Only Beyoncé could do this.
Use the Super Bowl, consistently the most watched television program in the country every year, as a platform to make the statement she wants and needs to make. Yes, only Beyoncé.
Not only did she surprise fans with her single “Formation” and its stunning video on Feb. 6, she also attended a high profile Warriors-Thunder NBA game the same night like nothing happened, and then performed the song at the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show the next day. The show that was supposedly Coldplay’s, but we all know which star shone brightest.
Let’s get into the song itself.
“Formation” is a certified black power anthem, a celebration of black southern culture and Beyoncé’s own heritage. The track features lines like “I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils.” The song is by far the most exclusively, celebratorily black work Beyoncé has ever done, and she cemented that with the video.
Set in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, voice overs from Messy Mya and Big Freedia can be heard, and they make the video feel authentic for New Orleans natives and bounce music enthusiasts alike.
In the visual, a young hooded black boy dances in front of a lineup of police as the words “Stop Shooting Us” are shown graffitied on a wall. Then, when the boy makes his final move, the police raise their hands up, surrendering as if to say don’t shoot.
The video ends with Beyoncé gracefully lying atop a sinking NOPD cop car. Yes, Beyoncé sank a cop car.
This is a visual anthem of epic proportions, and the most politically and socially conscious statement Beyoncé has ever made with her music. Not to mention that for much of the black community, it’s the most fun and relatable she’s been.
Beyoncé only furthered the cultural impact of “Formation” when she performed the song at Super Bowl 50 and paid tribute to the Black Panther Party. It’s worth noting that Super Bowl 50 was hosted in the San Francisco Bay Area, the birthplace of the Black Panthers, and it happened to be their 50th anniversary. Perfect timing for Beyoncé, as usual.
I don’t know if she’ll ever be invited back, but the fact that Beyoncé performed a black power anthem featuring the lyrics “I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils” at the Super Bowl on the biggest stage is the stuff of legends.
If you don’t understand the lyrics of “Formation,” or don’t get the symbolism in the video, it’s quite possibly because, as writer Kate Forristall eloquently puts it in her article, “Formation doesn’t include me — and that’s just fine,” it wasn’t made for you. Beyoncé didn’t make this song and video for you to understand, she made it to uplift herself and show love for black culture.
To the critics and naysayers, Beyoncé has a message for you: she doesn’t care. With “Formation” she preaches self-love and openly supports the Black Lives Matter movement, to which her husband Jay Z recently donated $1.5 million. She’s here and riding for justice harder than ever.
After her Super Bowl performance, she announced the Formation World Tour, to which Twitter collectively had to ask itself what expenses weren’t important, like kids, cars, food and clothing, and what expenses were essential, like Beyoncé tour tickets.
She’s the beginning, middle and end; the opening act, headliner and closer. Knowing that she’s in this unpredictable, devil-may-care stage in her career, there’s no telling what her upcoming album will sound like.
But, if she continues on her revolutionary path, we can only imagine its greatness. We’ll be waiting impatiently for that album, Bey.
*goes to Red Lobster*
Kayla Randall is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from New Orleans, Louisiana.