I have to begin with a disclaimer in that I know the latest Jay Z/Beyoncé divorce rumor is absolutely false. I am not buying into the media’s need to report something on pop culture’s royal couple when all is quiet on the home front. After all, Jay Z and Blue Ivy just released viral birthday messages through song to Beyoncé on her birthday last week. However, with the reports reaching mainstream covers and headlines, I’d be remiss not to chime in on the effect of their possible split.
Before we discuss the ramifications of a possible split not just on their fan base but on their networth as it relates to both of their careers and their joint multimedia conglomerate, how could they divorce when Jay Z’s company Roc Nation manages Beyoncé’s career and likeness, etc.? No before we discuss that possibility, let’s discuss what their union has meant to present culture. If you think I am being dramatic, I’d ask you to bear with me for a minute..
At a time when R&B had all but abandoned love for cheap quickies and hip hop didn’t know the meaning of commitment, Jay Z, the biggest influence on hip hop culture, turned in his player card and admitted he was in love. “Either she’s the one or I’m caught in the matrix,” he exclaimed in “Excuse Me Miss.” Later, he bragged about having the hottest chick in the game wearing his chain and it actually seemed cool. All this while Beyoncé flung herself around Jay Z with adoring eyes while professing she was “Crazy in Love” and sprung out of her mind and threw up the Rock sign more than Beanie Siegel and Memphis Bleek combined. They became hip hop, then R&B and eventually pop culture’s favorite couple with even Oprah praising the way they handled their picturesque relationship. Years later, the couple married in a secret ceremony and albeit with much speculation and unanswered questions on timing and believability, the two had quite possibly one of the cutest children ever to walk the earth. True to form, the couple named her Blue Ivy and immediately added her to the intricate dance they’ve played with media since appearing in the “Bonnie and Clyde” part two video.
Suddenly, it was cool to be in love. It was cool to be a powerhouse couple and to admit your love publicly. It was cool to stand beside your man in a mask with a gold grill in your month and stunt on the haters. Other couples followed suit and fans began listing Jay Z and Beyoncé’s relationship as the most envied relationship quite possibly in history. Every girl wanted a bad boy, reformed only by her love, to fall head over heels for her and not be ashamed to admit it while running a multibillion dollar business and looking as cool and aloof as possible. Men fell for it as well, quoting Beyoncé as the ultimate “wifey,” the kind of woman that every man wants at home. After all, Beyoncé has forced us to watch her live up to the lady in the streets and freak in the sheets analogy; with music alluding to strip teases and watermelon drinking all in the name of being “Drunk in Love” with her superstar husband.
In the midst of all of this love and happiness, Beyoncé and Jay Z’s relationship became a brand. Their “On the Run” tour grossed millions in the US and abroad before doing it all over again with an HBO. Right before that Beyoncé’s documentary “Life is But a Dream” focused mainly on her relationship with the hip hop mogul and her pregnancy with the royal heir. We loved celebrating Beyoncé and Jay Z. The promo materials for On the Run showcased Beyoncé and Jay Z as runaway outlaws taking on the world and we sucked it up and licked the plate clean. Relationship goals went to an entirely different plateau with even other celebrities taking note and coupling up with another talent that complimented their brand moreso even than their lifestyle, enter Kanye West and Amber Rose, then Kim Kardashian, Keyshia Cole and Jeezy, and even todays sweet sixteen-esque couple B.O.B. and Sevyn Streeter. Jay Z and Beyoncé set the standard and we celebrated with them.
If you follow Beyoncé or rather Beyoncé’s image on social media, you’ll not that her Instagram and twitter are a strategically photoshopped ode to her flawless love for her husband and child. Their union has been too constructed, too coordinated, quite simply too manufactured, for them to drop the ball now. With only a long forgotten oddly explained elevator brawl between Jay Z and Beyoncé’s sister Solange as a blemish on their spotless public resume, it doesn’t seem likely the two will throw in the towel on their relationship slash brand any time soon. So while we’re all for divorce rumors as it allows us to have more great pics of the couple of vacation and creates more Beyoncé covers, no we simply cannot afford for this brand to dissolve as of yet. Oh no we have bought into the idea lock, stock and barrel and besides Blue Ivy’s time being split between two parents; where would their legions of fans aka the Beyhive go every other weekend?
