Beyonce's Formation World Tour came to Tampa Friday night and I wasn't in attendance. And my whole entire blog is named after one of her songs, so naturally I chose Beyonce and wrote my song about Formation to fill the little void in my heart, and to make writing the darn thing more bearable.
Note that this paper is a tiny bit on the longer side, and much longer than any regular blog post that I would put up. This is just one of the few papers that I had to write this semester that wasn't a total buzzkill so I thought I would share. Most of it is just lyrical analysis with just a bit of application in between and at the end.
Some would argue
that it is an artist’s responsibility to discuss and shed light on social
issues through their work. Within the past decade the topic of police brutality
has garnered America’s attention and the discussion of racial inequality and
race relations has also become a front-runner for heated discussions. In a
world where black lives are systematically and sometimes intentionally targeted
it is important to empower black individuals to let them know that they do
matter. It is also important to take pride in being black, and to let others
know that black is just as beautiful as everyone else. Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’
does just that. Released in early 2016 and written by Khalif brown, Jordan
Frost, Ashton Hogan, Michael Williams II, and Beyoncé Knowles and produced by
Mike Will Made It and Puss, Formation is unapologetically black and celebrates
embracing black culture while calling on black women to stick together. The
song falls within the Bounce genre, which is a style of hip-hop that originated
in New Orleans, where much of the song’s references and video stem from.
I think that any song that Beyoncé
releases is amazing. But Formation’s release was bold and unexpected, and
completely necessary. I first heard the song while watching the video, which
was released as a surprise to the public. The video not only compliments the
song perfectly, but also represents black women exclusively and pays homage to
many black southern styles of fashion found in Louisiana, which is where I was
born! Growing up as a black female in America is an experience that can be
troubling and difficult. We are often told that we are not good enough for a
spot within mainstream society, that we are not beautiful enough to fit within
the realm of what America considers beautiful, and we often fall victim to inaccurate
portrayals, racist jokes, and hurtful stereotypes that mainstream media
capitalizes on. Beyoncé has always been a beacon of power and success for all
females, but with Formation she shifts her focus and chooses to highlight her
culture, standing beside women who share her struggles and life experiences.
Reminding America that she too, is very black, and very proud.
The
song follows themes of the black experience in today’s America. Beyoncé touches
on class, gender, and combats ridicule and criticism that has been thrown at
her by critics. The song opens with Beyoncé immediately addressing and shutting
down several rumors and conspiracies. The first one she takes aim at is the
belief that she belongs to the Illuminati, or a secret society that seeks world
domination. “Ya’ll haters corny with that illuminati mess.” Several black artists have also been accused
of belonging or affiliating themselves with this organization. Associating
artists of color to this organization is problematic because it seeks to
invalidate their artistry and talent and instead relies on this theory to
affirm their success. It is hard enough to break into an industry that is
dominated, and essentially run by rich white men, and it is even harder to do
so as a black artist. Beyoncé recognizes that she is responsible for her own
success through her own hard work, and reduces these critics and theorists to
nothing but corny haters.
The
last half of the first verse focuses more on race, and is the most
self-celebrated part of the song. It is also the point of the song in which the
tempo and the rhythm start to pick up.
“My daddy Alabama, Mama Louisiana, You mix that negro with that creole you make a Texas bama.” Beyoncé discusses her parents and the impact and
influence they had on her childhood. Beyoncé’s father hails from Alabama and
her mother is of mixed race. ‘Creole’ is a term from Louisiana that is used to
describe mixed race individuals separate from blacks and whites and was often
used to create a separate social sphere, although these individuals were both
races. Without Beyoncé’s parents and their heritage she would not be who she is
today. The word ‘Bama’ was slang used by black youth to describe someone who
didn’t know how to behave but has evolved into a general word for ‘person.’
Beyoncé
goes on to discuss another topic that the world could not seem to stop talking
about – her daughter’s hair. “I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros.”
Blue Ivy has fallen victim to the disrespect from eyes that believe beauty lies
within white features, such as straight hair and hair that isn’t kinky or curly
– and she’s only four. Blue Ivy’s hair in it’s natural state bothered many,
prompting them to ask “What’s wrong with her hair?” or “Beyoncé needs to do her
daughter’s hair.” A petition was even started online to comb Blue’s hair. There
is nothing wrong with Blue’s hair.
Black hair and black beauty have been ridiculed and made fun of for years –
prompting black women to straighten their hair with chemical relaxers, and
wearing wigs and weaves to fit into America’s standard of beauty. Beyoncé likes her daughter’s natural hair, and
she prefers to have it natural because it is beautiful, represents black
beauty, and is somewhat an act of defiance against America's Eurocentric standard of beauty. In the next line she speaks about another black feature that gets made
fun of constantly, her husband’s nose. “I like my negro nose with Jackson Five
nostrils.” The Jackson 5, and the Jackson family in general are known for
having larger noses. Jay Z also shares this characteristic, as well as most if
not all of the black population. Having a larger nose is often a general
characteristic of being black and Beyoncé finds this feature beautiful as well.
Beyoncé
goes on to discuss class and money in the last two lines of the first verse.
“Earned all this money but they never take the country out me, I got hot sauce
in my bag, swag.” Despite her net worth Beyoncé will always remain true to her
southern upbringing and behaviors, like carrying hot sauce in her bag. She's no different from any one else raised in the south, and money has not affected the way she she views herself. She
discusses class again in the last two lines of the second verse, stating, “You
just might be a black Bill Gates in the making, I just might be a black Bill
Gates in the making!” Bill Gates in the world’s richest person with a net worth
of 75 billion dollars. Beyoncé provides encouragement to black individuals to
become the best that they can be, not only for monetary gain, but in order to
change the world through innovation and new ideas. She goes on to say that she in fact just might be a black
Bill Gates in the making, encouraging both black males and females to be their
best, to set forth and conquer the world.
 |
| A few of my favorite visuals from the video. |
The
chorus of the song places a strong focus on all black women coming together to
collectively achieve dreams and goals, and to “slay.” The term slay has become
popular among millenials within the past two years and originates in the gay
black community. It means to succeed and thrive at something. Formation can be used as a metaphor for black
women to come together and change the world by dismantling white
heteopatriarchy. “Okay ladies now lets get in formation, cause I slay, Prove to
me you got some coordination, Cause I slay, Slay trick or get eliminated.”
With
Formation I believe that the target audience was everyone, but I feel like Beyoncé
sent two very different messages. The first message was to the black community,
and more specifically black females. Letting us all know that she stands united
with us and that she feels our struggle and our pain living in America. The
second message was to everyone else, letting them know that she isn’t silent
about issues that the black community faces. While everyone who is a Beyoncé
fan probably purchased and enjoyed the single, the only demographic that could
truly relate and identify where black females.
Formation
is an anthem of unity and standing together. As black females we are often left
out of absolutely everything, and remain largely underrepresented and
misrepresented. Representation is so incredibly important and uplifts black
women who have been told their entire lives that they are not worthy of
attention, love, or respect. Formation is a self-love anthem and challenges the
white majority along the way. The song paired with the video was not made for
white audiences and that is more than okay. Without exposing the world to black
narratives and black artistry the rest of the world will never understand what
we have to say.
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