If she wasn’t already doing enough, the singer, songwriter, actress and producer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter just released her 2018 Coachella performance as a Netflix documentary titled “Homecoming.“
The HBCU-themed show pays homage to all HBCUs across the nation and highlights HBCU bands such as Southern University’s “Human Jukebox,” Alabama State’s “Mighty Marching Hornets,” and FAMU’s very own “Marching 100.” The show also includes some FAMU alums such as Naderah Munajj and Tallie Léon.
From the live band to the dancers, and even the outfits, the execution of the show is nothing short of amazing, reminding you of an actual HBCU homecoming.
“I watched the documentary, it was really good to see that people still appreciate the rich culture of an HBCU and especially since it was Beyoncé’s documentary it definitely brought light to the HBCUs towards any culture or any race which puts more emphasis on why everyone should appreciate our culture,” N’lyssa Bullard said.
The documentary also goes into the behind-the-scenes actions leading up to the show, which gave viewers a closer look at Beyoncé as a mom, wife and friend.
“The documentary gave us a lot of insight on the struggles that the performers and Beyoncé went through. Especially after just having twins she balanced it greatly. A lot of the times we see the show but we don’t know how they got there. I loved how she gave detailed insight on her journey to fitness and just getting her endurance back to the way she wanted it. The sense of pride and overwhelming excitement that I felt was unimaginable. In other words, it was just beautiful,” Jordan Gillard said.
Coachella is an annual music and arts festival held in California that brings out thousands of people for two weeks during the month of April. To my surprise, Beyoncé was the first ever black female to headline Coachella since its beginning in 1993.
Beyoncé didn’t just stop at the documentary. The pop star also dropped a surprise album titled “Homecoming: Live” with 40 tracks. The album also includes a track of Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
“Even though I haven’t got to watch the documentary yet, I did listen to the album and it is a 10/10,” Aliyah Hill said.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching this documentary because even though it was an amazing performance, Beyoncé showed how important HBCUs are to our culture. It made me proud to attend an HBCU and I believe she encouraged high school students to consider attending any HBCU after graduation.
It is safe to say Beyoncé has mastered the art of appealing to every audience.