Beyonce Is Killing Me Softly

 If you're a die-hard Beyonce fan, please do not read this posting. If you're a semi-Beyonce fan, okay maybe you can handle this. And if you're a non-fan, well this is just up your alley. Beyonce's new video for the single "Countdown" almost gave me a mild-case of the shakes this morning. With overwhelming visuals and a very disappointing song, it's too much on the eyes and the ears.
 To be honest, Beyonce has done too much in promoting her album 4, trying to do four singles in too close of a succession, instead of trying to build the album with strong singles but my spidey sense tells me that there are no strong singles from this album. This is why we get videos overrun with too much imagery, ugly wedding dresses, and more baby oil than necessary.
 Beyonce is also preparing to have her first child with husband Jay-Z, but still that's no excuse for bad music and bad videos. To be honest, there are very few things Beyonce has done in her solo career that have really impressed me. Namely those two things include "Crazy in Love" and "Single Ladies." Other than that, it's hard to give her full credit as a solo artist.
 Why, you may ask? She hasn't really distinguished herself as truly unique. Her videos are often under scrutiny for plagiarizing other artists' choreography, fellow pop icons looks, and lacking real creativity. Now I must say, she has built a steady following but then again so have many artists who aren't around.
 When Beyonce first came out with Destiny's Child she proved to be a solid frontwoman with skills in songwriting, singing and dancing but since she broke out as a solo act it's been more about sex appeal and kitsch than really good music.
 In all honesty, I think she could have really stayed in Destiny's Child longer and figured out how to be a better solo artist. Even though she's done more, I still think the better solo artist to come out of a group in the past ten years is Justin Timberlake. I'm partially biased, but his work speaks more in terms of quality and not quantity.  People are really excited to see what he'll do next, unlike Beyonce who to me never truly goes away long enough to grant the same feelings of anticipation. Here's hoping she uses maternity leave to really get a grasp on what she should do next.