If you know me at all, you know I am NOT a big Beyonce fan. Yes, I admit she is a beautiful, successful woman with a few good songs but I don’t believe she is as fierce as she is made out to be. So with that, I give you my thoughts on Bow Down/I Been On.

Lyrics:

1. Who are you singing to???? Just a few bars into the song I felt disrespected by her words (“I know when you were little girls you dreamt of being in my world.”). I certainly did not, Beyonce. When I was little I dreamt of being an Olympic figure skater like Michelle Quan. Not everyone adores and wants to be a Beyonce type. As someone who is not a big fan I really felt as though she was singing to me telling me to bow down to her (“Bow down bitches. Bow bow down bitches.”). No, boo boo. I bow for no one. And then the thought of Illuminati clicked. I usually ignore those conspiracy theories but really, WHY am I supposed to be bowing down to you?
2. As Beyonce transitioned to the I Been On portion of the track I felt a little less tense and angry for being called a “bitch” by a singer I’ve never even met. But as she began reminiscing of the 90s with her baby hairs and dookie braids I became annoyed (“I remember my baby hair with my dookie braids”). I see where she was going with it but it was poorly executed.
3. The operatic vocals over the I Been On part of the track were the best thing about the song because quite frankly, the lyrics were all over the place. Take away all that talking about UGK and smacking tricks (“I told my crew to smack that trick”) and it’s a better song. But with no lyrics you are just given a Hit Boy track sans Beyonce… and I think I’m OK with that.

Production:

1. I respect the fact that she is repping her home town of Houston, Texas by releasing a chopped and screwed version. I actually don’t care for the non-chopped version at all.
2. The production quality of the song is something out of the ordinary for Beyonce which is also a good thing. I don’t know about everyone else but I am totally and completely over the R&B-like “love” songs she typically releases. Although Bow Down/I Been On is a shorter track, its beat is low and good for bumping in the car on a warm day. I’m about that life!
3. Was it a publicity stunt? This is something very out-of-the-box for Beyonce and it certainly has people talking. Especially people like me who typically listen to a Beyonce song out of curiosity and immediately dismiss it out of bordem. Is the unique production and self-righteous lyrics of the song the introduction to a new Beyonce?

It would be interesting to know what Beyonce and her camp have to say about the song. Listen to the full track on Sound Cloud.