worries that the term 'grooming' is being overapplied and losing its meaning. 'The narrative is really toxic here and in many other cases,' she told HuffPost. ' Trans people are groomers, gay people are groomers, older people dating younger people are groomers ― and this just isn't accurate. It's a really fear-mongering time we live in.' Gen Z may be hyperfocused on this because of their age: If you're a 35-year-old woman, you're probably less hung up on the idea of a 50-year-old guy expressing interest in you. 'I think younger people may be more susceptible to manipulation and are therefore more afraid of it,' Engle said. 'The reality is, age-gap relationships have been happening since humans have existed, and it is absolutely not some one-size-fits-all. In the vast majority of relationships like this, nothing untoward is happening.' Here's What Gen Z Has To Say About Age Gaps Talking to actual Gen Zers, you'll find that their opinions on age gaps run the gamut. As with most things, their takes on the subject are much more nuanced than those found on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, would have you believe. That said, many are genuinely bothered by age gaps. While the #MeToo movement gave them the language to talk about power imbalances, some 20-somethings say their opinions are more colored by their own personal experiences. Layla — a 23-year-old who asked to use her first name only for privacy reasons, like others in this story — thinks it's better to date within your own age group, ideally within a two- or three-year range. 'When I was around 21 and 22, I tried talking to guys who were 30 and over, but soon realized it wasn't right,' she told HuffPost. 'They had so much more life experiences than me, and it was awkward being from different generations.' Layla said she'd tried to joke and laugh about certain things ― a meme or a TikTok video ― and got a lot of blank stares. She wasn't a fan of their humor, either: Men recounting the umpteenth Seinfeld episode or that one Step Brothers scene gets a little old after a while. 'Trying to relate to one another just didn't work out, and it felt awkward and wrong,' she said. 'I believe a relationship between an 18- and 25-year-old is problematic,' Layla said, noting that this applies regardless of gender. 'I actually wish women got called out for their predatory behavior, too,' she said. 'It almost seems like no one wants to hold women accountable.' Mona, a 21-year-old college student in Georgia, even finds her own parents' 11-year age gap a little 'predatory': Her dad was in his late 30s and a divorced father of one when he met her mom, who was in her late 20s and didn't have children. Mona would date someone three years older. She wouldn't consider going younger, though. 'I do think that an 18- and 25-year-old together is unacceptable,' she said. She is particularly weirded out when she hears people talk about how their partner basically raised them or taught them 'how to be a woman,' as Beyoncé said to Jay-Z in a 2006 birthday toast that went viral recently. Mona is also wary of anyone who almost exclusively dates young people ― the Leonardo DiCaprios of the world. Every time the 49-year-old actor gets a new girlfriend, a graph highlighting the fact that each of his ex-girlfriends has been 25 or under starts circulating again. 'Any respectable adult would have the common sense that pursuing a teenager is extremely weird, and I also believe it says a lot about the headspace of the older person,' the 21-year-old said. Mona also thinks the COVID-19 pandemic might've been a factor in Gen Zers' apprehension over age gaps. They might technically be 21, but given that weird few-year pause, they don't feel it. 'You hear about how we're mentally the same age that we were when the pandemic first started,' she said. 'That might play a role in why some people are not settling on older people pursuing them ― you feel you're still too young.' Not everyone agrees. Rei, a 22-year-old who is queer, said they don't find age-disparate relationships inherently problematic. They said there's a lot more than age that gives people power over each other, and if you consider five years an 'age-gap relationship,' then Rei is currently in one. 'Though my partner is older than me, I have a college degree and she doesn't,' they said. 'So arguably I have a better financial and career outlook that would make me the 'abusive one,' if you're using that language.' Age gaps may be more common in the queer community, Rei said. 'I don't know a gay guy who hasn't been with someone much older than him,' they said. 'It's just normal to us.' Problematic dynamics can exist no matter the age. 'People now don't know what grooming is and just use the term as synonymous with age gaps,' Rei said. To some extent, Rei sees the hubbub over age gaps as an overcorrection of the mores ushered in by the #MeToo movement. 'People overadjust and assume that any relationship out of the norm is abusive,' they said. 'In my experience, people who feel age gaps are problematic are also the same people who argue the internet is harmful and should be censored because they had a bad experience as a kid. Your experience isn't universal.' For Amelia, 24, actual age matters less than the stage of life you're in. She figures if you're a relatively accomplished 28-year-old dating an accomplished 40-year-old, what's the big deal? The word 'grooming' really only applies when an adult is introduced to a future partner when they're underage, Amelia said. She cited the relationship between Dane Cook and his wife as an 'egregious' example of a questionable age gap. (The now-52-year-old comedian met Kelsi Taylor at a game night he hosted when she was in her late teens.) 'Do I think it's possible for people like that to have a healthy and happy relationship? Sure,' Amelia said. 'But the older I get, my desire to talk to high schoolers grows slimmer and slimmer. I really can't put myself in the shoes of someone who would want to befriend a high schooler.' That said, Amelia thinks that some Gen Zers take their judgment too far. To her, the concern over age gaps seems like a weirdly 'paternalistic' brand of feminism, where women feel the need to protect women from men. 'It's similar to how Swifties treat Taylor Swift,' she said, referring to the now-34-year-old pop star. 'You have young women 'looking out for' a billionaire woman in her 30s. I'm a fan of Taylor Swift, but I don't think she needs protecting from Travis Kelce because Travis Kelce got in the face of his NFL coach during the Super Bowl.' Kevin Winter/TAS24 / Getty Images for TAS Rights Management The anti-age-gap sentiment held by many plays into the 'puriteen' narrative that's been inescapable lately. Online, there's a lot of hand-wringing over Gen Zers' seeming aversion to sex: Studies show that they're having less of it than earlier generations and that they don't want sex scenes in their movies. Though Amelia overall disagrees with age-gap critics ― she feels like their arguments rob women of their agency, she said ― she gets where those in her peer group are coming from. 'The majority of us had unsupervised internet access from a young age. We were in chatrooms, on Tumblr, and other various corners of the internet that we probably should not have been on at that age,' she said. 'It was easy for grown men on the internet to reach us if they wanted to.' If you've been oversexualized at a young age ― or seen others in your age bracket be oversexualized ― that experience is understandably going to shape how you perceive these kinds of things, Amelia said. But the reality is, there are likely just as many happy May-December unions as there are disappointing ones. 'Believe it or not, we often see more ― not less ― equity in these relationships,' Lehmiller noted. All of the Gen Zers we spoke to said that ultimately, two consenting adults can do whatever they want in their private lives, even if others find it off-putting. 'Men can like women that are younger and not be a creep,' Amelia said. 'He also can be a creep, but some random person with a Twitter cartoon avatar shouldn't necessarily be the judge of that!'
