At one point Jay Z says, “If you escaped what I’ve escaped // You’d be in Paris getting fucked up too.” Paris is a place, an accomplishment, a metaphor, and an ideal. On his 2011 joint album with Kanye, Watch the Throne, Kanye and Jay Z rap about “going gorillas” on the track, “Niggas in Paris.” The song is a celebration - a turn-up fit for kings after the hard work has finally paid off. In the Ricky Saizdirected clip, Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Musically, it picks up a thread Jay Z’s had in his discography for years. This weekend’s release of their music video Apeshit provided fans with a stunning trip through the Louvre and a wealth of new fashion. So, I think APESHIT ("AS") is intended to serve as the epilogue to Touki Bouki (1973), the Senegalese film that they crafted the narrative of their tour around.Ī film about escape, Beyonce's singing "I can't believe we made it" in AS feels arrived. Visually, it completes a story set in motion on their tour, inspired by the 1973 Senegalese movie Touki Bouki, about a pair of lovers who dream of finding their fortune in Paris: The Carters have referenced Paris throughout their careers. It is clear that Paris is meaningful to them and their story. It’s going to be “extra” because we’re proud and feel the pride of the many who couldn’t even dream of it. Ape shrieks, Migos ad-libs and joint vocals from husband and wife JAY-Z and Beyoncé marry in 'Apeshit,' the second track from the couples surprise project Everything Is Love. It’s going to be opulent in ways our culture hasn’t had the chance to be for as long as others. Beyonce, left, and Jay-Z in front of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in their new music video. What they are doing here is demonstrating what it could look like, what it should like, and also more or less what it would have to look like if you allow us in these spaces. At the Louvre, Beyoncé and Jay-Z Are Both Outsiders and Heirs. The question of whether or not black artists and black art belong in places like Louvre doesn’t interest them, they know it does. With “Apeshit” Beyoncé and Jay Z are setting a new status quo. And it’s also true.Īdd to that the fact that they’re parading around, using “important” art dating back centuries as the backdrop (not the setting) for merriment while rapping about how much the current institutions and systems don’t matter to them, and you get bravado on a level Kanye hasn’t even hit yet. To roll up to the Louvre with their Versace, triumphantly hedonist dance moves, trap beats, and Quavo all says, “ Look, we are on this level.” It’s awe-inspiring.