She may not be the most punk-rock girl on the block, but Beyoncé Knowles has a touch of the riot grrrl to her — at least according to ’90s punk icon and original riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and the Julie Ruin fame. In honor of Queen Bey’s 31st birthday, MTV News is counting down the top eight lyrics that make her pop’s ultimate “independent woman.”
“I could really go on about Beyoncé forever,” Hanna, whose album Run Fast dropped Tuesday, said in a VMA weekend interview with Grimes and Buzzworthy’s Tamar Anitai. The artists went on to spend a good portion of their 15-minute chat talking about Bey and the inherent feminism and strength in her music, something Hanna knows a thing or two about.
The singer not only spent seven years in seminal female punk band Bikini Kill, she also curated an expansive archive of ‘zines and other materials dubbed the Riot Grrrl Collection. That anthology of sorts got its name from the underground feminist punk rock movement of the same name.
“I love ‘Survivor,’ ” Hanna gushed. “It’s so good. And the whole [lyric] ‘I’m not going to dis you on the Internet’ — instead I’m going to dis you in a song that 1,000 million people are going to listen to? It’s so good.”
And “Survivor” (from Bey’s Destiny’s Child days) isn’t the star’s only stand-up-and-fight jam. Here’s are 8 more riot grrl-esque lyrics. You won’t find any directives to “suck my left one” up in this mix, but there’s plenty of attitude to go around.
“Independent Women”: “The shoes on my feet, I’ve bought it/ The clothes I’m wearing, I’ve bought it. The rock I’m rockin’, I’ve bought it/ ‘Cause I depend on me, if I want it.”
“Survivor”: “I’m a survivor (What?)/ I’m not gon give up (What?)/ I’m not gon stop (What?)/ I’m gon work harder (What?)/ I’m a survivor (What?)/ I’m gonna make it (What?)/ I will survive (What?)/Keep on survivin’ (What?).”
“Bootylicious”: “I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly.”
“Me, Myself and I”: ” ‘Cause I realized I got/ Me myself and I/ That’s all I got in the end/ That’s what I found out/ And it ain’t no need to cry/ I took a vow that from now on/ I’m gonna be my own best friend.”
“Single Ladies”: “All the single ladies, Now put your hands up!”
“Diva”: “Na-na-na, diva is a female version of a hustla, of a hustla, of a, of a hustla …”
“Run the World (Girls)”: “Girls, we run this motha (yeah!)”
“Bow Down”: “But don’t think I’m just his little wife/ Don’t get it twisted, get it twisted/ This my sh–, bow down bitches.”
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