The most shocking lyrics on the album

“I have diamonds under my thighs, where his ego will find bliss.”

Song: “Alien Superstar”

The third track of “Renaissance” is when Beyoncé starts getting really random. This line in particular seems to refer to her own 2009 single “I,” which uses the title as a double entry for a penis.

Interestingly, it also seems like a reference to Maya Angelou’s famous feminist poem “Still Getting Up” (“Does my sexuality upset you? / Surprised / That I dance like I have diamonds / At the meeting of my thighs?”).

“Ultrasonic, sex-loving / In my body, boy, you got it / Hit the ‘draulics while I ride it / Got me actin’ hella thotty.”

Song: “Shut it up”

When Beyoncé casually throws around the phrases “sex erotic” and “hella thotty” on track four, you know the album is going to be a wild ride.

“It’s gotta be the cash ’cause it ain’t your face / It gotta be the cash ’cause it ain’t your face.”

Song: “Church Girl”

As if that line wasn’t devastating enough, Beyoncé decided to repeat it twice in a row.

This may be a cheeky reference “Family Feud” Beyoncé’s 2017 collaboration with husband Jay-Z, in which she raps, “Ain’t no ugly billionaire, I’m cute.”

It is also a cover of the 1992 track “Where They At” by DJ Jimi, who is credited as a co-signer on “Church Girl” (“It must be the pussy ’cause it ain’t your face”).

“Motorized, baby, twirl / My blouse is slowly coming off.”

Song: “Virgin’s Groove”

The longest song on “Renaissance” is also one of the most graphic. “Virgo’s Groove” enjoys certain sexual acts such as “motorized”celebrating the physical pleasures of intimacy (or, as Beyoncé puts it, “nudity and ecstasy”).

“Only a real one could tame me / Only the radio could play me / Oh, now you’d like me to be complacent.”

Song: “Hot”

In a rare moment of venom, Beyoncé appears to refer to the betrayal detailed on her previous album.

Her refusal to be tamed, played, or complacent is strongly reminiscent of both “Don’t Hurt Yourself” and “Sorry,” the third and fourth tracks from “Lemonade”—outrageous friendship anthems addressed to a cheating husband.

“Dimples on my hip, stretch marks on my tits / Drinking water, minding my own business / Monday, I’m overrated, Tuesday, on my dick.”

Song: “Hot”

It’s always exciting when Beyoncé goes into full-on flex mode, and “Heated” boasts her best takedown from tabloids and critics since the opening lines of “Formation” (“Everybody hates evil with this Illuminati mess / Paparazzi, catch my fly, and my cocky fresh.”)

This verse also contains a cheeky nod to growth and motherhood, combining stretch marks with strength, like the previous track “Cozy” (“Kiss my scars cause I love what they did”).

“Get your money, money, stingy, hunting.”

Song: “Pure/Honey”

Although “cunty” and “hunty” are both words commonly used in drag, ballroom, and queer house music (“Pure/Honey” samples “Cunty” by Kevin Aviance and “Miss Honey” by Moi Renee), it still feels like a small electric shock the first time I heard Beyoncé use them.

“If you make my body talk, I’ll put you in a trance / Got you walking with a limp, bet that body makes you dance.”

Song: “Summer Renaissance”

Beyoncé closes the album with a disco-house track that subverts gender roles from the very first line: “I wanna house you and make you take my name.”

In the pre-chorus, Beyoncé promises to make her lover “walk with a limp,” subverting a common phrase who assumes the submissive role of the woman during sex.