An average musician normally conveys their stance on issues not only through their music, but through interviews and public appearances. Beyoncé, on the other hand, has exported all of her relevant public thought through her music and artistic presentation. Beyoncé’s music shows clear alliances to issues she cares about, most notably feminism and black power. Beyoncé has become a musical genius for two reason—she is both inaccessible and opaque. While the media pleads for her to communicate with the press, Beyoncé does not respond. They have a desire to know about her personal life, which is a standard desire in celebrity culture. Beyoncé does not fulfill that void in the press.

 

The key to her iconography is one thing: control.

 

The musician produces countless singles, albums, and videos, but the more we see, the less we know. Beyoncé has produced an inverse relationship, as her music becomes more revealing, the less available she becomes. Beyoncé has chosen to circumvent the celebrity dynamic and has become an expert at precise image management. Control is a vital aspect of her celebrity identity in order to best manage her perception. 

 

When I think about Beyoncé, I equate her to “a friend of a friend.” You always think you know everything about “a friend of a friend,” but you actually know nothing. You know a bit about their background, family, and interests; however, you do not know who they truly are. Beyoncé provides her fans with enough of a surface level knowledge about her that our thirst for information is quenched. When she wants to communicate a greater stance on an issue Beyoncé does not go on Jimmy Kimmel; she curates a brand-new album.

 

Beyoncé’s precise ability to control her image management is unique to this icon. Other stars have been able to marginally control fan perception but not with the same inaccessible façade that Beyoncé possesses. And Beyoncé did not always have this pristine image. When Beyoncé began her career, she was an average Houston R&B pop-star who released mainstream singles. Throughout the years, Beyoncé had to control how her fans viewed her as she became more famous. She controlled how her sexuality, class status, and familial life was perceived.

 

And she did that through her music, not her words.

 

Beyoncé’s unique ability to control her image management is specific to this icon. Most recently at Coachella, or as I like to call it BeyChella, Beyoncé was able to show her support of historically black colleges and musicians through her two hour performance. Beyoncé is constantly keeping us on our toes for the next performance with a laundry list full of confusing underlying meanings.

 

Bey has mastered iconography and, most importantly, control over her image perception. Other stars have been able to marginally control fan perception but not with the same inaccessible façade that Beyoncé has. Beyoncé is both simple and complex; surface level and deep; an out-going star and a shy introvert.

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But, most important, she is an icon.

 

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