Beyoncé’s 2016 visual album about Black womanhood, identity, and infidelity was Lemonade.
Released on April 23, 2016, Lemonade combined a twelve-track album with a sixty-five-minute film broadcast on HBO. The project moves through chapters associated with emotions such as anger, apathy, emptiness, and forgiveness, creating a unified audiovisual narrative rather than a conventional collection of singles.
Its songs include “Formation,” “Sorry,” “Hold Up,” and “Freedom.” The project addresses personal betrayal alongside wider themes of Black history, womanhood, family, and resilience. Its imagery draws on African American cultural traditions and includes appearances by Serena Williams and the mothers of Black men killed by police.
Lemonade received widespread critical acclaim and earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. It is sometimes confused with Renaissance, Beyoncé’s 2022 album, but Lemonade came six years earlier and is especially associated with its companion film.