Do girls really run the world Beyonce?

I must have watched Beyonce’s new single ‘Run the World (Girls)’ on YouTube about 20 times this week. Visually, it’s faultless, but am I the only person who think the supposedly empowering lyrics are actually anything but?

If you haven’t yet seen Beyonce’s performance of new single ‘Run the World (Girls)’ at last weeks 2011 Billboard Music Awards then I’d do so quick smart, because it’s brilliant. She interacts with virtual drum sticks, globes and a flock of birds via a huge screen behind her, brings out an army of scantily clad backing dancers and does a mesmerising jerky shoulder dance that I’ve been trying to emulate without success. You can watch a ten-minute version below, preceded by a rather unnecessary show reel of sycophantic comments from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama. The music video for the single is great too – more girl armies, more shoulder dancing and a killer Alexander McQueen dress. Watch it here.

However, I’ve got a bit of a problem with the song, or more specifically, the lyrical content. You see, Beyonce asks the rhetorical question ‘who run[s] the world?’ and gives the answer ‘girls.’ OK, so far, so empowering. But later lyrics belie the supposed feminist message. ‘My persuasion can build a nation…you’ll do anything for me,’ claims Beyonce. So it seems that what she’s really saying is not that girls actually run the world, but they control the men that do, using their feminine wiles. Which is hardly the stance of an independent woman is it now?

Don’t get me wrong, I realise it’s just a pop song, not a political manifesto, but if you’re going to write a song called declaring that girls are ‘taking over the world,’ it seems a bit disingenuous to suggest that they’re only doing it by influencing men. Why can’t girls build their own nations?

Skullcandy X Roc Nation

It’s my belief in life that the best music comes out in the Summertime.  Maybe this is less to do with belief and more to do with the pure fact that every artist has some kind of new album to plug and it’s a lot easier to do this through multiple festival appearances, but alas let’s not go down that cynical road.

 But it’s not just artists promoting their music this summer. Take Jay-Z for instance. His latest venture has seen him getting into bed with Skullcandy to produce a range of headphones to make every music (and fashion) fan fall cerrrazy in love.  Now we all know Jay-Z is an entrepreneur blah blah blah, has his own colour (YES COLOUR) blah blah blah, but this collaboration has seen Skullcandy bring it’s expertise in music listening and pair it with Roc nation’s street-style vision to develop, shock horror, something quite sophisticated!  The ‘Aviator’ as they have been aptly dubbed, came out earlier this year with versions in white, black, and brown.  Now I could ramble off all the specs for you but I’m shallow and care more about what they look like (I have read the sound specs and they do sound impressive, just so you know).  My only problem is deciding on a pair.  The white will be perfect for this Summer’s most difficult trend, the brown will be bang on for Autumn and dusting off my matching Aviator jacket, and the black…well for when I’m having a jolly old emo day…

You can order these from Amazon and the istore for around £150.00.

And for all you creative types, Skullcandy have opened up a comp to design a print to feature on a set of aviators on their facebook page.