By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jan 29th 2010 7:57AM
Filed under: Celebrity Finances, News
It appears that the queen of all things musical, Beyonce Knowles,
has signed on for a major deal with HD-TV manufacturer VIZIO. In the latest of her financial touchdowns, Beyonce is going to be placed in three Super Bowl ads, ranging in price from $3 million to $6 million.
While Beyonce has her own interpretation of why she is one of the most highly sought after entertainers in the world, I've got my own take on the matter. Here are some reasons that Beyonce Knowles is one of the greatest performers in the history of American music.
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Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
Looking just like her mom Tina, Beyonce began her career with hair extensions based on braids, way before she would "upgrade" to lace-front wigs. Beyonce's mother's taste would continue to influence the her, as she would struggle to develop her own looks apart from her mother's sensibilities.
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Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
In 2001, Destiny's Child won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for their hit single 'Say My Name.' Beyonce was 20 years old, and Solange was 15. New to superstardom, these young girls from Texas would take their time developing their sense of style.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
Looking just like her mom Tina, Beyonce began her career with hair extensions based on braids, way before she would "upgrade" to lace-front wigs. Beyonce's mother's taste would continue to influence the her, as she would struggle to develop her own looks apart from her mother's sensibilities.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
Working a strange mix of accessories, Beyonce used her ensemble to promote her self-penned hit 'Bootylicious.' We do what we must to reach the top! It was 2001, and still a few more years before Bey would cement her top spot without resorting to desperate fashion moves.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
At the 2001 Teen Choice Awards, Beyonce and Solange fully evoked the over-the-top tacky look that became synonymous with their mother's style choices. Matching neon yellow outfits and braids in clashing shades of auburn were made worse by the wrong make-up colors. Having their mother as their stylist was quite the cross for B. and Solange to bear.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
In outfits containing a range of colors in clothing, hair, make-up and accessories that defy my capacity for negative description, Solange and Beyonce attended the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards -- wearing more clothes designed by Tina Knowles. Need we say more?
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
As a teen, Solange grew up in the fast lane. Her braids, scarf, tee and jewelry were clothing any average girl would wear. As much as she needed to develop her sense of style as a star, Solange's deeper struggle would include developing an identity apart from her sister.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
Solange and Beyonce posed together in 2002. This is an uncharacteristically dressed-down look for Bey. Do you think she still has that 'Michael Jackson's Thriller' shirt?
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
Through this two-tone hair sculpture in the form of a lace-front wig, Beyonce shows the world that they do indeed do things big in Texas at the 'Austin Powers In Goldmember' premiere in 2002. While Beyonce began to branch out into acting roles at this time and slightly mature in her sense of style, Solange still seemed like a non-entity totally dressed by Mom.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
These two sisters made an appearance on MTV's 'TRL' in 2002 wearing distinctly different casual looks. While Beyonce took her relaxed dressing to a costume-like extreme, Solange still looked like a normal young person.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, Bey gave a knockout performance and revealed what many would come to term the "Beyonce Look" in full force. The huge blond mane and over-the-top sexy outfits were here to stay.
Beyonce and Solange Fashion Transformation
1) Beyonce is consistent: Knock on wood, but I don't expect to hear about any crazy Tiger Woods-like scandals involving Beyonce. She doesn't show up to the Grammys drunk or bum rush the stage to take awards away from other entertainers. She always presents herself with the class and dignity of a superstar. She has, for the most part, become entertainment royalty -- always presenting herself with a queen-like presence. Whether we like her or not, Beyonce handles herself in an impactful and disciplined way.
2) She continuously reinvents herself: The world is usually on the edge of its seat waiting to see what Beyonce is going to come out with next -- her new look, change in hairstyle, latest rhythm, or anything else that makes her a trend-setter. Nearly every year she has been out her changes have always been intriguing and imaginative. It's not easy to keep re-inventing yourself. Her songwriters also do an amazing job.
3) She is well-managed: You can talk about her father Matthew all you want, but the man knows how to manage and monetize a valuable brand. Rarely has an entertainer had such deeply entrenched connections with corporate America. Beyonce is on her way to matching Michael Jackson, The Beatles and other major performers when it comes to cashing in on her fame.
4) Her work is always high quality: You almost never see Beyonce release anything that is mediocre or flat out garbage. Everything she puts out is safe enough to get airplay, but intriguing enough to keep the record spinning. When Beyonce does something new, it is as consistently good as the next playoff performance of Lebron James.
