walking upstream…
Beyoncé
photo: raph_ph · cc by 2.0 ↗Beyoncé
sourcesWikipedia
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter arrived from Houston's talent-show circuit and Destiny's Child harmonies to become the definitive voice of 21st-century R&B and pop — a singer whose vocal control, physical stamina, and visual ambition reset the bar for what a pop spectacle could be. From 'Crazy in Love' to the genre-hopping reinventions of Lemonade, Renaissance, and Cowboy Carter, she has treated the album as both artifact and argument, folding gospel, disco, country, and Black Southern memory into a single body of work. She sings, choreographs, and produces like an artist keenly aware she is inheriting a lineage — Tina Turner's grit, Michael Jackson's showmanship, Diana Ross's glamour — and determined to extend it.
the sound in question
2003
Crazy in LoveBeyoncé
walk the tributaries ↓
Michael Jackson1980s · Pop / R&B / Dance
Beyoncé has called Michael Jackson her greatest musical influence, going to see him in concert at age five and absorbing his sense of the pop performance as total spectacle — every beat cued to a movement.
listen: upstream & here
1983
Billie JeanMichael Jackson
2008
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)Beyoncé
listen forCue up Jackson's 'Billie Jean' and watch how the choreography lands exactly on the downbeat, then play Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)' — the arm-snap choreography does the same job in miniature, turning three dancers and a bare stage into a music video with almost no other production at all.
Tina Turner1960s–80s · Rock / Soul / R&B
Beyoncé has said outright that Tina Turner is one of the two Tinas in her life — the other being her mother — and the model for a stage presence built on raw physical power and unapologetic sexuality.
listen: upstream & heresource: BuzzFeed ↗
1971
Proud MaryTina Turner
2011
1+1Beyoncé
listen forTurner's 'Proud Mary' starts hushed and slow before detonating into that full-throttle groove — listen for the same nice-and-easy-then-nice-and-rough escalation in Beyoncé's '1+1,' which trades the horn stabs for a smoldering guitar solo but keeps the same conviction that a ballad can turn into a roar.
Diana Ross1960s–70s · Pop / Soul / R&B
Beyoncé has cited Diana Ross's glamour and grace among her formative influences, and went on to play a Ross-inflected girl-group lead — Deena Jones — in the 2006 film Dreamgirls, a role built from the Supremes' own rise.
listen: upstream & here
1970
Ain't No Mountain High EnoughDiana Ross
2006
ListenBeyoncé
listen forRoss's 1970 solo breakthrough 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' floats her voice over a wall of strings and gospel-choir backing; hear that same uptown polish, that same sense of a voice trained to carry a room, in Beyoncé's 'Listen,' the Dreamgirls ballad written to do exactly what Ross's early singles did for Motown.