Following <person>Beyoncé</person>’s explosive revelation of her husband’s infidelity on <person>Lemonade</person> and <person>Jay-Z</person>’s repentant, introspective 4:44, Everything Is Love is the final album in a trilogy documenting married life. Born out of therapy-like recording sessions, it marks the pair’s first full-length collaboration, but listeners hoping for detail on their reconciliation might be disappointed: this is curated veneer, not ugly exposition.
The “love” here is less rooted in their relationship as in love of newfound stability, of being able to luxuriate in their wealth and enjoy their family and the summer weather. Perhaps as much as any of these things, it’s a celebration of their love of hip-hop: <person>Beyoncé</person> spends most of the nine tracks effortlessly spitting rather than singing and the release is teeming with rap references, be it imitating the choppy flow of featured artists <person>Migos</person> on Apeshit or the glorious nod to Still D.R.E. on 713. Things feel all the sweeter knowing how hard they fought to get here: through relationship troubles and against the systemic racism Jay alludes to throughout. It might lack urgency, but it’s an accomplished, glossy finale.