When you think of Beyoncé, what are the first five words that come to your mind?
Innovative, flexible, not meaning body, but flexible with her art, talented, what’s a word for morphing? Like ever changing?
…Transformative?
Yes, and influential.
Why do you think she has her following? What about her makes you want to be like her?
I think she has a very clean image being that she doesn’t have a lot of tarnish to her name so she represents what you could be in life. She works diligently, she has career, family, passion and all of these things are kind of things people wish [they had]. Whatever career you’re in, you want to be at the top. She’s at the top…. These ideas, she kind of has a pillar for each one, and she’s at the top of her game in everything that she does.
How has she influenced you personally?
I just remember that I really wanted the Destiny’s Child album that had “Bootylicious” on it, and I remember “Bootylicious” because my parents told me that I could not get the album because that song was on there…. I was very sheltered as a child, musically and everything, my parents only let me listen to gospel stations and NPR, that was it. I would sneak over to my neighbor’s house, and she had the Destiny’s Child album, so she burned me a copy of it…. I’d sneak over there and listen to it, and I was like, “She has the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard.” And so it was just like one of those things where I was like, “I want to sound like her when I sing….” [She’s an] independent woman, she kind of says, “I want to buy my own diamonds. I don’t want someone to give me a diamond. I want to buy my own.” And that kind of pushed me to not just settle.
What do you see in yourself that you also see in Beyoncé?
Nothing. That would be blasphemous to say that I emulate Beyoncé, but I guess that I try not to settle, and I don’t think she ever settles. I think she’s always like, “Let’s go, push the mark, push the mark, push the mark.” And every play and musical and class I teach I say, “Okay, this is where it was.” I reflect upon that practice…. I see what I did, I’m like, “Okay, I want this to be better next time.” So even if I do the same lesson, I’m like, “Let’s upgrade this.”
What part of Beyoncé should students look up to?
I think the questioning part…. I think sometimes the Beyhive gets this wrong: Beyoncé’s about questioning things and starting discussions and I think some people absent-mindedly follow things. So I think that’s where people get it wrong, so I think what they should do is really question why is this something, not be obstinate…. So the questioning aspect, and really relating it to, “How does this affect me, and how can I affect others?”
Can you tell me about walking into your first Beyoncé concert and your experience from start to finish?
First of all, I’m a teacher, so those tickets were a one-time deal. I wanted to make it special, so I got the VIP at the Formation World Tour 2016. So I was like, “I want to make this special. I want to sit on the floor….”I don’t know how—it was by the grace of Beyoncé—but I got an aisle seat, so I was right on the edge, so I could step out and we could make eye contact if I was so blessed….She came out with her hat and started with “Formation.” Me and the person beside me, we didn’t talk before, and we were all of a sudden holding onto each other bouncing and screaming every lyric. Everyone knew every song. She sounds the same, if not better, than she does on her albums in person, and you know that she’s sing- ing everything…. Every member of her band is a woman, which I thought was really cool too, because it kind of represents that power. The whole thing was incredible. It got rained out but everyone kept going. It was still amazing. She paid to rent [the stadium] longer so that she could finish her performance for her fans. So her loyalty, however much she gives back, that’s how much she gets.
– Compiled by Sara Heilman & Jessica Kolomichuk
