Released: April 23, 2016

Featuring: Kendrick Lamar

Songwriter: John Lomax Jonny Coffer Alan Lomax Frank Tirado Kendrick Lamar Dean McIntosh Carla Marie Beyoncé

Producer: Just Blaze Beyoncé Jonny Coffer

[Verse 1: Beyoncé]
Tryna rain, tryna rain on the thunder
Tell the storm I'm new
I'ma walk, I'ma march on the regular
Painting white flags blue
Lord, forgive me, I've been running
Running blind in truth
I'ma rain, I'ma rain on this bitter love
Tell the sweet I'm new

[Pre-Chorus: Beyoncé]
I'm telling these tears, "Go and fall away, fall away," oh
May the last one burn into flames

[Chorus: Beyoncé]
Freedom! Freedom! I can't move
Freedom, cut me loose! Yeah
Freedom! Freedom! Where are you?
'Cause I need freedom, too!
I break chains all by myself
Won't let my freedom rot in hell
Hey! I'ma keep running
'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves

[Verse 2: Beyoncé]
I'ma wade, I'ma wave through the waters
Tell the tide, "Don't move"
I'ma riot, I'ma riot through your borders
Call me bulletproof
Lord, forgive me, I've been runnin'
Runnin' blind in truth
I'ma wade, I'ma wave through your shallow love
Tell the deep I'm new

[Pre-Chorus: Beyoncé]
I'm telling these tears, "Go and fall away, fall away," oh
May the last one burn into flames

[Chorus: Beyoncé]
Freedom! Freedom! I can't move
Freedom, cut me loose!
Freedom! Freedom! Where are you?
'Cause I need freedom, too!
I break chains all by myself
Won't let my freedom rot in hell
Hey! I'ma keep running
'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves

[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]
Ten Hail Marys, I meditate for practice
Channel 9 news tell me I'm movin' backwards
Eight blocks left, death is around the corner
Seven misleadin' statements 'bout my persona
Six headlights wavin' in my direction (Come on)
Five-O askin' me what's in my possession
Yeah, I keep runnin', jump in the aqueducts
Fire hydrants and hazardous
Smoke alarms on the back of us
But mama, don't cry for me, ride for me
Try for me, live for me
Breathe for me, sing for me
Honestly guidin' me
I could be more than I gotta be
Stole from me, lied to me, nation hypocrisy
Code on me, drive on me
Wicked, my spirit inspired me, like yeah
Open correctional gates in higher desert (Yeah)
Open our mind as we cast away oppression (Yeah)
Open the streets and watch our beliefs
And when they carve my name inside the concrete
I pray it forever reads

[Chorus: Beyoncé]
Freedom! Freedom! I can't move
Freedom, cut me loose!
Freedom! Freedom! Where are you?
'Cause I need freedom, too!
I break chains all by myself
Won't let my freedom rot in hell
Hey! I'ma keep running
'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves

[Outro: Kendrick Lamar]
What you want from me?
Is it truth you seek? Oh, father, can you hear me?
What you want from me?
Is it truth you seek? Oh, father, can you hear me?
Hear me out

[Spoken: Hattie White]
I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade.

Beyoncé

In the twenty-first century, no pop star was as poised, as polished, or as generally fierce as Beyoncé. She scored early success with Destiny’s Child, who started out as a sexier and sassier (if less adult) version of TLC, then steadily became more and more of a vehicle for Beyoncé’s operatic vocals and general diva-tude, which may have been the plan all along.

Whether appearing in TV spots, co-starring in films like Dreamgirls, or killing it every night on stadium tours, Beyoncé was omnipresent in the 2000s. Almost everybody, Beygency member or otherwise, loved shiny, hip-hop-fueled hits like “Crazy in Love”, and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. Moving into the 2010s, Beyoncé fights on, gaining more and more traction in pop culture with her work and music.

She has made a significant impact upon the music landscape in general with her recent albums 4 and BEYONCÉ, which explored complex themes like motherhood, feminism, marriage, sexuality, and doubt in a greater depth. With Lemonade, she went a step further—the fierce, intimate exploration of marriage, infidelity, and forgiveness was her most personal and musically daring album yet.