You may have heard via the internet — or half of the population, depending on your peer group — that Beyonce and Jay-Z were throwing a party on HBO Saturday, with the release of their Jonas Akerlund-directed concert film, On the Run.
AP Party writers Steve Lepore and Samantha Murray… did not go to that party (though Sam went to the actual show), but instead sat around and watched it the next night and pretended to be deep about Beyonce and life and everything else during the proceedings. As The AP Party’s official Beyonce beat writers, we decided that this event was worthy of coverage similar to how we broke down the VMAs last month. Or something like that. Consider it “WE HBO GO’D THIS.” Enjoy.
[You can watch On the Run Tour: Beyonce and Jay Z on HBO GO or catch replays on the vast web of HBO channels through your cable provider, if you want to read along during the show.]
Pre-show
Steve Lepore: Let’s set the stage here: You saw On the Run in Philadelphia. Another thing to point out is that, as long as I’ve known you, one of your least favorite things is seeing videos of live musical performances. What are you looking forward to out of this?
Samantha Murray: BEYONCE.
With that said: Part of the reason I’m really excited to watch the HBO special is that the show itself was very cinematic. I would compare it more to a Broadway production than a concert. Beyonce and Jay-Z clearly had a narrative and a vision in mind and, given how much control I’m sure they had over this production, I’m really excited to see the show how they wanted me to see it.
Lepore: Was there anything about how you saw the show that might have hindered that?
Murray: Thousands of screaming fans? Not being close enough to see Beyonce’s sweat (or probably lack thereof because she’s superhuman)?
Concerts just aren’t very intimate, usually. I had an amazing time at the show, it was super fun and I was just constantly in awe of what great performers they were. But I think you get kind of swept up in the atmosphere when you’re actually there. You aren’t really listening to the voiceovers so much as you’re on the edge of your seat wondering which song is going to come next.
I was also distracted by a lot of people basically in the throes of ecstasy that they were breathing the same air as Queen Bey. Some of those people being myself and my friends.
But I was also distracted in the unpleasant way by this girl and her boyfriend that were more literally in the throes of ecstasy because they were hooking up at the concert and she had this creepy long hair that kept brushing against me. It was really not ***Flawless.
Lepore: … And probably the actual influence of ecstasy.
Murray: Probably. As a sidenote, the frozen margaritas they were serving at the stadium were delicious and actually had decent alcohol content.
Lepore: … in case you were wondering whether or not you were the real demographic for a Beyonce show.
I agree with you on at least one point: Beyonce’s last record — well, the videography of it — had a real visual flare to it all around. I’m really interested to see what they do with this, because they aren’t really promoting a new record anymore.
Basically this has to either be something we haven’t really seen visually or it’s just Jay and Bey playing the hits. Which, yeah, great, I’m in but still.
Opening
Murray: “This Is Not Real Life” was on a gigantic screen at the stadium for hours before the show started. Everyone was freaking out and taking pictures of it because, yes, being at a Beyonce and Jay Z concert is too cool to be a real thing.
Lepore: I’ve always enjoyed how, as a couple Jay Z and Beyonce have kind of set themselves up as “The Bad Guys.” All the way back to “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Murray: Their outlaw schtick has always been really interesting because as time goes on, Bey and Jay are so far from being on the outside. They ARE the establishment.
One of the things I really like about Beyonce and the self-titled album is that her music and her image are very much in sync right now. She put out this really sexual album and she backs her shit up. So many pop stars are out there in leotards or what basically amounts to crop tops and panties, humping the stage or their dancers, but then try to play it really coy or the music is really light and fun and their performances are disproportionately kind of raunchy.
Lepore: *coughkatyperrycough*
Murray: Definitely. And you know I love Miley, but the first thing coming to mind here is Miley, the VMAs, and “We Can’t Stop.” There is no reason why that song should have been such a graphic twerkfest and then the album been so insubstantial.
If you want to use music to really give voice to your sexuality, awesome. But if you’re going to go for it, go for it. “Partition” or bust.
On Jay-Z’s solo sets
Lepore: Magna Carta Holy Grail is such a forgettable album.
Murray: I think my favorite subset of Jay Z’s discography is Jay Z bitching about trendy stuff. His random anti-molly stance feels like when he hated autotune.
Like, obviously you don’t pop molly, Jay Z. You get drunk, like a grown man.
Lepore: Remember when Jay Z basically put out a Noel Gallagher diss track?
