3 Major Resolutions for Beyoncé & Jay Z

Beyoncé and Jay Z are, without question, America's royal hip hop relationship — a true power couple. As is often said, with great power comes great responsibility, and Jay Z and Beyoncé are expected to be responsible for not only looking flawless all the time, but having a flawless relationship with no bumps in the road. Maintaining such a painstakingly perfect image of a loving couple at all times must get frustrating, especially when the image was heavily questioned this year post-Elevatorgate, with a bevy of breakup rumors following.

Despite the struggles, Queen B and her man managed to make it through, well, whatever it was they were going through, all while still snatching the perfect photo opportunities and further solidifying their fan base as a duo. In fact, they even went on an epic tour together over this summer, eliciting camera flashes from the paparazzi and loud screams from fans wherever they went. If it weren't for the constant tabloid articles and that unfortunate elevator video, you would have guessed from their highly sexualized performances together and Beyoncé's heavily edited Instagram that everything was smooth sailing all the time. And that's likely what they'd want you to think.

Next year, they should consider these resolutions for how they present themselves, because sadly, no one is completely flawless all the time.

Beyoncé Should Break Up … With Photoshop

We know we live in an age of a body image crisis when someone with as beautiful a figure as Beyoncé feels the need to trim her thighs, as she's been accused of doing in the Instagram post above, or to make her waist look smaller. She may sing body-positive lyrics and make feminist declarations in her songs, but what kind of message is she sending when she (or an assistant) digitally alters her pictures to make her body look different? She should lay off the Photoshop and show off the Beyoncé we all know and love — curves and all.

Jay Z Should Fully Address the Cheating Rumors

It is very commendable that Jay Z has kept so much of his personal life with Beyoncé under wraps. After all, there's something to be said for privacy in a need-to-know information digital age. However, it's hard to believe that Beyoncé would be upset by more public declaration of his loyalty — and furthermore, respect — for his wife, which he could do by addressing those cheating rumors straight on. The fans would likely be even more appreciative of that.

If They Are Thinking of Using Breakup Rumors to Boost Sales, Maybe Don't

Beyoncé's father hinted that the elevator fight may have happened and all those nasty breakup rumors might have been left unaddressed by the couple to boost ticket sales for the duo's arena tour. Matthew Knowles told Houston radio station KRBE, "All I know is the Jedi mind trick. Everyone’s talking about it. Ticket sales went up. Solange’s album sales went up 200%." If that is true, it's not cool to play tricks like that. It's understandable that they want to sell tickets, but a power couple like them shouldn't have to resort to duping their fans into thinking this might be the last chance they could've seen them together live. They should stick to what made them famous instead — undeniable talent and hard work.

Visit our Year In Review Explore page for more stories about the best and worst moments in 2014, and enjoy the best sounds of the year with this Spotify playlist.