How Beyonce Made Her Second Pregnancy a Social Media Art Project: Photos
UPDATE: On Thursday, July 13th, Beyoncé introduced her twins, Rumi and Sir, to fans in a colorful post to Instagram in honor of their turning one-month old. The photo, shot in the vein of her pregnancy announcement, featured the singer with a light blue veil, her two little ones nestled in her arms amid a myriad of flowers and colorful fabric.
Call it brilliant branding, multi-media artistry, overkill or all of the above, but Beyoncé has made her second pregnancy, this time with twins, a very public happening. It’s in sharp contrast with how the world-famous singer awaited the birth of her first child, Blue Ivy Carter – in 2011 and early 2012 – mostly in private.
Back then, an infamous Australian TV interview fueled silly, apocryphal speculation that the “Halo” singer was wearing a fake baby bump, and her baby with husband Jay Z was gestating in a surrogate’s womb.
Proving those hysterical conspiracy theorists wrong, this time around, Beyoncé (who has been frank about past struggles with fertility) has offered near-constant, status updates since announcing her pregnancy in February via Instagram.
That news-breaking post quickly became the most-liked of all time, with 11 million likes so far. Beyoncé collaborated with artist Awol Erizku on the shoot, who told Rolling Stone, “she’s a very smart person and she knows what she’s doing. She knows what she wants and she has such a big heart – she’s so open to artist collaborations.”
The Lemonade creator used that stylized image as a kickoff for what has been her biggest creative endeavor of 2017 – a non-musical, mostly fashion-focused way to stay on the pop cultural radar, and a safe space to share a carefully curated, art-directed glimpse at her life right now.
“She just needs to be an example that people could learn from,” artist Erizku told Rolling Stone. “As a human being who’s so open, who’s privileged enough or blessed enough to be in such a position. People need to understand and study Beyoncé. I think Beyoncé needs to create a textbook.” Scroll down for some of the most notable photos and videos.
Whipping her hair May 3rd.
This red look was reminiscent of the gown Beyoncé wore to the 2017 Grammys.
“I am super proud of my beautiful mother for creating such an awesome event. Close to $1 million was raised for The WACO Theater Center to benefit young people through their mentorship programs and the arts,” she wrote of this Texas-set event April 30th, also attended by mom Tina, sister Solange and Michelle Williams. “Mom, you inspire us all to be generous, selfless, positive, to have empathy, to love and to praise creativity in the world. It brought tears to my eyes to be a witness to what you and Richard have created together. WACO is a safe place truly Where Art Can Occur. I love you.”
She went sheer on May 4th.
Stating the obvious, she wore a “Preggers” T-shirt May 4th.
The Peabody Award recipient posted May 9th.
Beyoncé and Blue matched for this Mother’s Day clip posted May 19th.
The Carters hosted an extravagant “Push Party” in Beverly Hills May 21st.
Guests at the African-themed bash included mom Tina Knowles, Serena Williams and Destiny’s Child alum Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland.
The future mother of three opted for ruffles and sequins May 26th.
Blue relished her final days as an only child over Memorial Day weekend.