Beyoncé's ‘Renaissance’ Era

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 August 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is one of her most ambitious albums yet. On this week’s episode of Switched On Pop, we discuss Renaissance with beloved guest Sam Sanders, host of the new Vulture podcast Into It. In Sanders’ words: “it’s trying to do a lot” – but in the best way. The album incorporates seemingly every decade of contemporary popular dance music from Chic’s “Good Times” to Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.” Much of the early discourse surrounding the album was marred by a confusing controversy over a small sample (we try to resolve the issue musicologically) – but the references on Renaissance are worth listening closely to, acting as a guide through essential dance music. The album is an homage to the black and queer innovators of dance; with samples and interpolations of songs both niche and mainstream flying by, like a DJ set curated by house music pioneers. On Renaissance, Beyoncé goes out of her way to cite, credit and compensate her influences, resulting in a triumph of musical curation. Just look at “Alien Superstar”: the song credits twenty-four people, largely due to Beyoncé’s musical nods, rather than an exercise in boardroom style songwriting. Sanders says “the liner notes themselves are showing you that this woman and her team have a PhD in music history.” Listen to Switched On Pop to hear how Renaissance honors dance music innovators and finds new modes of expression in the genre. Subscribe to Into It with Sam Sanders Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vE4jqf Listen on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3bB7Vmf Listen elsewhere: https://bit.ly/3BI0Nz0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
0:14.8	And I am Sam Sanders, host of the Vulture Podcast, into it. And is it safe to say now, Charlie,
0:22.0	that we have sibling podcasts, sister podcasts, cousin podcasts?
0:26.3	We do. Yeah, we're kind of part of a larger family, which is really sweet for me because
0:30.4	I feel like you are probably number one friend of the pod. You've been on Switched On Pop so many
0:35.6	times. We've talked about Laverin, we've talked about Cindy Lopper, we've talked about so many
0:39.7	different great artists, but today's kind of special. Not only because we're now in the same
0:44.0	family together, but because we're also discussing Beyonce. And you actually kind of inspired
0:48.2	this conversation because your first episode of Into It, the podcast about the culture we're obsessed
0:53.2	with was a look back at Beyonce's 2013 self titled album and how it changed pop music. But now
0:59.4	Beyonce is back with her first solo studio album in six years Renaissance. Yeah.
1:11.1	Together, I want to see how she might be changing pop music again. Listen closely to the album and
1:15.4	identify what sounds she's using, what she's referencing, what she's trying to do. And I think it's
1:20.2	trying to do a lot. It is trying to do a lot. Let's start by hearing a clip of the song Kozy.
1:25.7	Okay.
1:35.3	What does this album sound like musically and thematically to you?
1:38.8	I think there are several themes in there, like that's clearly giving ballroom.
1:43.7	It's giving queer energy. And some readings of the lyrics of that song see it as an empowerment
1:51.6	anthem for gender queerness. But I think in general, what I hear when I look at it overall is the
1:57.7	biggest theme is that Beyonce is at this point wealthy enough and powerful enough and has been
2:04.3	doing this long enough to make an album full of as many ideas as she wants. And to do it with the
2:10.8	best of the best in the industry and to pay as much money as she needs to to clear any sample.
	...

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