Everything is Love and Other Affirmations
It is May 2019, almost the halfway mark of the year. Summer is quickly approaching which means that hip-hop and R&B hits will be flowing in, in no time. Look out for the new Megan Thee Stallion and Ari Lennox on the way. Two of my personal favorites ScHoolboy Q and Rico Nasty recently released music as well. I'm looking forward to the DJ Khaled songs that are sure to come too. For right now, I'd like to take a moment (this entire blog is the moment) to look back at one of the best albums of 2018. It received the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 61st Annual Grammy awards this past February. That album is Everything is Love by The CARTERS. It was released in June of 2018, almost a whole year later and I probably have not gone a week without listening to at least one song on the album. It’s that good. Every time I listen to it I have a new favorite song. Since its duration is not very long (9 songs, 38 minutes) it remains on my Heavy Rotation list on Apple Music.
The collaborative effort from Beyonce and Jay Z follows both their last solo albums Lemonade and 4:44. Albums told from each of their point of view after an incident of infidelity on Mr. Carter’s end. Everything is Love completes the trilogy of the Carter’s marriage and sort of restores our faith in love.
Love. Beyonce has been singing about love since she was old enough to comprehend what it was. I’ve been singing along way before I knew what it was. Over the years, she has blessed us with Dangerously in Love, Crazy in Love, Love on Top, Drunk in Love, Love Drought, and then an album with her husband Everything is Love, which also has a song entitled LOVEHAPPY.
While listening to the album recently, I took note of all the affirmations that are hidden in plain sight in the lyrics of each song. First of all, what is an affirmation? An affirmation is defined as the act or an of affirming something; state of being affirmed, 2. The assertion that something exists or is true, 3. Something that is affirmed; a statement or proposition that is declared to be true. Basically, affirmations are definitive statements. They’re something you know. Something you believe in. Something you can confirm. This makes the title of the album an affirmation. Everything is Love. It’s definite. It doesn’t say that Everything may be Love or Everything is probably Love, or Everything is most likely Love or Some Things are Love but I Don’t Really Know. This is something both Jay and Bey know for sure and it is evident in the lyrics that they sing and rap.
How does one affirm something? Well, to affirm something one must believe it to be true. You have to say it to yourself over and over again with conviction. On the album Beyonce and Jay Z share their belief in themselves, in their love, and in their future ad their children’s future, and they affirm this throughout the album. I’m not saying that Beyonce and Jay Z affirm these lines to themselves everyday but they were NICE enough to reveal some affirmations with us that could help us in our everyday lives. See what I did there? Whether it be a confidence booster or an affirmation for your relationship (because there are so many relationship affirmations on the album, as it should be) I find some of them to very helpful.
I took the liberty of going through every line on Everything is Love and piecing together an index of most of the affirmations shared by the living legends themselves. Here’s the list I compiled of each affirmation in order by song:
SUMMER
(SUMMER doesn’t really have any affirmations, if it does, it is extremely well hidden because this was my first favorite song off the album and I have yet to find any actual words of affirmation. They pretty much just affirm their love for each other “I wanna drown in the depths of you.” and “If I can stay in her hair forever, that’ll be fine by me.”)
“This is real.”
“Love neva change you kno, when people change you kno, love neva change, Love is universal ting, Love is goin to express itself, As a form of forgiveness and compassion, yeah” (outro)
APESHIT
“You need me I don’t need you.”
"I don’t give a damn bout the fame."
"Can’t be tappin my reign"
"Poppin, I’m poppin, my bitches all poppin"
"We made it!"
"This is why we thankful."
BOSS
"You ain’t talkin bout nothin I ain’t got no time."
"Got that dinero on my mind"
"My great-great grandchildren already rich"
NICE
"I can do anything"
"I have no fear of anything/ Do everything well."
"I have no fear of death"
"My success can’t be quantified"
"I’m so ni-i-ice"
"I’m everybody type"
"I’m better than the hype/I give you life"
713
"Ain’t no way to stop this love"
"Ain’t no space if everything is love"
"I put it down for the 7-1-3"
"Confidence you exude make the fools stay away"
FRIENDS
"My friends, real friends, better than your friends"
"Goddamn it I love my life"
"Closer than kin, I’m blessed, you blessed (Blessed!)"