Murray: No. Was it on Magna Carta Holy Grail? Because I don’t really remember that either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpvhn4CyqSE
Lepore: I am embarrassed to say that the reason I originally knew of “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” was because I had a lot of friends who thought the Linkin Park/Jay Z mashup album was cool. This is your reminder that that was a thing once, World.
Murray: Yikes.
Lepore: Fourteen-year-old white boys, man.
Murray: “Ladies is pimps too” — JAY Z’S EARLY FEMINISM.
Lepore: You can definitely tell that there is a woman that he can’t fuck around with in his life starting around that album. This isn’t “Me? Give my heart to a woman?” Jay-Z.
On “***Flawless”
Murray: AHHHHHH FLAWLESS.
Lepore: This Is What We Came For.
Murray: This is pretty much why I wake up in the morning.
Lepore: How exactly would you say that you wake up?
Murray: This was a meltdown moment in the stadium. Bet when Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave that TED talk, she didn’t think it would eventually be to screaming stadiums.
And how cool is that, honestly? That’s the power of Bey. That’s what makes me so annoyed when people get really dismissive of “Beyonce feminists.” Like, what more do you want? The fact that so many young women are now so willing to embrace the label because Beyonce broke it down for them is AMAZING. Talk about using your platform for good.
Lepore: Until Taylor Swift decided it was a solid rebranding move, it’s not like anyone else was doing it.
Murray: That’s so cool too. We now live in a world where the two most famous and influential entertainers in the world both happily call themselves feminists.
Lepore: Beyonce reinvented how we say goddamn the way Aaron Paul reinvented how we say bitch.
Murray: 100% correct. Beyonce is actually almost definitely the reason I even say that word now. I never said “goddamn” but GOT DAMN GOT DAMN GOT DAMN is FUN.
“Big Pimpin'”/”Ring the Alarm”/”Baby Boy”/”Clique” Medley
Lepore: “Big Pimpin'” sounds like a dad talking about how he and his pals went to vegas and had one really fun night but you probably know there’s more dad really didn’t tell you and likely never will, and really, thank god he won’t. Especially with the Pam Anderson reference.
Murray: The part in “Big Pimpin'” where he goes “You know I thug em, f*** em, love em, leave em, but I don’t f****** need em. Take em out the hood, keep em looking good, but I don’t f****** feed em,” was the ringtone for every guy I talked to in college. All of my friends call me when they hear it.
Lepore: “Ring the Alarm” at the VMAs in 2006 was the first time I realized that Beyonce was going to be around forever. The open is so powerful.
Murray: “Big Pimpin'” to “Ring the Alarm” is just a masterful transition.
What I love about “Ring the Alarm” (in addition to EVERYTHING) is that if you actually want to read into all of Beyonce’s songs as if she’s trying to send a message about her personal life, that is a pretty straightforward message: Relationships are something you work at, but she’s earned what she has, they are partners and she’ll be damned if she gives up what she’s built because of a wandering eye.
Which is why it’s crazy when people start buzzing about divorce rumors because allegedly Jay cheated on her. She told us in 2006 that that isn’t going to stop her from building an empire.
Lepore: They are the Clintons of hip hop.
It interesting how many people in Paris love Jay and Beyonce. I didn’t know France had such a hot rap game.
Murray: Hurry up with my damn croissants.
Lepore: The funny thing is that seeing Jay Z and Beyonce stick up a bank reminds me of Shy Ronnie and Rihanna.
Murray: I find it really hard to believe that Sean Paul had something better to do than appear in this show. Ditto the seven thousand rappers on “Clique.”
Lepore: I had to remember if Sean Paul is still alive when I heard his voice.
Murray: I googled to see if it was really Sean Paul. Sean Paul, Sean John, Big Sean… The more you type the name Sean, the less it looks like a word.
Lepore: Shawn Carter.
“Drunk in Love”
Murray: I feel like I’ve seen Beyonce and Jay Z perform “Drunk in Love” so many times that I could perform it as a one woman play.
Lepore: I feel like you didn’t need that qualifier to say that.
This Jay verse makes it really unfair that he gets to sleep with Beyonce.
Murray: Having sex with Beyonce messed up your Warhol? Boo hoo. #jayzproblems are worse than #whitegirlproblems.
Lepore: He told Blu she could lean on some other art he bought. Inconsistent parenting. Mixed messages.
On “Why Don’t You Love Me”
Murray: “Why Don’t You Love Me” juxtaposed with a video of Beyonce carrying a giant gun around is basically my spirit animal.
