By Chris McPherson

Beyonce has had her fair share of criticism for her song Bow Down, but it feels like this is all just a frequency of publicity stunts for the powerhouse performer lately.

First, she said she was going back in the studio to work on her fifth studio album. Then, there was the announcement of her Super Bowl performance and a lucrative Pepsi endorsement deal. Moving forward to her inauguration performance, the backlash for lip syncing, and then her live performance at a press conference subsequently after. And let’s not forget her heartfelt HBO documentary, Life is But a Dream, that even unleashed a tear from my eyes. Leading us all back to the release of the buzz track Bow Down.

This all seems a bit suspicious for someone like Beyonce, who has done a superb job of keeping herself out of the media’s attention. Yes, there were always reports of her, like her domination of Destiny’s Child, her diva demands, and surrogate accusations, but none of this ever hit mainstream media reports. What is this? PR stunts fired in heavy sequence to build enough steam for her new album? A crack in Bey’s security armor? Or are news outlets getting better at acquiring personal information from her life.

Whatever it is, I’m still a fan. I’m not 100 percent behind Bow Down, but it is a great song to dance to when no one is watching. And as the famous internet star, Glozell said in her review of the song, “is this Rihanna or Nicki Minaj?”

Here is a tribute to Bow Down I made with my friend Daisy on Saturday. Some college students sleep all Saturday, I decided to do something semi-productive. Enjoy!