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The Orion

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Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Beyoncé plus ‘Lemonade’: A timeline

Lemonade+album+cover.+Promotional+photo+from+Instagram.
“Lemonade” album cover. Promotional photo from Instagram.

Celebrity power couple Beyoncé and Jay Z, worth a collective $1.1 billion, have spent their 14 years together maintaining a solid image of a happy, blissful couple, but the recent release of her new album suggests otherwise.

There has been speculation that the rapper cheated on Beyoncé, and I’m going to give you the full run-down on all that’s gone down.

Beyoncé released her sixth studio album “Lemonade” on April 23 accompanied with an hour-long visual film with individual music videos for each song. The album tells a story of a man being unfaithful to a woman in a relationship, and there’s several instances where the lyrics appear to directly apply to her marriage with rapper Jay Z.

“Lemonade” is an album about heartbreak with an angry and empowering tone. It’s great to listen to and relate with after a breakup, but lyrics like, “Looking at my watch, he shoulda been home / Today I regret the night I put that ring on,” and “This is the final warning / You know I give you life / If you try this shit again you gon’ lose your wife,” are obvious allusions to marriage.

One lyric in particular caused a lot of uproar when Beyoncé directly refers to a possible mistress with, “You better call Becky with the good hair.”

Various women in the public eye have been accused of being “Becky.” including Rihanna and Rita Ora, both of whom have denied the claims.

So who is Becky?

Several leads on this case point to fashion designer Rachel Roy. She posted on Instagram just hours after the album released with the caption “Good hair don’t care” and the hashtag #nodramaqueens, which was shortly deleted after a flood of “Beyhive” cyberhate.

rachel-roy-taunts-beyonce-cfmp-lead.jpg

This brings us back to the 2014 Met Gala, where elevator footage was captured of Beyoncé’s sister Solange Knowles attacking Jay Z while Beyoncé solemnly stood by.

Soon after, rumors circulated that the altercation was sparked by Jay Z flirting with Roy in front of Beyoncé, and Solange was not having it. Roy is the ex-wife of Jay’s former business partner, Damon Dash, and Beyoncé allegedly doesn’t like their close friendship.

It was also speculated that Beyoncé and Jay Z did not attend Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kanye West in May 2014 in order to avoid drama with Roy as she is a good friend of Kim’s.

The couple has since been spotted without their wedding rings. Is there trouble in paradise? Beyoncé began her “Formation” tour on April 27 and her husband has remained right by her side. One thing we can say for sure is that Queen Bey will not put up with infidelity quietly.

What’s your take on the Beyoncé “Lemonade” debacle? Did Jay Z cheat or this a ploy at publicity? Comment below.

Cassandra Porter can be reached at [email protected] or @cassieporter_ on Twitter.

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    Valerie // May 10, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    It was all a publicity stunt. Girl gotta sell records somehow. *flips hair and walks away*

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