Danyel Smith's 'Shine Bright' x Beyoncé's 16 Carriages

 


It has been very well documented on this blog that Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith is by far one of my very favourite non fiction books of all time at this point. When I first heard Beyoncé's 16 Carriages I was immediately reminded of this passage from Shine Bright:

I told Lamont, "If you f-ck with me on this job like you f-cked with me at Billboard, I'll leave you." It was the strongest and the nicest way I could say it. [...] 

I was where I was supposed to be. I wanted to be cursed no more for staying out late at shows. I didn't want to be resented for getting assignments, or for needing time and peace to work. I didn't want to be paged and paged, being asked where I was and when I was coming home. I didn't want to scream and snot-cry and fight and be exhausted and depressed and embarrassed by antics. I didn't want to feel guilty for not cooking. I cooked well, and as often as I could, but I had a job, and I was serious about it. I had asked Lamont not to f-ck with me on this Vibe job, and he did. I had to go up to the Vibe offices after midnight to finish writing that Janet Jackson story, because at home I was being baited. I could do nothing right because, once I left the apartment, I was the girl with what we called back then a "title." This was hated."

- from Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith 




Screen caps from Beyoncé - 16 CARRIAGES (Official Lyric Video)

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