“Brit Awards 2019: Beyonce and Jay-Z 'bow down' to Meghan Markle - BBC News” plus 1 more

Sofia Temmuz 11, 2021

“Brit Awards 2019: Beyonce and Jay-Z 'bow down' to Meghan Markle - BBC News” plus 1 more

Brit Awards 2019: Beyonce and Jay-Z 'bow down' to Meghan Markle - BBC News

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 12:00 AM PST

Image of Beyonce and Jay-Z in front of a portrait of Meghan Markle

Beyonce and Jay-Z posed in front of a portrait of the Duchess of Sussex wearing a crown as they accepted the Brit for best international group.

Writing on Instagram, Beyonce said: "In honour of Black History Month, we bow down to one of our Melanated Monas."

That's a reference to their video for Ape**** in which they stood in front of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris.

But for their Brits acceptance, the couple restaged that video next to a portrait of Meghan Markle.

Beyonce added: "Congrats on your pregnancy! We wish you so much joy."

The Guardian newspaper's deputy music editor Laura Snapes said their decision to accept the award in front of a portrait of Meghan was a "wow" moment.

"Very classy, pointed support of a black woman being treated repulsively by the UK tabloids," she wrote on Twitter.

Other people also suggested Beyonce and Jay-Z's video was a message to the media and a statement of support for Meghan.

'They didn't ask to use it, they just did'

The artist who painted the picture, Tim O'Brien, told Radio 1 Newsbeat that Meghan is "changing the face of England in a very direct way" and she's a symbol that "white supremacy is over around the globe".

But he tells us that he found out Beyonce and Jay Z had used his illustration of Meghan at the same time as everyone else.

"I was not contacted. I learned about it on social media. It's been an interesting 24 hours," the Brooklyn-based illustrator says.

The illustration was originally commissioned in 2018 for a magazine called The Key, published by Meghan Markle's old college sorority.

Image copyright Tim O'Brien

Image caption Tim O'Brien has previously gained attention for his Donald Trump Time magazine covers and for creating the artwork for The Hunger Games films

And Tim says he's "not sure" if he'll be asking the Brit award-winning couple for any money for their use of his image.

"My initial reaction was that I didn't see any benefit from what they did," he says.

"But I've been selling prints of it on my website for a while now, and those spiked yesterday. So overall I've fared well."

He adds that the original is still on sale, if Beyonce and Jay-Z are in the market for something new to hang over one of their fireplaces.

The duchess, who married Prince Harry last year, has been the subject of many headlines this year.

Some people have accused parts of the media of being negative about Meghan - who is around seven months pregnant.

Beyonce at Coachella: All of the hidden meanings explained - ABC News

Posted: 15 Apr 2018 12:00 AM PDT

Beyonce took her fans to school Saturday night when she finally took the Coachella stage, making history -- as she said on stage -- as the first black woman to headline the music festival.

The superstar singer was forced to cancel her appearance last year when she announced she was expecting twins with husband, Jay-Z. Lady Gaga stepped into her huge shoes.

But last night, Beyonce put on a performance that relied on two major themes: black pride, which she explored in her last album, 2016's "Lemonade," and higher education.

From singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which is known as the black national anthem, to quoting Malcolm X in between songs, Beyonce makes it clear she's continuing to explore what blackness means to her through her music and performances.

Beyoncé singing the "Black American National Anthem" pic.twitter.com/oDNcOzGM6U

And thanks to her yellow-dressed marching band, it's hard to ignore that Beyonce wanted her Coachella performance to feel like a half-time show at any historically black college and university.

Not to mention, she had many guests pop up on stage -- from her sister, Solange, who performed a dance break with her, to husband Jay-Z, with whom she performed their duet, "Deja Vu." Beyonce also reunited with her group, Destiny's Child, and the three performed their hits, "Say My Name" and "Soldier."

We caught all of the other signs and symbols, and here's what fans think they mean:

Nefertiti

Beyonce opened her two-hour set dressed as an Egyptian queen -- with a royal headdress and long black cape. And if you had any question to whom she was paying homage, an image of Nefertiti was emblazoned on the back of her cape.

Meanwhile, her dancers were dressed in ethnic catsuits, which included an image of the ancient Greek symbol, the Sphinx, before they all changed to perform, "Crazy in Love."

Beta Delta Kappa

Throughout her entire performance, Beyonce made it feel like we were all pledging her sorority, Beta Delta Kappa. She even wore the Greek letters on her yellow sweatshirt.

But if you think that's all there is to the sweatshirt you'd be mistaken. The Greek letters, read in English as BAK, or "back." Fans believe it could mean that Beyonce is saying that after last year, she's back. Literally.

Another fan theory is that the "B" and "K" stand for her initials. The delta symbol in the middle, which is the Greek letter meaning change, appears to mimic "The Roc" hand symbol, which she often holds up, paying homage to Roc-A-Fella Records, the record label her husband founded.

Nina Simone

During her performance, Beyonce sampled Nina Simone's 1954 version of "Lilac Wine." Although the song has been recorded by many greats, Simone sings of a lover she's lost and decides to drink to forget about him.

The song croons, "Lilac wine is sweet and heady where's my love?/Lilac wine, I feel unsteady, where's my love?" Beyonce expertly used this song to introduce her own song with a similar narrative, "Drunk in Love."

Malcolm X

Beyonce played an excerpt from civil rights activist Malcolm X's speech titled, "Who Taught You To Hate Yourself?" The speech was delivered on May 5, 1962, at the funeral for Ronald Stokes, who was killed by the Los Angeles Police Department. Fans even saw Beyonce mouthing the words to the speech while on stage.

Beyonce's Crest

And we must draw attention to another costume that Bey wore. It featured a customized crest with the words "Beyonce 2018" written on it.

But that's not the best part. Fans also noticed the crest featured a replica of Nefertiti, a black panther, which fans believe is a nod to the Black Panther Party, which historically fought for civil rights. It also featured a black fist, which many Black Panthers raised as a greeting and to symbolize black power.

The crest was completed with a bee, which symbolizes her fans -- the Beyhive.

Coachella continues Sunday night with Eminem headlining. Then, it'll return next weekend, April 20-22, with the same lineup at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.