What Is Beyonce's 'Formation'

African American music artists tend to have to use their work to voice some of the struggles their heritage has faced in the past. Artists like Beyoncé and J. Cole have been known to release songs that evoke much emotion. Beyoncé in particular released a highly controversial music video for her song “Formation” the day before she was set to perform at the Super Bowl 50. "Formation" is a bold, five-minute video that displays a glimpse of some important events in African American history, but also consists of elements of Beyoncé’s personal life. Beyoncé uses controversial lyrics to verbally represent who she is and visual imagery to illustrate higher social messages.
From scene to scene, Beyoncé is seen in different clothing and in a different
It is immediately evident that Beyoncé is referencing the 19th century with the Victorian style clothing she is wearing. During the 19th century African Americans faced many hardships and were worked as slaves. Beyoncé and a few others are seen in the video posing in nice clothing as if they are royalty. This scene is a nod to how some Africans Americans were actually wealthy and fortunate during this time, but photographs of them in this light are rarely ever shown. In a scene of the video, Beyoncé is seen standing on the steps of this white house that sort of looks like an old time plantation home. She is standing there surrounded by African American men. Her presence during this scene is reminiscent of a master. Beyoncé boldly stands on the steps of this plantation home as if she runs the show and everyone else should bow down. Another reference is to the 1950’s through the 1960’s. These times were more than influential for African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. made his mark as a historical figure in African American history. King fought for equal rights for African Americans. In the video, a man is seen proudly holding a newspaper with King’s face on it and in the background is as store window with a
Throughout the video, it is apparent that Beyoncé is proud of her heritage. Beyoncé has several concepts to show how proud she is of her Creole heritage in particular. The video itself takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana and that is where Creole heritage descended from. The chorus of the song explains what two races Beyoncé is made of. In her words, “You mix that Negro with that Creole”. Beyoncé does other things to express her proudness of her other heritage, African American. A noticeable thing that Beyoncé did with the lyrics of “Formation”, is that she refrained from using derogatory terms to describe African American race. Other music artists usually use slang terms that often demean the African American race. Over the years, snarky condescending comments have been made about Beyoncé’s family. Slurs about her husband’s nose have surfaced but Beyoncé shot them down by saying that she liked his nose just the way it is. People have also made comments about her child’s hair, which is a natural afro, but of course Beyoncé shut them down with this song by letting them know that she “likes her baby’s hair with baby hair and afro’s”. Both of these statements, along with the statement she made about her own race are a part of the chorus which is said loud and