Nachoes!: B’Day (2006) by Beyoncé
After Dreamgirls forced Beyoncé into the restraint and poise of Deena Jones, B’Day became the release. Working in secret after filming wrapped, she made an album that was loud, uninhibited and wildly alive. Across B’Day, Beyoncé moves beyond the Diana Ross model of the polished solo star, drawing instead from a much wider history of Black female performance to craft a 21st-century pop bible.
Episodes
How playing the restrained Deena Jones in Dreamgirls pushed Beyoncé towards the loudest and most uninhibited album of her career.Why the sensuality and physicality of “Déjà Vu” caused controversy - and how Beyoncé’s performance draws from the legacy of Josephine Baker.From the banana dance to the “Black Venus,” how Josephine Baker turned spectacle, sexuality and self-invention into a new kind of stardom - and became a blueprint for the modern pop star.