Harvard Business School will reportedly publish a case study next week on the business behemoth that is Beyoncé, and more specifically, on the effect that her game-changing surprise visual album, Beyoncé, has had on the economy of being a pop star. In our opinion, obviously, they couldn’t have landed on a better subject: Beyoncé has long placed industry, hard work, and ambition as a central theme in her music. Just take a look at her lyrics—going all the way back to her Destiny’s Child days, they read like a user’s guide to becoming a boss. Here, a roundup of Queen Bey’s best business advice.
1. On avoiding scrubs.
Now you've been maxing out my card
Gave me bad credit, buyin' me gifts with my own ends
Haven't paid the first bill
But instead you're headin' to the mall
Goin' on shopping sprees
Perpetrating to your friends like you be ballin’
—Destiny’s Child, “Bills, Bills, Bills”
2. On the importance of women running their own accounts.
Tell me what you think about me
I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings
Only ring your cell-y when I'm feelin’ lonely
When it's all over please get up and leave
Question: Tell me how you feel about this
Try to control me, boy, you get dismissed
Pay my own fun, oh and I pay my own bills
Always 50/50 in relationships
—Destiny’s Child, “Independent Women Part 1”
3. On male-female partnership.
You need a real woman in your life
That's a good look
Taking care
Home is still fly
That's a good look
I'm gonna help you build up your account
That's a good look
—“Upgrade U”
4. On taking care of your man, if you have to.
Cause I'm a suga ma-ma-mama
I'm your suga mama, suga mama
And I've always been the type to take care of mine
I know just what I'm doing
Don't you worry it's cool and everything is steady
Puttin' you on my taxes already, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I promise I won't let no bills get behind
—“Suga Mama”
5. On the necessity of hard work.
I work my 9 to 5, better cut my check
This goes out to all the women getting it in,
You're on your grind
To other men that respect what I do
Please accept my shine
Boy I know you love it
How we're smart enough to make these millions
Strong enough to bear the children
Then get back to business
—“Run the World (Girls)”
6. On treating yourself (and him) if you’ve worked hard.
Yup, I buy my own, if he deserve it, buy his shit too
All up in the store, shorty, tricking if I want to
All up in the store, shawty, fly as we want to
—“Countdown”
7. On avoiding student debt.
Who needs a degree when you're schoolin' life? —“Schoolin Life”
8. Mo Money Mo Problems.
Of course sometimes shit goes down when there's a billion dollars on the elevator
—“Flawless (Remix)”