"Tight circles no squares"
"My friends are goals"
BLACK EFFECT
"I’m good on any MLK Boulevard"
"I’m Malcolm X"
"A nigga late but he best dressed"
"Blacker than the Essence Fest"
"Dapper Dan at 4AM, shit I am the culture"
"I made my own wave"
"I’m good anywhere I go"
"I will never let you shoot the nose off my Pharaoh"
"Shining my light on the world, just like Umi said"
"I come from the finest crop"
LOVEHAPPY
"Happily in love"
"My love is deeper than your pain"
"And I believe you can change baby"
"The ups and downs are worth it/ Long way to go but we’re working"
"We’re flawed but we’re still perfect for each other"
"Nightmares only last one night"
"We went through hell with heaven on our side”
"I’m the truth in Alaia boots"
"We came and we saw and we conquered it all"
"We came and we conquered, now we're happy in love"
The album ends on a happy and very positive note, celebrating their love for each other despite the things they've been through. I, personally can't wait to feel a love similar to the kind Beyoncé feels when she sings with passion, "My love is deeper than your pain, and I believe you can change." I know everyone is [justifiably] discussing and still mesmerized with Beyoncé's new documentary Homecoming on Netflix, but Everything is Love should be revisited because of all the gems it has hidden.
The gems are the affirmations mapped out in this post and can be used at almost any time. You feel like there’s something you can’t do? Remember the opening lines of NICE are “I can do anything.” Feeling insecure, say to yourself, “Poppin, I’m poppin, my bitches all poppin.” Always tell yourself, “Goddamn it I love my life,” even when you’re down about it. These may just be song lyrics but you will see that they are truly affirmations once you say them to yourself and you start believing in them.
At the beginning of every new year, everyone is always so excited and positive when setting goals. However, as the year continues, the positive attitude and outlook tends to slip away. Often reverting back to negative thoughts that are damaging and won’t necessarily help in challenging times. Try to keep positive affirmations that you tell yourself, it doesn’t have to be on this list, but say them to yourself. It isn’t magic but good and positive thoughts are always better than nasty and negative thoughts. If you can’t think of any, scroll up and borrow some of Beyonce’s and Jay Z’s. Or listen to Everything is Love and listen to them sing it and rap the affirmations to you.
We're almost at the midpoint of 2019and I want to encourage you all not to slip into negative thinking. If you have to, develop your own list of affirmation. Affirmations for money. Affirmations for love. Affirmations for confidence. Say them to yourself, repeat them, and finish 2019 with a positive attitude. I'm rooting for you.
It is May 2019, almost the halfway mark of the year. Summer is quickly approaching which means that hip-hop and R&B hits will be flowing in, in no time. Look out for the new Megan Thee Stallion and Ari Lennox on the way. Two of my personal favorites ScHoolboy Q and Rico Nasty recently released music as well. I'm looking forward to the DJ Khaled songs that are sure to come too. For right now, I'd like to take a moment (this entire blog is the moment) to look back at one of the best albums of 2018. It received the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 61st Annual Grammy awards this past February. That album is Everything is Love by The CARTERS. It was released in June of 2018, almost a whole year later and I probably have not gone a week without listening to at least one song on the album. It’s that good. Every time I listen to it I have a new favorite song. Since its duration is not very long (9 songs, 38 minutes) it remains on my Heavy Rotation list on Apple Music.
The collaborative effort from Beyonce and Jay Z follows both their last solo albums Lemonade and 4:44. Albums told from each of their point of view after an incident of infidelity on Mr. Carter’s end. Everything is Love completes the trilogy of the Carter’s marriage and sort of restores our faith in love.
Love. Beyonce has been singing about love since she was old enough to comprehend what it was. I’ve been singing along way before I knew what it was. Over the years, she has blessed us with Dangerously in Love, Crazy in Love, Love on Top, Drunk in Love, Love Drought, and then an album with her husband Everything is Love, which also has a song entitled LOVEHAPPY.
While listening to the album recently, I took note of all the affirmations that are hidden in plain sight in the lyrics of each song. First of all, what is an affirmation? An affirmation is defined as the act or an of affirming something; state of being affirmed, 2. The assertion that something exists or is true, 3. Something that is affirmed; a statement or proposition that is declared to be true. Basically, affirmations are definitive statements. They’re something you know. Something you believe in. Something you can confirm. This makes the title of the album an affirmation. Everything is Love. It’s definite. It doesn’t say that Everything may be Love or Everything is probably Love, or Everything is most likely Love or Some Things are Love but I Don’t Really Know. This is something both Jay and Bey know for sure and it is evident in the lyrics that they sing and rap.
