Last year was less than stellar for female pop vocalists. That’s not to say things didn’t happen, because a lot happened. 

Miley Cyrus finally had the teenage rebellion she never had. Taylor Swift was 22. Lady Gaga released “ARTPOP,” which pretty much flopped, and Lorde did some interesting things. Meanwhile, Katy Perry failed to deliver an even mildly exciting performance of “Roar”—turns out it’s just a boring song—and Britney Spears was put out to pasture in Las Vegas.

But overall, the year was overshadowed by media controversy and publicity stunts. Our beloved pop divas were able to hold our ever-shrinking attention, but it wasn’t their music or talents we were paying attention to, it was their antics. While that’s entertaining in its own right, it’s not what we want.

The problem was lack of innovation.

Everyone was doing the same old thing with their music, which is fine. Pop music is not exactly known for being deep or highly original, but that doesn’t mean pop can’t give us something with a little more substance.

Unfortunately, most of 2013 was about twerking and thinly veiled drug references. It was a lackluster year, until Beyoncé dropped her surprise, self-titled visual album, “Beyoncé,” delivering us all from the doldrums of the same old pop songs and Miley Cyrus headlines. This album cements Beyonce’s status as a goddess for many reasons; these are just a few.

Brilliant Game-Changer

This album was something to get excited about. It came as a surprise, and right after finals week, as if to say, “Congratulations, you survived! Here is your reward.” The surprise release was also a very well-calculated business and PR move, but even that is not the big wow factor.

The brilliant thing about “Beyoncé” is that it’s a visual album, the first of it’s kind.

This brought together a good portion of how we ingest media to create a forward-thinking product geared toward an Internet-minded generation.

The videos could easily have been parceled out and released over the course of the remainder of 2013 and the first half of 2014, but there is something so satisfying about being able to greedily binge watch the whole thing in one sitting. It’s Netflix meets music videos. Add Beyoncé killing it in every frame and you have yourself a work of art.

It’s Honest and Personal

This is not a flawless album, but I don’t believe it’s supposed to be. This album is personal; it is about who Beyoncé is, the different aspect of who she is and how she came to be the glorious, powerful woman she is now. People are not perfect; that includes Beyoncé. She admits this in “Beyoncé”, she gets jealous and self-conscious just like us commoners.

Her life may seem like a perfect dream by comparison, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that she is still a person. We are so used to seeing Beyoncé the pop star, that it is easy to forget that she is a human being. This album gives us a glimpse of many sides of Beyoncé.

Feminism, Feminism, Feminism!

That may be an ugly word to some of you, but please stay with me here. Don’t worry, “Beyoncé” is not a scholarly treatise on critical race theory or a manifesto for the fourth wave of feminism. What this album is, is empowering.

Beyoncé brought her own take on feminism to this album, showing that feminists aren’t the angry man-hating, bra-burning women that people unfortunately associate with the collective movement. It’s easy to digest and is accessible to many people. It’s provocative without seeming too in-your-face or militant. Let’s call it what it is, it’s good PR for feminism.

Of course there is disagreement on the Internet, but it wouldn’t be the Internet if we weren’t arguing about something. Beyoncé is not exempt from that, but let’s let the bloggers argue about whether Bey is doing feminism “correctly.” They’ve been doing it forever, so they have everything under control. Surely they will announce the results if they ever come to a consensus.

You don’t have to love Beyoncé, but you should respect the fact that she is a supremely-talented and powerful woman who has grown into herself in the most beautiful way. She has matured gracefully, getting better with each passing year, like fine wine, but way better. She changed the game with this album and ascended to her throne as a true goddess.

So who runs the world? Let’s face it, it’s Beyoncé.