Madonna’s Instagram, at this point, has become nothing more than an expected hotbed of controversy–but what else could one anticipate when the queen of courting scandal once had to work even harder to market her “ignominy” and put in the time to create videos that would cause a stir? With Instagram, it’s as easy as 1) post photo, 2) caption and 3) let the masses tear it apart. This week’s Photoshopped image of Jay-Z and Beyoncé looking at works of art in the Louvre transformed into Madonna’s album covers caused almost as much outrage as Madonna’s (original) description: “Learning from the master…………….lol. #art #equals #freedom.” In addition to the Beyhive being quick to pounce on Madonna with attacks as low blowing as “thought you were like…you know…dead” and “Bey and Jay visiting the cemetery,” they also peppered in comments about racial insensitivity. Once again with nothing to lob at Madonna for criticism other than her age, another fan grasped at the stock straw of discrimination. Accusing Madonna of being tone deaf for her use of the word “master,” another enraged Bey fan added, “Did you really just post a pic of 2 Black people looking at you and refer to yourself as ‘the master’”? Yes, clearly Madonna must be the most racist woman in the world after adopting four black children, exchanging love letters with 2Pac in prison, charitably fucking Dennis Rodman and herself being mistaken for a black singer before an image of her face was ever released on an album cover.
That Madonna was playfully shading Jay-Z and Beyoncé as a result of perhaps how out of control not just their fandom, but people in general, have become with praising literally every shit they take (and every album that may or may not be, quite simply, throwaway, save for a single buttressed by the visuals) was actually pretty brave. Most especially when considering that everyone is so literal it detracts from an already lacking collective sense of humor that allows any room for a jest that jibes ever so slightly. What’s more, Madonna’s appetite for art–collecting it, absorbing it, using it for her own work–has long been “her thing,” and no one has ever shoved a tongue as far up her ass as they have done for Jay-Z and Beyoncé. For fuck’s sake, the woman even won a Golden Globe for “Masterpiece” (much to Elton John’s chagrin), a song wielding art as metaphor for an arcane love interest.
Whether Madonna’s motive in posting the photo was to gently remind everyone that she’s the Da Vinci of the pop world (at least SOPHIE recognizes) or simply to display this adept use of someone’s (presumably a fan) Photoshop skills is unimportant. What matters is that Jay-Z and Beyoncé have reached an unhealthy deification point that Madonna herself was never even made privy to because demonization far outweighed veneration during the height of her success, and maybe this image is the start of a larger conversation: why are y’all determined to believe Jay-Z and Beyoncé can’t make mistakes? Every human does.
And yeah, maybe Jay-Z and Beyoncé should study from some of Madonna’s past albums for their next record–it might make it more palatable to listen to as opposed to the ranting rambling of “Nice” (epitomized by the lyrics, I’m so ni-i-ice (woo)/I’m everybody type (uh), goddamn right (haa)/I’m so nice (ah), Jesus Christ (rah)/I’m better than the hype (gah), I give you life)” or the perpetuation of coveting material wealth on “Apeshit,” the video itself for which is ultimately just a plug for all the power the couple has as opposed to “re-defining conventionally white spaces.”
In the end, Madonna amended her caption to “Learning……………….lol.” Even she surrendered to the bizarre power of this couple. But I guess that just goes to show that when you’re about to release an album of your own in this era, you can’t afford to be on the bad side of The Carters, wielding the music industry and us all like little marionettes. As Jay-Z says (/steals) on “Boss,” however, “Pride always goeth before the fall.”
