Crossroads Magazine

ing is shown throughout many other lyrics in her song, the music video, and her Super Bowl performance.

Visually for this song Beyonce has pushed boundaries that create a strong support for her message that cannot be misinterpreted. In the music video she is in a scene that resembles post-Katrina New Orleans. She is on a police car that is sinking; Beyoncé is dancing in what appears to be the house of a master of a slave plantation; a young black boy dancing in front of a SWAT team. Not only was her music video controversial, but also in her super bowl performance she and her background dancers were in Black Panthers uniforms. Beyonce has always been a dynamic artist in her visual accompaniments to her songs, from her stage presence, to her last album, “Beyoncé,” where a video accompanied every song. These things combined caused major backlash from people. They feared that Beyoncé was talking about issues that were not real and that even if they were the Super Bowl was not the platform for these actions to be taken. Beyoncé’s platform has never been one this vocally pro-black, and for many white fans this came as a shock. Black artists are often seen as distanced from the black community and the ‘wrongdoings’ that happen in there. For many, this was an eye-opener to recognize that Beyoncé was even black. It has gone as far as a Saturday Night Live creating a skit titled “The Day Beyonce Turned Black,” which aims to capture in a humorous nature the day Beyoncé dropped “Formation” while addressing the issue that most people had not even recognized that she was black up to this song.

In the past there have been times where social issues surrounding the black community were acknowledged and it caused similar actions taken by artists. This type of storytelling of social conditions can be traced back to the early 1900s and the blues era, when black artists were telling their narratives of harsh conditions and searching for work and travel. Although for the time it may not have been seen as very politically inclined, it in fact can now be seen as a catalyst for this narrative of storytelling. A more recent example of this kind of response to social issues relating to hip-hop would be “Fuck The Police” by the group NWA. The song addressed police brutality that members of the group had faced and was also in response to the events that took place involving Rodney King. This song was extremely criticized and in Detroit the playing of the song led to their arrest.

Similarly, for Beyoncé’s new tour she now has no police in one of her stops that are willing to work her concert in response to this song.

Historically music and hip-hop music especially have given a voice for black artists and artists of color that they may not be able to have in any other environment. This song from someone of Beyoncé’s stature shocked a lot of America, but it tends to be when artist are at the height of their career that they feel comfortable enough to push boundaries like this. “Formation” is an innovative song in the way it addresses not only blatant racism but institutionalized as well. Songs like this if nothing else ignite conversation, and although not all artists think that this is their political responsibility, those that do often strike a chord with white America.