Beyoncé wanted to do what was "best for the world" with her Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance.
The ‘Formation’ singer pulled out all the stops for a spectacular show at the annual event last weekend, but her mother Tina Knowles-Lawson admitted she was "afraid" about the way her daughter had decided to honour black culture and historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in her set as she worried the Californian festival’s "predominantly white" audience wouldn’t understand.
She wrote on Instagram: "I told Beyoncé that I was afraid that the predominately white audience at Coachella would be confused by all of the black culture and Black college culture because it was something that they might not get.
"Her brave response to me made me feel a bit selfish and ashamed.
"She said, ‘I have worked very hard to get to the point where I have a true voice and at this point in my life and my career I have a responsibility to do what’s best for the world and not what is most popular. "
And the 36-year-old singer – who was the first black woman to headline the event – told her mother she wanted her performance to encourage young people to go out and research and better understand her cultural referencing from the show.
Tina added: "She said that her hope is that after the show young people would research this culture and see how cool it is, and young people black and white would listen to ‘LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING’ and see how amazing the words are for us all and bridge the gap. She also hopes that it will encourage young kids to enroll in our amazing Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I stand corrected.(sic)"
Beyoncé wanted to promote black culture
