Beyoncé’s album Lemonade became a surprise release in April 2016 and centers on Black womanhood. It arrived on April 23, 2016, alongside an hour-long film broadcast on HBO. The project mixes R&B, rock, country, blues and spoken-word passages into a chaptered story.
Its themes include betrayal, grief, anger, reconciliation, family history and collective Black identity. The visual album features poetry by Warsan Shire and appearances by Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy, her mother Tina Knowles-Lawson and several Black women and girls. Listeners often discuss its autobiographical overtones, but its narrative also reaches beyond one relationship.
Lemonade debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and received widespread critical acclaim. It won the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year.