Beyonce's Best Version of Maze - Essay Sample

Introduction

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, popularly known as Beyoncé, is a top and respected artist in the hip-hop industry. Her ability to connect her music and the issues that affect the world, particularly the black community, has earned her the unending love from her audience. Recently, her status went a notch higher when she became the first black woman to hold the biggest music festival, Coachella, where she launched her album Homecoming (Le Donne). She impressed her fans even more released her cover of Before I Let Go, originally written and sung by Maze & Frankie Beverly in 1981. The song was a hit song among the black people. While the original version was well executed using the soul style, targeting an elderly audience, Beyoncé’s version is much better. It has managed to incorporate tips for making enticing covers, making it relatable to a broader audience.

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Audience’s Needs

Importantly, excellent singers should understand their audience’s needs, whether they are singing an original or a cover. Considering the audience’s expectations makes it easy for the audience to connect with the audience (Phillips). Even though Before I Let Go was initially considered for oldies, Beyoncé has managed to coin by making it quite electrifying for the youth, who are mainly her audience. For instance, the original version has a slow tempo, which young people could find boring, whereas Beyoncé’s cover has a fast tempo, making it danceable for the younger generation. According to Dibdin, the new version went viral because Beyoncé launched its dance challenge on online platforms, attracting a larger audience of people trying to win the dance challenge. The song is danceable with a fast tempo, which means that Beyoncé understands her audience’s needs, making her version more updated than the original.

Another way that Beyoncé has considered her young generation audience is through the lyrics, especially in the finishing part. Maze’s original’s lyrics are made up of simple English, which is more relatable to the elderly than the youth. In her cover, Beyoncé has added new lyrics near the end, using slang language, making the song quite comfortable for the youth to understand and connect. Cutler (8) identifies this slang language as hip-hop language, inspired by the hip-hop black culture, which is common among the young people because they draw their behavior from it. An excellent example is the line that says, “step on ‘em, kick on 'em…” Here, she has managed to uplift the song by making it a 21' st century hip-hop, attracting more young audiences than it was with the original. The lyrics also inspire the cover’s danceability by directing how people scan dance the song. For example, the part that says, “Swag the right, swarf the left,” directs a dance move. Notably, Beyonce has ensured that she identifies her version more with the youth, who are mainly her audience, by incorporating aspects that would entice them.

Best Covers

Best covers must never be 100% percent as the original songs. As argued by online voice teacher, Emmanuel, singers doing cover songs must improve on their styles to differentiate their version from the original one. However, they must be careful not to come out like they are competing against the original song (Emmanuel). Beyoncé’s Before I Let Go addresses this aspect effectively. When comparing Beyoncé’s cover and the Maze’s original, it is evident that Beyoncé sings with higher notes, especially at the bridge. The cover is also improved by incorporating multiple instruments, unlike the original, where the instruments are mainly trumpets and guitar. For instance, after the spoken lyrics, “What they say? The world,” at the beginning, Beyoncé’s version includes drumbeats, which lacks in the original (Nightly).

Moreover, Beyoncé has enrichened the lyrics, making her cover unique from the original version. Maze's version's lyrics are short, forcing Beverly to repeat some lines to fill the song's time-length, particularly in the last minutes. The lyrics are also quite plain since they fail to incite the audience to participate in singing or dancing, limiting it to an elderly audience. Beyoncé was sure to rectify this mistake by constructing new lyrics that play from the 02.45 minutes of the song to the end (Nightly). By doing so, she spiced up the song by giving it a hip-hop look and making it more fun to a broad audience of young and older people.

Including medleys is an effective way of making covers enjoyable, and at the same time, distinctive. A medley is a mixture of different tunes or genre played as a single piece (Occhino). As noted by Occhino, a pleasing medley is characterized by a seamless transition from one kind to another. Beyonce’s Before I Let Go includes this technique making it relatable to fans with different tastes. It includes a taste of soul, represented interpolation of the original song, and Candy, sang by Cameo (Le Donne). It also includes a New Orleans bounce tune, which is represented in the lyrics that she adds (Le Donne). Beyoncé’s version is a huge hit because of interpolating these tunes that cut across different genres and cultures.

Conclusion

Indeed, the original Before I Let Go is a great song that requires a brave artist to take it a niche higher. Beyoncé does precisely the same with the song by increasing its fun while deepening its connection with the audience. Her version agrees with audience diversity by incorporating a medley of different cultures and genres. As much she strives to better the song, she is sure not to lose her singer originality and identity by delivering the song through her high-note vocals.

Works Cited

“Beyoncé – Before I Let Go (Official Audio),” YouTube, uploaded by Nightly, 2019, April 18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVLsVj7BebE

Cutler, Cecelia. “Hip-Hop Language in Sociolinguistics and Beyond.” Language and Linguistics Compass. 2007: 1(10), 1-45.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229727373_HipHop_Language_in_Sociolinguistics_and_Beyond

Dibdin, Emma. “Beyoncé Launches #BeforeILetGoChallenge on Instagram Stories.” The Oprah Magazine. 2019, April 23. https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a27238030/beyonce-instagram-before-i-let-go-challenge/

Emmanuel, M. “Singers, Here’s How to Make Cover Songs Really Stand Out.” Take Lessons. 2017, July 13. https://takelessons.com/live/singing/singing-popular-cover-songs-z02

“Frankie Beverly And Maze – Before I Let Go,” YouTube, uploaded by aft3rTh0ught, 2011, November 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5WTjqZuL_c

LeDonne, Roy. “Frankie Beverly Responds to Beyoncé Covering His Maze Hit, Before I Let Go.” Billboard. 2019. April 24. https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8508606/frankie-beverly-beyonce-homecoming

Occhino, Christine. 5 Easy Ways to Spice up Your Cover Songs. Sonicbids. 2015, February 17. https://blog.sonicbids.com/5-easy-ways-to-spice-up-your-cover-songs

Phillips, S. Pamelia. “Connecting with Your Audience through the Song Lyrics.” Dummies: A Wiley Brand. Accessed on 2020, September 30.
https://www.dummies.com/art-center/music/singing/connecting-with-your-audience-through-the-song-lyrics/.