Beyoncé 'Anna Mae' Reference In 'Drunk In Love' Causes Controversy: Is Jay Z Mocking Domestic Violence?
Beyonce’s newest hit single, “Drunk in Love,” is making people talk -- for all the wrong reasons. The sexually charged song, which features her husband Jay Z, is certainly more R-rated than her previous hits, but does it cross the line?
That is the question being asked, primarily due to Jay Z’s rap verse referencing the violent relationship between Ike and Tina Turner. Ike was a musician who famously beat his superstar wife and was abusive to her throughout their relationship. A 1993 film was made about the saga, taking the title of Tina Turner's hit “What’s Love Got to Do with It.”
In one scene, Tina, whose real name is Anna Mae, is basking in her success after her first single is played on the radio. She enters a restaurant with a girlfriend to meet up with Ike, who gets a cake for her. She does not want the cake, and instead of being okay with that, Ike shoves the cake in her face, yelling, “Eat the cake, Anna Mae.” He then proceeds to slap Tina’s friend across the face when she tries to defend her. “You are dead if you stay with him,” the friend says as she leaves the restaurant.
On Jay Z’s verse in “Drunk in Love,” he raps: “I’m Ike Turner, turn up/Baby know I don’t play, now eat the cake, Anna Mae/Said ‘Eat the cake, Anna Mae!” In the music video, Beyoncé mouths the lyrics as her husband raps them.
It would be very unlike the singer, who often has anthems promoting strong women, independence and girl power, such as “Single Ladies” and “(Girls) Run the World,” to do a song that seemingly mocks domestic abuse and the struggles that Tina Turner faced during her horrible relationship with Ike. Is Jay Z’s verse too much?
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