Black America Web
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
Beyoncé's 'Beyhive' Fans Injured In Stampede After Atlanta Concert
Source: Edward Berthelot / Getty Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' tour made a stop at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium earlier this week, but the night took a scary turn at the nearby Vine City MARTA station. After the concert, fans flooded the station to catch their rides home, but things quickly turned chaotic. According to reports from AllHipHop, the panic started when a woman screamed and ran after seeing a bug. That caused a ripple effect of fear, and soon, others began running too, unsure of what was happening. A MARTA spokesperson later explained that the panic was triggered by the woman's reaction: 'The initial reports were that a woman was scared of an insect and screamed and ran away from it, and others panicked not knowing what was happening.' As people rushed toward the escalators, they gained speed and then suddenly stopped, causing riders to fall. In the end, nine people were injured. One person broke an ankle, and seven others were treated for minor injuries at nearby hospitals. The rest of the injured fans refused medical help. While it seemed like a terrifying situation, there was no clear reason for the panic other than the initial scare. In a separate incident that same night, Christopher Grant, Beyoncé's choreographer, reported that several suitcases had been stolen, containing important items for the tour. The stolen items included hard drives with unreleased music, future set lists, and other sensitive materials for Beyoncé's shows. Police records said Grant explained that the items were essential for her upcoming performance in Atlanta, making the night even more stressful for the team. SEE ALSO Beyoncé's 'Beyhive' Fans Injured In Stampede After Atlanta Concert was originally published on
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Nicki Minaj sparks beef with Beyonce days after Jay-Z rant, edits ‘Bey' reference on a dramatic post amid SZA catfight
Nicki Minaj is on the frontline of celebrity beefs again. The eight-time MTV Video Music Awards winner has sparked a new feud with Beyonce fans. The Beyhive noted a post where Minaj allegedly shaded SZA for 'dissing' Rihanna, and 'Bey' (referring to Beyonce). The rapper was caught editing the post by removing the 'Bey' part and replacing it with 'Ci' after Queen Bey fans came at her replies section under her X post. What is going on between Nicki Minaj and Beyonce? Nicki Minaj had been involved in a social media beef with SZA, which started with the 42-year-old rapper accusing Punch of "bullying" her. SZA responded, and the beef took a hot turn on social media. SZA posted a cryptic 'Mercury retrograde... don't take the bait' message, which Nicki took as a subtweet aimed at her. She fired back saying, 'Go draw your freckles back on bookie,' escalating tensions between the two. Wait. Does Sza think she's more successful than me? Lol yall catch me up pls. Sza if every song you've ever done vanished right now the music business wouldn't even miss you. I've been to countries that never heard of you. I know you're not THAT stupid are you? Stadiums? Did you… In the middle of this spat, Nicki posted a dramatic message on X that originally included 'Bey,' which fans linked to Beyonce. After backlash, she edited the post, replacing 'Bey' with 'Ci,' but the Beyhive was already riled up, especially after her recent public rant against Jay-Z over TIDAL equity. The Barbie World singer recently accused Beyonce's husband, Jay-Z, of "cheating" her out of a multi-million dollar deal with streaming service, TIDAL. Beyonce fans rant against Nicki Minaj's shenanigans on X Beyoncé's name was mentioned in one of Nicki Minaj's tweets but was quickly edited and removed. Beyonce fans quickly took note of Nicki Minaj's mishap on X. They posted screenshots of the edit history of Minaj's dramatic post, with calling her out on the rant. One fan said on X, " Keep names, don't edit granny", while another fan said, " She KNEW not to mention Beyonce, she is really scared of her ". Nicki Minaj called out Beyonce's husband Jay-Z on X A week before this alleged Beyonce shade, Nicki Minaj had called out her husband Jay-Z on X for not settling equity shares of streaming service TIDAL, saying, 'We've calculated about 100-200MM so far. #JayZ call me to settle this karmic debt. It's only collecting more interest'. After that, the Anaconda singer reignited rumours regarding Jay-Z's paternity case involving 31-year-old Rymir Satterthwaite, who alleged Jay-Z to be his biological father. Nicki Minaj is known for being a notorious individual on social media, igniting beefs with various prominent names like Doja Cat, Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion, among many others. Her fresh feud with SZA and Beyonce has kept the fans on edge, with the popular rapper leaving nothing behind in her posts about the celebrities.
