There are multiple folds when discussing Everything Is Love by The Carters. One layer is that the album is a joint presentation of the power in Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The next: understanding the artistry that comes with the pair because as their individual catalogs show, they expect perfection. Finally: a post elevator fight with in-laws, a cheating scandal, a separation, two more kids, and the singular entity addressing it all.

Everything Is Love is a combination of attitudes and feelings that the couple worked towards after Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Jay-Z’s 4:44. In Beyoncé’s album, the world found out about Jay-Z’s infidelity and followed the music icon on her journey through her emotions in dealing with her pain. In Jay-Z’s album, listeners hear a side littered with apologies and reasons why he faltered. The album is the first time in years that the pair had even been on a track together. We got an album.

Even Jay-Z himself said, “She had to go first.”

As individuals, they had to work out their feelings and be true about their processes. They processed through their craft and two fantastic albums were created.

This album is a culmination of the individual and collective work put into their relationship expressed through their main creative outlet: music.

Everything Is Love opens with a conversation between the couple. In it, they express their love for one another and the passion between the two. The song’s melody is as seductive as the lyrics are to the ear. Sprinkled throughout the song are references the individuals have made about each other in previously recorded songs. The stand out of this is Jay-Z’s line; “I brought my sand to the beach.” In both the choruses and Beyoncé’s verse the listener can hear desire to be pleased and to please her husband. To say the absolute least, the introduction to the album is sexy.

The album then transitions into the commercialized “Apeshit.” Different from the introduction, this song serves as a reminder to those listening just who the Carters are. They are a power couple. They are goals. The song is riddled with flexing with zero fabrication in what they’re saying and reinforced with Quavo’s adlibs. Beyoncé says it best when she raps, “… put some respek on my check/… Bought him a jet.” The first line is clever in its possible reference to issues her husband had with Birdman and the latter’s conversation on money. The second line, based on her buying Jay-Z a private jet valued at $50 million in 2012, is all the proof she needs to discuss money. The songstress’ rap verse also plays with her idea of “equity.” She could be referencing companies that would pay her in equity. This, in most cases, would be stock hold in shares within the company instead of monetary payment. On the other hand, she could be referencing the idea of social equality versus equity. This would feed into Jay-Z’s line: “I’m a gorilla in a fuckin’ coupe.” The line is directly borrowed from Chief Keef but when the business/ music mogul says it, it has a different power to it. “Gorilla” is a direct reference to being a black man, while a “coupe” car has always been seen as the idealistic American “I made it” car. Depending where you are in America, the idea of an actual gorilla in a coupe could be just as unbelievable as a black man in an expensive car. Jay-Z could also be referencing any gorilla warfare tactics he has taken to claim his spot. To further solidify his reign at the top he boldly states, “I said no to the Super Bowl: you need me, I don’t need you/ Every night we in the end zone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too.” His denial of performing at the Super Bowl was widely known to be in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick and even then, Jay and Bey have sold out stadiums on their own. We’ve recently seen how Jay-Z has moved into a partnership with the NFL. Who can really pinpoint motives and moves at this point? 

Jay end the song with a sneak shot at the Grammy awards, as many other artists have done in recent years, and shouts out the only thing that truly matters in music; the fans.

If further demonstration of their level of success was needed, look no further than “Boss.” What might being a boss look like to the couple? It looks like a certified gold album with no promotion, grinding beyond buying your mom a house, owning entire “compound[s],” paying for “office” space, sending and receiving “invoices,” and “successful people next to you.” It all seems egotistical until Beyoncé gets to the heart of what being a boss truly means for the couple; “My great-great-grandchildren already rich/ That’s a lot of brown chil’ren on your Forbes list.” Boss.  

The fourth track of the album features Pharrell for a second time. On it we hear the pair being braggadocios about the feats they have accomplished and what it means to their personal lives. Who can really go against Beyoncé saying, “If I gave two fucks, two fucks about streaming numbers/ Would have put Lemonade up on Spotify.” The answer? No one. In Jay-Z’s verse we hear a recount of his legal battles that he takes in comical stride. He questions his appearance in courtrooms for minimal things because he avoided courtrooms when he was selling drugs. All three of the artists on the track have an impeccable record when it comes to their business ventures outside of music. Some would even say that they represent the epitome of success outside of their craft. Pharrell claims the he is, and vicariously the couple is, “stocked up like a doomsday prepper.” If you look at collaborations and companies that the three have been apart of; it’s a long list. Beyoncé probably verbalized it best with her line; “I ain’t never seen a ceiling in my whole life.”

