By now you’ve watched Homecoming on Netflix, right? And if you didn’t catch the livestream last year, now you know. Well, we all knew. But that’s what Beyoncé does – she lets you think you know, and then she lets you know that you didn’t actually know sh-t because she’s the only one who knows. 

You want some more Beyoncé work porn? If you’ve already enjoyed it, enjoy it again. It will not get old. 

Homecoming was a masterpiece, legendary, instantly iconic, one of the greatest live performances of all time, if not THE greatest live performance of all time WHEN YOU CONSIDER IT WAS TWO HOURS LONG, for so many different reasons. So many layers. She was doing the work of all of the Avengers in putting together this show. And on a production level, specifically with how to capture and document that work, she brought in alllll the resources. Ben Hagarty was one of the videographers on that stage. Read his description of his gear that he needed for Homecoming – please, read it all:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by BenHagarty (@benrealvsworld) on

Now just start, only start, to unpack that. Ben brought his best game, because Beyoncé gave him all the tech. A backpack with a radio transmitter connected straight to the control room running on an independent signal to avoid interference – THAT IS THE F-CKING SH-T BEYONCÉ DOES OVER AND ABOVE THE OTHERS. You heard about all those sound issues that everyone had at Coachella this year? All the problems they were having with the audio and the feeds? Think about what you saw last year on the livestream and during Homecoming. Not one glitch. Every stomp sounded crisp. Every shot was framed exactly how she wanted it. That’s resources. And it’s also rehearsal. Here’s Ben again – and this is what Duana was talking about on the Homecoming episode of Show Your Work last week. This is the shot she was referring to:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by BenHagarty (@benrealvsworld) on

Let me be the asshole here who talks about working in broadcast production and appreciating the level of excellence that that entire team delivered for Beyoncé, inspired by Beyoncé, including Beyoncé – we don’t see it often, we don’t even see it sometimes at the f-cking Grammys and the Oscars and the MTV VMAs. In controlled environments, not the middle of the desert! 

So for all the talk that’s been happening the last few days about how much Beyoncé was paid for Coachella compared to how much other people were paid and whether or not it was fair – I don’t want to have that conversation right now, I want to focus instead on how Beyoncé spends what she’s worth. Because the cost of Homecoming came out of her Homecoming fee. You saw all those musicians and dancers and performers. You did not see most the crew but you’ve seen their work. You now know a little bit, just a fraction, about the tech. She told us in Homecoming about the THREE soundstages she’d occupied during production: one for the musicians, the other for dancers, and the third for other staff. On top of the costumes. And the equipment. And the pyramid. And and and and and and…

Her take-home for whatever she was paid was a probably a fraction of the actual fee. But that’s OK because, as usual, Beyoncé had a bigger plan. It’s how she invests in herself. She spent all that money because if she could pull it off, a bigger fee would present itself. As you’ve probably heard, Beyoncé’s deal with Netflix is reportedly worth $60 million for three shows, one of them being Homecoming. You know what that means? It means there are two other projects on the way. IS SHE TRYING TO KILL US?!

Well, right now she’s throwing down a challenge, the #BeforeILetGo challenge. “Before I Let Go” is her new single, the song that plays during the credits of Homecoming, a cover of the Maze and Frankie Beverly song, released on the Homecoming album. It’s her first ever Instagram story and she’s been posting videos of fans doing the dance. CAN YOU IMAGINE SHOWING UP ON B’s IG?!

 

In other Beyoncé news, Lemonade was trending all day on Twitter yesterday after she made the album available on all streaming platforms …with a BONUS. It’s the demo for “Sorry”! The Queen is especially generous in April. It is the fourth month. It is her month.