Despite the critical praise and fan approval of Beyonce’s self-titled “visual” album, not everyone is happy with the new material. There are several critics who are slamming Queen Bey for distributing what they deem as X-rated lyrics and pornographic videos to young audiences.
According to news.com.au, some listeners have jumped on social networking websites calling the singer’s new music “vile” and “disgusting” for some of the provocative songs, in particular, ‘Blow’ and ‘Drunk in Love’ featuring Jay Z.
Incredulously, some people have already petitioned YouTube to have Beyonce’s 17 video snippets banned from the channel for explicit content.
In addition, the R&B mom is also being accused of exploiting her daughter, Blue Ivy, on ‘Blue’ and its accompanying video.
Vivienne Pattison of the pressure group Mediawatch-U.K., explains why some people are so outraged by Beyonce’s new self-titled album.
“This is such a shame to see because Beyonce didn’t get to where she is by jumping on the same bandwagon as Rihanna and people like that who we expect to be explicit and controversial,” she says. “She was the one we always thought we could count on to set a good example and keep producing music with powerful messages that empowered women and girls. And I would have thought that a star of her magnitude wouldn’t need to do something like this.”
“She has sold out and it’s really sad. Like it or not Beyonce is a role model and she needs to take responsibility for that,” she continues." Especially as a mother herself, it's very surprising that she would do this. It’s not like parents can protect their children by not buying the album. It’s there, on the internet, for anyone to access and as a parent that is incredibly worrying.”
The criticism doesn't end there, many question the singer's use of her daughter Blue Ivy, to sell records. Pippa Smith of Safermedia said, "To have her own daughter is a bit beyond the pale. She's far too young and Beyonce is exposing her to the views of all sorts of strangers which isn't safe online, what with all the worry about online predators."
One Twitter user posted, "The fact Blue Ivy has parts on Beyonce's new album might be the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. Way to exploit your baby for money." A third added: "Shame on you Beyonce."
As previously reported, Beyonce has sold over 820,000 downloads of her self-titled album to become the fastest-selling album ever in iTunes history. Her sales are also the highest debut numbers of any female artist of 2013. The physical copy of the album will arrive in stores Dec. 20.
A Beyonce album wouldn't be well a Beyonce album without some sort of controversy. The fact of the matter is that every artist has either released an album filled with sex, or used it as a means to sell albums at one point or another in their career.
All the controversy means is more album sales.