Almost everyone has heard Beyonce’s new song featuring Jay-Z called “Drunk in Love.”
By now, you are probably sick of it. According to the Billboard Hot 100 webpage, it dropped from No. 1 to position No. 8 recently.
In the lyrics, Beyonce is professing her sexual desire for Jay-Z, her husband, after a night of drinking. She says he can’t keep his eyes off “her fatty”, and that they woke up on the kitchen floor, which is revealing enough, until Jay-Z comes in with his lines.
You can’t miss the next part.
It’s loud and clear.
But you can miss the reference if you aren’t familiar with it.
“I’m Ike Turner. Baby, know I don’t play. Now, eat the cake, Anna Mae. Say, eat the cake Anna Mae,” raps Jay-Z.
Ike and Tina Turner were a musical duo back in the 1960s, with a turbulent marriage to put it lightly.
Anna Mae Bullock is Tina Turner’s real name.
The line is referencing a scene from the movie about Tina Turner’s life, called “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”
In the scene, Ike and Tina are at a restaurant with some friends. Two children approach Tina for her autograph. They do not approach Ike.
He becomes extremely jealous, and says they should celebrate “their” success.
He has the waitress bring over a cake.
Ike cuts a piece and offers it to Tina, saying, “Come on, Anna Mae.” She refuses. He continues to insist, and when she yet again refuses, he smashes the cake onto her face and smothers her in it, cooing: “Eat the cake.”
It’s one of the most traumatizing scenes in an already hard film to watch. Tina Turner is physically abused and utterly humiliated.
It’s important to know what we are listening to and be able to think critically about what is being presented before us.
It is used as a metaphor in Beyonce’s song: it is tasteless, and out of place.
It takes a pretty enjoyable song and with one line it derails itself
Art is meant to be a platform for self-expression, but when it hurts other people, it’s not okay. It is an insult to all domestic violence victims.