Beyoncé’s career of over 20 years has been highlighted by surprises including two surprise albums; a self-titled 2013 album and 2018’s ‘Everything is Love.’ Her most recent album also came as a surprise to everyone. At midnight on Wednesday, April 17, she released ‘Homecoming,’ a documentary about her iconic 2018 Coachella performance. She also released the concert as a live album with the same name.
The documentary, created, directed and produced by Beyoncé starts off with her team – made up of talented dancers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) – delivering an amazing performance. The team definitely set the tone for Beyoncé’s great performance.
Beyoncé then came into view from a beautifully designed pyramid as the crowd chanted “Beychella.” She then sings ‘Crazy in Love’ as the crowd retaliated by going crazy.
The documentary steadily tells the story of the first black woman to headline Coachella. It also marks her return to stage months after having her twins.
A few minutes into her performance, Beyoncé takes us behind the scenes where we get to see the hard work it took to curate such an extravagant performance. She also shared the emotional reason why she selected students from HBCU to perform alongside her. “I wanted every person who has been dismissed in their life, due to the way they look, to be there on the stage with me and kill it,” she said.
She wanted her Coachella performance to have a significant meaning to her community, the black community. She also wanted a completely black orchestra which she got. “I wanted all to be proud of themselves. We were able to create a free space with our performance, where none of us was marginalised.”
In the behind the scenes snippets, we saw her emotionally connect to her team of singers, dancers, band and crew backstage. From picking the team to the lights and design of the three stages, Beyoncé was involved with everything. She stated that she wanted the performance to glorify the black culture and that itself ended up becoming the true crowning glory of her film, Homecoming.
“Instead of pulling out my flower crown, it was more important that I brought our culture to Coachella,”
– Beyoncé.
Before the hard work for the performance began, Beyoncé acknowledged that she just had twins and her body wasn’t the same as it used to be. She would have to work overtime and harder to get the result she wanted. In the documentary, we see her struggle as she tries to maintain a balance between being a new mom and having the Coachella performance of her dreams.
The documentary pans to the Coachella performance where she brought out her longtime friends, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for a surprise Destiny’s Child reunion. Her sister, Solange and husband, Jay-Z also made surprise appearances which all served to make the night a really memorable one.
Beyoncé’s homecoming was packed with a lot of valuable lessons everybody can learn from. Putting in a lot of work pays off eventually, and we were able to see this through Beyoncé’s hard work and the results.
On the whole, homecoming brings out the emotional side of Beyoncé’s Coachella performance with a message for all to never give up on their hopes and dreams and to work hard to achieve them. This is one film that’s worth watching especially if you’re in need of some inspiration.
In closing, not only was Beyoncé able to make an outstanding impact as the first black woman to ever headline Coachella, but she was also able to honour black culture at a global level. She pushed herself to the maximum and that resulted in the unforgettable and epic performance the world now remembers as Beychella!
Watch snippets of the documentary here…
Photo credit: IG | Beyonce
For the latest in fashion, lifestyle and culture, follow us on Instagram @StyleRave_
