Beyoncé’s sixth studio album, released without advance notice in 2016, was Lemonade.
The album arrived on April 23, 2016, alongside an hour-long film broadcast on HBO. Its surprise release followed the model of Beyoncé’s self-titled 2013 album, which had also appeared with little traditional promotion.
Lemonade is a visual album combining songs, poetry, spoken passages, and imagery. Its music draws on R&B, pop, rock, hip-hop, soul, country, blues, and electronic styles. The project’s themes include betrayal, grief, anger, reconciliation, Black womanhood, family, and cultural memory.
The album was widely acclaimed and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. It received nine Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year, and won Best Urban Contemporary Album. “Formation,” one of its best-known songs, also became an important cultural statement.