Beyonce, right now, has the Midas touch. If she continues to remain consistent, she will surely become one of the wealthiest and most significant performers who ever lived. Good for you Beyonce, go do your thing.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
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Comments: (35)
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By: michael woods on 2/03/2010 1:10PM
Cindy. I do not know whether she is a fake or not. I am just saying she is a smart business woman.
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By: Venom-Couture on 5/18/2010 8:27AM
I concur with the assessment outlined by Dr.Boyce.
As an artist beyonce truly reaches into the depths of her heart and soul. She is unafraid to express herself. Passion is a signal from the universe saying that you are on the right path. When you go with your passion and intuition as an artist, you truly create timeless master pieces which is how people like Michael Jackson become stars.
When you reinvent yourself, you are keeping yourself from being predictable. This is very captivating. It doesn't matter if the hair is fake, she is an artist and this is how she paints herself. I cannot stop looking at her.
She runs a huge empire and makes everything look effortless,never expressing how painful it is to spend all day dancing in heels until the video is perfect. Never appearing upset in public when she could easily have had a fight with her family. The dances she does are athletic.
Nobody can reduce her to being just a booty shaking hoochy mama with no voice because she is such a clever marketing and business woman. Getting to the top and captivating everyone with music requires much more than a nice back side.
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By: venom-couture on 5/18/2010 8:47AM
not to mention all the hard work she put into getting her backside to look like that and she really maintains it well. it is so much time management and consistent discipline, every inch and every piece of work is kept top quality. The amount of work she does in astronomical.
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By: not driking the Kool Aid on 10/09/2010 12:28AM
She is quite overrated.
She sings, but she can't sang. There is a big difference. She shakes and shimmies, but she isn't a gifted 'dancer'. Everytime someone states she is the best singer and dancer ever and that she does it better than anyone ever before her, they are putting down too many, many, many extremely talented people from today and throughout history.
That's what upsets people, it's the 'fans' I'll refrain from using the 'st' word, for now, that will start these arguments with people whom express their opinion that they aren't really big fans of hers, no matter what reason they give, the 'fans' will attack the poster. Really, do they have to do that to get their points across.
Beyonce' lost a good bit of fans over how she and her daddy treated LeToya and LeTavia. She made rude comments about them both, it's been caught on tape during live interviews, just thought I'd mention that before someone chimes in with that 'it was her dad... not her' speech. It was the both of them. What a lot of us saw was that she didn't stand up for her friends, which proves she wasn't their friend, afterall. These girls had grown up together and she stabbed them in the back. She has yet to apologize for having acted so shamelessly. A truly humble person realizes when they acted foolishly, even if they feel the other person was at fault, they still will feel they weren't correct in their actions, and they will apologize for their error. So, yes, it is hard to like someone that states she is so 'humble' and 'shy', but her actions show a completely different side. ACTIONS do speak louder than words.
She has shown, time after time, that she will step over someone else to get on top and to stay on top. We won't say she CAN'T sing, we'll say she's average, because that's what she is, vocally. She is an average 'dancer', but she is a great performer. It's just that not everyone is entertained by her types of performances. I really dislike how people don't realized that she lip syncs, just like any other performer that dances throughout their live shows. When she sings live, I mean, truly live, after she has been performing her routines, she sounds raspy. Does this make her a bad singer, of course not, I would prefer to hear that than to hear the track version, why, because some of us go to concerts to hear our favorite singers sing rather than dance. Remember New Kids On The Block? They used to lip sync for their songs that had choreographed routines, unfortunately, they caught a lot of flack for it. However, try doing some aerobic style moves for an extended period of time and sing while you're doing it, and you'll see you're voice won't sound the same, it will sound raspy, d/t your lack of breath. It's just common sense. There is nothing wrong w/lip-syncing to a song while dancing, b/c these performers know the majority of the fans want to see them do the dance routines more than the singing. It's just how the tastes have evolved over time. It's not putting anyone down, thus, the reason for different favorite singers or artists.
But, please, don't try to state this young lady is the greatest of all time. It's jut not true. She's very driven, maybe, more so than many but probably not more than anyone ever, but she's up there. She's as popular as JLo was in the early decade, remember 2002-2004? She flooded the market the same way, and these discussions were going on about her, as well, at that time. Does it mean JLo was the greatest ever? Of course not. I'm not even espousing that I was ever a fan. I respected her as a dancer and as an actress and her clothes were cute, but she was/is an average singer. She had loooks and a great shape that many would have died for, though.
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By: Callie on 1/11/2011 10:16AM
AMEN!!!!!! (that is all I HAVE to say)
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