Beyoncé, The Diva

"I felt like it was time to set up my future, so I set a goal. My goal was independence." - Beyoncé Knowles

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO! (imagine it in Count Olaf's voice)

How are y'all doing? Everyone all good? So recently there were the VMAs, and as much as I haven't watched any of these award shows but The Oscars lately, there were high points during the performance. What I really like about the latest tendency in the music world is this continuing growing presence of feminism - not hate towards men, by the way, but real feminism - that some artists, both male and female have shown. Regardless of anything else, Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea, for instance, do represent that. Seems like a media trend, since movies like Frozen and Brave have also been putting forth the message that not only women are strong and independent, but can still be feminine about it (well, mostly anyway). But there is someone that doesn't just represent that, but has been shoving it in everybody's faces for years now...

Beyoncé Knowles

The diva, the queen, Mrs. Carter, call her whatever you might. There's no denying she's fucking awesome. Her music usually makes me feel good about myself, and I figure that's because how she felt when she wrote it, too. Talented dancer, owner of a strong voice that rages on throughout her energetic performances. She has an incredible stage persona, her settings blow you away when you see them, and also she gets you singing and shouting amidst thousands of people you don't know without even trying. And of course, she's the freaking diva. And her daughter, Blue Ivy, already looks like becoming a little diva of her own.

As you might have already figured out, I like Beyoncé a lot. I find that she is a very talented performer that knows how to maintain her success, how to stand out in the midst of other amazing artists and also a very down to earth person. I've been to one of her concerts in 2013, during the Mrs. Carter World Tour, and all I can say is: it was fucking, incredibly awesome. She is such a good singer and dancer, and plus the whole set up keeps you entertained all the time. I really did enjoy it. The song Diva, when heard live, has such a strong beat to it that it feels like the arena is shaking.

Also, whenever I listen to it while walking, I suddenly become... a HIGHLY-POWERED... GREATLY-STOMPING... BEING OF INCREDIBLE AWESOMENESS! Yeah, that's for you, bitches. Who runs the world? GIRLS!

Particularly, I really like the songs from earlier albums, like I Am... Sasha Fierce. C'mon, who doesn't  automatically dance when it comes to Single Ladies? Even her daughter was seen doing the hand thing. It's become pop culture by now. The song Ego, also, differs a bit from her usual style, maintaing a slower rhythm played solely by a well placed piano. Her voice stands out very much, and I personally like the lyrics about, well, having a big ego but being able to back it up. Other volumes, like Run The World (Girls), for an example, are another type of music entirely. The beat comes very strong off and it has that rap feeling to it. I find that all of her discography brings a certain amount of self-confidence in it, so as to inspire whoever's listening; and that's very important considering society's pressures nowadays.

Beyoncé was, unfortunately, sick during one of her most promoted appearances, the Chime For Change 2013. I really admire the fact that, even when sick and hoarse, she was firm and sang live every word, not using a single playback. In my humble opinion, using playback is a disrespect towards all the people that came to watch AND LISTEN to the show LIVE, who could have stayed home listening to the album if there was going to be a playback.

Recently, her self-titled album came out with barely any promotion. And, well, it broke every iTunes record in a matter of hours. She also took a great risk making a visual album - with over 15 videos - against her label's better advice. Bullshit! The total success of her latest endeavor confirms the unparalleled success of the artist, who can sell out anything without a single dime spent on marketing. And that comes straight from the Destiny Child period (the music group in which Beyoncé started, along with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams - think of it as modern, female-version of the Jackson 5; they even had a comeback recently.)

Again, if we want to get technical, it goes without saying that her voice fits almost every tone available. Common to black singers, that extremely versatile and vibrant voice makes itself known through her music. A mixture R&B, soul, rap, funk and pop, she brings to present time the influences of the great artists of these genres. Regarding her general tonality, I've found multiple sources online that place her in a whole wide range of tonalities. Personally I would place her in the E tone, specially E minor, which is the tone to Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), but I completely agree that she can reach many, many others.

Now, as we did with Freddie, we're breaking down her personality according to the Myers-Briggs system. As I've mentioned before, the MBTI is a personality assessment test from the 40's  based on some  principles set by Carl Jung (which still are controversial); concocted by Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers (mother and daughter - GO GIRLS!). It basically sorts out people in sixteen personality types, variating between the four dichotomies: Introvert (I) and Extravert (E), Intuitive (N) and Sensitive (S), Thinking (T) and Feeling (F), Judging (J) and Perceiving (P); forming a four-letter pattern, which determine a person's set of psychological "functions".

Out of all of these combinations, Beyoncé is an ESFP, which means Extravert Sensing Feeling Perceiving. This personality can be also referred to as The Performer, and that fits Beyoncé perfectly. Her primary function; Extraverted Sensing (Se) , which makes her very aware of her surroundings and capable of promptly responding to it, should that be the case - which means she understand what's happening enough so to catch people's attention and retain it, even if it means to improvise from time to time. According to the personality type, she processes all information regarding how she feels inside. That means that she won't take another's point of view in how she directs her own career and life - musicians of this type, specially, tend to be very controlling and hands-on about their careers, hence her overall agenda, very much like her last album.

Her Fi (Introverted Feeling) also makes her a caring, attentive person, specially with her loved ones. These performers tend to bring people on stage and interact very much with the audience.  They're all also very skilled about dealing with people, which also comes off in Beyoncé manners with the paparazzi, the media and all of the attention.

The ESFP's most remarkable trait, however, is that they are extremely bound to live in the moment. That means she's able to capture the magic of the moment and transmit it to everyone around her. That, for me, brings some kind of extraordinary value to the performance. ESFPs are spontaneous confident and a lot of fun. Recent researches with ESFPs have shown that they have rapid brain activity that reacts fast to new impulses, confirming what is proposed about them. The ESFP loves the attention and becomes a beacon for those around them.

 I find that this particular personality fits perfectly to Beyoncé. Every single trait and function corresponds to the way she acts in her performances and overall. Something interesting, though, is that the ESFP personality is the easiest to be found, which means all kinds of people fit into it - even Tarantino, Leo DiCaprio and Mussolini. Yeah. Crazy, right? All of these people have excellent abilities to deal with masses and love to take action. I guess it does make sense.

WELL, I hope you've enjoyed this second artist-personality post! Let me know if you did! If you didn't, let me know why, too! If you just want to say something completely out of context, also feel free to use the comments section right below the post!

After all, that's what it is there for.

"I don't believe in elitism. I don't think that the audience is this dumb person lower than me. I am the audience." - Quentin Tarantino

Music Junkie