EVEN IF YOU didn't know about the scandal that preceded its release, you still might notice the digital sleight of hand on Beyoncé's new album, Renaissance. It comes toward the end of the song "Heated," as Bey snarls her way through the lines of a staccato rap.
Yada, yada, yah, yada, yada, yah-yah Yada, yada, yada, bom-bom, kah-kah Blastin' on that ass, blast on that ass Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass
You don't have to be a Beyoncé fan-or even able to pick her out of a lineup-to sense that something's not quite right.
Maybe your brain stalls for a moment on the question of what it means to blast on someone's ass, since neither of the two possible meanings that Beyoncé is either threatening to shoot someone or commanding someone to ejaculate on her-makes a ton of sense in context. Maybe you hiccup over the slightly disproportionate weight of the word "blasting," the extra split-second of time it takes the singer to wrap her mouth around that first syllable, so that the rest of the line feels like it's hurrying to catch up.
Or maybe you only sense the change, the way you do when you take your first step down a familiar but freshly paved street. There used to be a pothole there-or was it on the other side? The new curb is just a little higher than it used to be-or is it? Maybe you're the one misremembering. Maybe it was always "blasting." Listen again: Do you still hear it? Are you sure? In fact, "Heated" was the second song this year to be bowdlerized in post-production after some listeners took exception to one of its lyrics. Lizzo's "Grrrls" was the first to come under fire in June over the word spaz, which some British and Australian listeners described as an "ableist slur."
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2023 من Reason magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2023 من Reason magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Libertarianism From the Ground Up
ARGUMENTS FOR LIBERTARIANISM typically take two forms. Some libertarians base their creed on natural rights-the idea that each individual has an inborn right to self-ownership, or freedom from aggression, or whatever-and proceed to argue that only a libertarian political regime is compatible with those rights.
Lawlessness and Liberalism
THE UNITED STATES is notorious both for mass incarceration and for militarized police forces.
Politics Without Journalism
THE 2024 CAMPAIGN WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR THE WAY WE PROCESS PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
EVERY BODY HATES PRICES
BUT THEY HELP US DECIDE BETWEEN BOURBON AND BACONATORS.
The Great American City Upon a Hill Is Always Under Construction
AMERICA'S UTOPIAN DREAMS LEAD TO URBAN EXPERIMENTATION.
Amanda Knox Tells Her Own Story
\"OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM RELIES UPON OUR OWN IGNORANCE AND THE FACT THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT OUR RIGHTS ARE.\"
Trade Policy Amnesia
WHILE HE WAS interviewing for the job, President Joe Biden demonstrated an acute awareness of how tariffs work. It's worrisome that he seems to have forgotten that or, worse, chosen to ignore it-since he's been president.
Civil Liberties Lost Under COVID
WHEN JOE BIDEN was sworn in as president in January 2021, he had good reason to be optimistic about the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bye, Joe
AMERICA'S 46th president is headed out the door. After a single term marked by ambitious plans but modest follow-through, Joe Biden is wrapping up his time in office and somewhat reluctantly shuffling off into the sunset.
Q&A Mark Calabria
IF YOU HAVE a mortgage on your home, the odds are that it's backed by one of two congressionally chartered, government-sponsored enterprises (GSES), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.