Beyoncé took the world by storm when she surprised fans with her sixth studio album, Lemonade, on Apr. 23 right after debuting her television special of the same name on HBO. The body of work is comprised of vulnerable tracks and images of social justice, all tightly packaged together with the essence of black girl magic. In a recent interview with Billboard, producer Just Blaze, songwriter Malik Yusef, and artist Big Freedia opened up about their experience collaborating with Beyoncé on the album.
Lemonade is laced with 12 tracks that explore topics of heartbreak, forgiveness, betrayal, growth, and healing within a relationship. The 34-year-old Texas Bama sparked infidelity rumors on husband Jay Z's end with a few of the songs, which sent the media into a frenzy and her BeyHive on a witch hunt for "Becky with the good hair."
The "Sorry" singer called on some of the biggest names in music like Kendrick Lamar, Diplo, and James Blake to make guest appearances on the project. Check out a few testimonies from three collaborators on the album below:
Malik Yusef
The Chicago spoken word artist and musician considers Beyoncé a friend, revealing he's worked with her in the past. Yusef acted as a co-wrtier on the song, "Sandcastles" along with Vince Berry and Midian Mathers. He got the idea for the song back in 2014 after working on the Home Project for the Hip Hop Caucus. While developing it with Berry and Mathers, Beyoncé felt a connection with it and insisted on structuring the song in a way that only she can.
Yusef is amazed by Bey's work ethic, her ability to connect with fans, and transcend through music throughout the years.
"You know what's different? Beyoncé has grown," Yusef told Billboard. "She's matured. Everything must change, but some things don't change for the better. Beyoncé has changed for the better. It's a rare thing to see a person continue to evolve constructively."
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