From the chorus and title “713” seems to be about Beyoncé’s connection to her hometown, Houston. In reality, it is a timetable told through the lens of Jay-Z. He recounts their first meeting; being “shut down” while Beyoncé was with her boyfriend at the time, and their first date. Jay even delves into how “play[ing] it cool” was not the way to go. The beauty of the song is in Jay-Z’s vulnerability to admit to his childish mistakes and his inability to connect. In the outro Jay thanks black women for dealing with the faults of a black man citing that the black woman “rescues us.”

The song “FRIENDS” is a dedication track to those that the couple kept close to them. Beyoncé sings about her connection to hew “crew” by calling them “closer than kin.” Jay name-drops all the people he’s kept in his life, most notably the godfather of Blue, Ty Ty. The songstress raps about “pride” not being involved in her relationships with her friends and how their “souls [are] exposed” to one another. She even states that even in a “fall out,” there is always room to “make amends.” Jay dives into moments that were important to his friendships whether it was his friend buying him a Porsche or celebrating a prison release. Jay plays on a multiple of references to the idea of friendships being finicky in the music industry. Some would say that he took shots at Kanye West in this song. In actuality, he tells it like it is. Kanye was upset about the couple not attending his wedding with Kim Kardashian. Jay kept it short and to the point when he said, “I ain’t going to nobody nothin’ when we and my wife beefin’/ I don’t care if the house on fire, I’m dyin’, nigga, I ain’t leavin’.” The two have expressed their friendships being more comparable to family. As Jay said, “If y’all don’t understand that, we ain’t meant to be friends.”

Like songs before, “HEARD ABOUT US” reiterates the level of success the couple shares. It’s more than just the music and money they make. Their names both independently and together hold weight. Beyoncé reminds listeners of that in the chorus while Jay-Z reinforces this in his verse. For those trying to make a name for themselves while slandering the couple, Queen Bey’s got a “Louis Slugger to your four door” for you and Jay is with this shits when it comes to inaccurate allegations. Tread lightly.

It’s easy to point to “BLACK EFFECT” as the anthem of the album. The references and allusions are plenty in this song. The song is a representation of black success, prosperity, and wealth. Besides the flashy lines to accommodate a flashy lifestyle, the couple tackles the issues of being black in the world. Listeners can look at Beyoncé’s line “I will never let you shoot the nose off my Pharaoh” as a bold stance against the historical oppression of the black image. Both touch on the idea of the black woman’s beauty being misrepresented in the world. Jay throws in the line “They even biting cornrows” to stir the pot on culture appropriation. Jay speaks on backlash against his, as well as other black pioneers, ventures to make their own “waves.” The song features multiple name-drops of recognizable black figures but it all goes back to the root, the effect of black culture in the world. There are many songs that can be deemed as the black anthem, but none written more beautifully and consciously as this.

The album the ends with “LOVEHAPPY.” In it, listeners are met with a humbled Jay-Z and a forgiving Beyoncé. The lines “He went to Jared, I went to JAR out in Paris/ Yeah, you fucked up the first stone, we had to get remarried/Yo, chill man! We keepin’ it real with these people, right?/ Lucky I ain’t kill you when I met that b— (Nah, aight, aight).” The argument is joking in nature but based on the reality of their situation. Jay cheated on Bey. To get her back he “had to sweat her” and eventually a trip for a new wedding ring was necessary. The song is proof that Jay has been redeemed, to certain extent, in the eyes of his wife. The song is a represents the idea that love conquers all. In the song listeners learn of the work it took for the couple to get back and even then, as Beyoncé says, “Long way to go, but we’re working.”

The album boasts black excellence with incredibly written words and amazing production. The music itself is not overpowering, as it is gives way for the words to “breathe.” It gives a phenomenal sense of vulnerability from the upper echelon of black excellence.

The drop of the surprise album the same day as Nas’ album was petty in nature (someone had to say it). But it is power move spanned across decades at this point.

As the album cover depicts, black love is beautiful. Don’t let white oppression tell you any different. More so than anything else, the album is proof that love, in its truest form, is a partnership.