On “Holy Grail”
Murray: Justin Timberlake is such a second-rate Beyonce.
Lepore: I was about to say, Beyonce is way better in this role. Please, please, please, never collaborate again, Justin and Jay.
On the evolution of Beyonce
Murray: Remember when Beyonce did the superbowl halftime and basically made Kelly and Michelle be the “Single Ladies” backup dancers?
Lepore: That was almost two years ago. Feels like we’ve had about 10 different Beyonces since then.
Murray: The best thing about Beyonce reinventions is that they’re so organic. It’s not really gimmicky and like a whole new image. She’s performing right now in the same aesthetic she had during “Single Ladies.” It’s just an attitude change.
Lepore: It’s how Madonna must have seemed in her prime. Because nothing about Madonna seems organic in retrospect, but it probably felt that way when she was a thing.
On Beyonce and Jay Z as a couple
Murray: Do you think Beyonce calls him Shawn or Jay? It’s weird when your stage name is so much like an actual name. It must be Shawn. Jay is not his name.
Lepore: It’s weird to think of either of them calling each other by name. I can’t imagine her not calling him Hov and him not calling her B.
Murray: Maybe they do. They seem really committed to their thing.
Lepore: In retrospect, Jay Z calling himself “Young” or “Yung” in “Crazy in Love” seems like the first signs of a real mid-life crisis.
Murray: Just trying to keep up with spring chicken Beyonce. One of the things you don’t notice in concert is Beyonce actually making weird like seance hands during “Haunted.”
I love this song because the lyrics both make sense and don’t make sense. “I know if I’m onto you, you must be onto me.” Got it. “I know if I’m haunting you, you must be haunting me.” … how would you know that? What does that actually mean?
Lepore: Ghost recognize ghost.
Murray: I will actually cry if Beyonce and Jay Z get divorced.
Lepore: That’s going to be a really bad month… year… decade.
Murray: You watch this montage and tell me you’re not kind of crying right now. This was my favorite part of the concert and the reason why I could not understand why anyone who actually saw the show would come out of it and believe in divorce rumors. This montage opens up with text that says “This is real life.” and then it’s just home movies and images of how happy they are together and the genuine moments in their relationship. They told us at the beginning, the Bonnie and Clyde schtick is “not real life.” This is their reality.
Lepore: It’s pretty great. It also repurposes Jay-Z’s last two albums as basically music he uses as the backdrop of his wedding videos. Which… you know, if I was married to Beyonce, I’d be more concerned with that than making legitimately good music.
What I think is interesting is how women rarely talk shit about Jay Z. I think women see him as sort of an ideal husband, in a weird way. Maybe not in terms of looks, but just in the way he kind of lives his life.
Yeah, blah blah blah he’s a good dad and a devoted husband, but he’s also mostly kind of this soft-spoken, thoughtful dude who hangs out and does his thing while you do your thing, and he’ll be around if you need him, but do you?
Murray: Beyonce and Jay Z have made marriage so cool. Because looking at them is like a hyperversion of an equal partnership. He is so supportive of her and is so clearly proud of her. There is no indication of any kind of jealousy or pettiness in their relationship. They’re partners.
And this goes back to the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie part that was excerpted in “Flawless.” It’s so ingrained in women that really allowing yourself to strive for success is threatening to a potential mate. You can have ambition, but not too much. Beyonce clearly does not limit herself and Jay clearly does not expect her to. That is fucking awesome.
Post-show
Murray: Beyonce is the greatest living entertainer and Jay Z is a super-solid hype man.
Lepore: Yeah, you said when you saw the show you wished there was less Jay. I agree, though keeping him as half the show makes his presence as Beyonce’s hype man more impactful and maintains the image of their marriage that we want.
Murray: I actually appreciate the Jay parts of the show more on HBO than I did in person. He’s very talented and he’s a really good performer. It’s just that his performance style and Beyonce’s are so different. He sounds good doing his songs, but when you know that Beyonce and a full chorus line and fog machine and enormous fan and some kind of acrobatics are right around the corner, you just get really hype and you want Beyonce back. On HBO, I have a little more perspective.
Lepore: It is a weird difference. jay z is alone for the entire show unless Beyonce shows up. Iguess someone needs to do something to let Beyonce do all of those costume changes. It’s pretty funny if you think about this whole tour as just Beyonce getting to do every crazy idea she’s ever wanted but getting Jay to play during the costume changes.
Murray: The A-list performer version of holding her purse while she tries things on at the store.
