Nialler9 Podcast: Beyoncé’s Renaissance samples black queer culture and dance music

It’s a Renaissance deep dive.

Andrea and Niall are with episode 182 of the Nialler9 Podcast, and we are going on in on Beyoncé’s seventh album Renaissance, an LP heavily and obviously inspired by black American house music, queer culture and ballroom (as well as her late cousin Uncle Johnny, a gay man she credits in the liner notes of the album for introducing her to queer sounds and subcultures).

On this episode, we delve into the samples of house and bounce music on the record, deep cuts from American dance history illuminated with producers Honey Dijon and Green Velvet among others for this Beyoncé album, that is pitched like a DJ mix.

Andrea explores the incongruity of the millionaire/near-billionaire superstar paying homage to the largely poor ballroom and queer cultural communities of the late ’80s and early ’90s while namechecking fashion brands and promoting vast opulence.

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