On September 20th, The On The Run Tour HBO special delivers a breathtakingly stunning visual performance as only Beyoncé and Jay-Z can.
With the surprise overnight debut of her self-titled album in December 2013, the year of Beyoncé was christened. Already arguably the biggest R & B and pop artist in the world, 2014 has been and continues to be dominated by Beyoncé Knowles with hip-hop mega-mogul Jay-Z by her side. Beyoncé is the top album of the year, selling over 800,000 copies in its first three days of release, smashing all previous iTunes records. What made the album even more of a massive success was the fact that it was a complete surprise. There was zero promotion, no leaks, and no singles released early, even artists like Drake, who feature on the album, were not aware that an album was underway.
Besides the unparalleled secrecy, a feat hard to accomplish for someone of such lucrative fame, Beyoncé is a “visual album.” Simply put, that means that there is a music video for every song on the album, plus several extra songs that were originally available in only video form on iTunes (14 songs and 17 videos). Beyoncé has a long history of big-production music videos, and her latest album tops them all. Every video has a specific theme and have been critically acclaimed for their filmography. This level of filmography and directing pervades the live performance that was filmed for the HBO special (the Paris On The Run tour date). Clips from not only the music videos, but also from On The Run, a short film featuring Jay-Z and Beyoncé were shown throughout the performance on the stages jumbotron, which on television were translated to full screen. Towards the end of the concert, during the performance of the song Blue, which is about her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, previously private home videos of the Carter family were shown.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Beyoncé’s album and the resulting tour and televised special is the social message it projects. The foremost central theme of Beyoncé is feminism, as Knowles-Carter herself is perhaps the most prominent feminist icon in the world at the moment, projecting the message of equality through her music and performance. One of her songs features audio of a speech on feminism by Nigerian author and feminist icon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. During the concert, the remix of the song featuring Nicki Minaj was performed, and Minaj herself came out for an epic surprise performance.
As always with any Beyoncé performance, the dance choreography was immaculate, incorporating almost no props, focusing only on the dancers. At several times, Beyoncé appeared on stage with only two other dancers, showcasing their skill.
Overall, On The Run was a musical spectacle cementing Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s position as the first family of music. The concert not only had stunning vocals, dancing and technicalities, but a profound social message– the year of Beyoncé continues to dominate the world.