How does one affirm something? Well, to affirm something one must believe it to be true. You have to say it to yourself over and over again with conviction. On the album Beyonce and Jay Z share their belief in themselves, in their love, and in their future ad their children’s future, and they affirm this throughout the album. I’m not saying that Beyonce and Jay Z affirm these lines to themselves everyday but they were NICE enough to reveal some affirmations with us that could help us in our everyday lives. See what I did there? Whether it be a confidence booster or an affirmation for your relationship (because there are so many relationship affirmations on the album, as it should be) I find some of them to very helpful.
I took the liberty of going through every line on Everything is Love and piecing together an index of most of the affirmations shared by the living legends themselves. Here’s the list I compiled of each affirmation in order by song:
SUMMER
(SUMMER doesn’t really have any affirmations, if it does, it is extremely well hidden because this was my first favorite song off the album and I have yet to find any actual words of affirmation. They pretty much just affirm their love for each other “I wanna drown in the depths of you.” and “If I can stay in her hair forever, that’ll be fine by me.”)
“This is real.”
“Love neva change you kno, when people change you kno, love neva change, Love is universal ting, Love is goin to express itself, As a form of forgiveness and compassion, yeah” (outro)
APESHIT
“You need me I don’t need you.”
"I don’t give a damn bout the fame."
"Can’t be tappin my reign"
"Poppin, I’m poppin, my bitches all poppin"
"We made it!"
"This is why we thankful."
BOSS
"You ain’t talkin bout nothin I ain’t got no time."
"Got that dinero on my mind"
"My great-great grandchildren already rich"
NICE
"I can do anything"
"I have no fear of anything/ Do everything well."
"I have no fear of death"
"My success can’t be quantified"
"I’m so ni-i-ice"
"I’m everybody type"
"I’m better than the hype/I give you life"
713
"Ain’t no way to stop this love"
"Ain’t no space if everything is love"
"I put it down for the 7-1-3"
"Confidence you exude make the fools stay away"
FRIENDS
"My friends, real friends, better than your friends"
"Goddamn it I love my life"
"Closer than kin, I’m blessed, you blessed (Blessed!)"
"Tight circles no squares"
"My friends are goals"
BLACK EFFECT
"I’m good on any MLK Boulevard"
"I’m Malcolm X"
"A nigga late but he best dressed"
"Blacker than the Essence Fest"
"Dapper Dan at 4AM, shit I am the culture"
"I made my own wave"
"I’m good anywhere I go"
"I will never let you shoot the nose off my Pharaoh"
"Shining my light on the world, just like Umi said"
"I come from the finest crop"
LOVEHAPPY
"Happily in love"
"My love is deeper than your pain"
"And I believe you can change baby"
"The ups and downs are worth it/ Long way to go but we’re working"
"We’re flawed but we’re still perfect for each other"
"Nightmares only last one night"
"We went through hell with heaven on our side”
"I’m the truth in Alaia boots"
"We came and we saw and we conquered it all"
"We came and we conquered, now we're happy in love"
The album ends on a happy and very positive note, celebrating their love for each other despite the things they've been through. I, personally can't wait to feel a love similar to the kind Beyoncé feels when she sings with passion, "My love is deeper than your pain, and I believe you can change." I know everyone is [justifiably] discussing and still mesmerized with Beyoncé's new documentary Homecoming on Netflix, but Everything is Love should be revisited because of all the gems it has hidden.
The gems are the affirmations mapped out in this post and can be used at almost any time. You feel like there’s something you can’t do? Remember the opening lines of NICE are “I can do anything.” Feeling insecure, say to yourself, “Poppin, I’m poppin, my bitches all poppin.” Always tell yourself, “Goddamn it I love my life,” even when you’re down about it. These may just be song lyrics but you will see that they are truly affirmations once you say them to yourself and you start believing in them.
At the beginning of every new year, everyone is always so excited and positive when setting goals. However, as the year continues, the positive attitude and outlook tends to slip away. Often reverting back to negative thoughts that are damaging and won’t necessarily help in challenging times. Try to keep positive affirmations that you tell yourself, it doesn’t have to be on this list, but say them to yourself. It isn’t magic but good and positive thoughts are always better than nasty and negative thoughts. If you can’t think of any, scroll up and borrow some of Beyonce’s and Jay Z’s. Or listen to Everything is Love and listen to them sing it and rap the affirmations to you.
We're almost at the midpoint of 2019and I want to encourage you all not to slip into negative thinking. If you have to, develop your own list of affirmation. Affirmations for money. Affirmations for love. Affirmations for confidence. Say them to yourself, repeat them, and finish 2019 with a positive attitude. I'm rooting for you.
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