Formation (Beyoncé song)

"Formation" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album ''Lemonade'' (2016). It was written by Beyoncé, Mike WiLL Made-It, Swae Lee, and Pluss, and produced by the former two. It served as the album's lead single, surprise-released on February 6, 2016, through Parkwood Entertainment. "Formation" is an R&B song with trap and bounce influences, in which Beyoncé celebrates her culture, identity and success as a black woman from the Southern United States.

The song received widespread acclaim upon release, with particular praise for the lyrical references, as well as for the production and vocal performance. It was critics' top song of 2016, being named the best song of the year by publications including ''Rolling Stone'', ''Time'', NPR, and ''Complex''. In 2019, it was named the best song of the decade (2010s) by publications including ''Essence'' and '' Parade''. "Formation" was also Google's most searched song of 2016. "Formation" won all six of its nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards, and was nominated for three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Music Video, of which it won the latter award.

The song's music video premiered on the same day as the song itself as an unlisted video on Beyoncé's official YouTube account. Directed by Melina Matsoukas, the New Orleans-set video portrays black pride and resilience through diverse depictions of black Southern culture. The video received critical acclaim, with ''Rolling Stone'' naming it the greatest music video of all time in 2021. In order to promote the song, Beyoncé performed it during her guest appearance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show the day after its premiere.

Upon release, "Formation" ignited discussions on the topics of culture, racism and politics. The song, music video and Super Bowl performance also triggered controversy, with conservative commentators and politicians claiming that Beyoncé was spreading anti-police and anti-American messages and law enforcement groups organizing anti-Beyoncé boycotts and protests. The song became known as a protest song and was adopted as an anthem by the Black Lives Matter movement and the Women's March. The song has also been the subject of study at colleges and universities.

Writing and production

Co-producer Pluss formulated the original beat for "Formation" in Atlanta, Georgia, implementing a synthesizer effect found in the Virtual Studio Technology plug-in on FL Studio. In April 2014, Mike WiLL Made-It and the members of Rae Sremmund were driving to Coachella and freestyling to beats in the car. For the beat that Pluss made, Swae Lee said: "Okay ladies, now let's get in formation". Will loved the concept and thought it would be suited to Beyoncé, who had recently asked him to send new music ideas. Will believed it could be a huge female empowerment anthem in the same vein as "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", with the song being about women getting in line with the men they are in relationships with. They recorded the line on a voice note and later played it back when in a recording studio in Los Angeles. Lee recorded a simple reference track, freestyling over the beat. Mike Will sent it to Beyoncé, together with five or six other reference tracks. A few months later, Mike Will was at a party after a basketball game. Beyoncé appeared at the party and told him she really liked the "Formation" idea, and left it at that.

Beyoncé then wrote all of the verses of the song in New York, while keeping the central concept of "okay ladies, now let's get in formation". Beyoncé's verses took the song in a different direction from what Will intended and broadened its scope to turn it into an anthem about her identity, heritage and culture. Jon Platt of Warner Chappell Music told Mike Will: "Yo, this shit's crazy, you got to hear this". Will went to New York and spent a week in the studio with Beyoncé to complete the recording and production. They added heavy, distorted 808 beats with saturated upper harmonics to the track to make it "palatable to the culture", according to mixing engineer Jaycen Joshua. Beyoncé thought it could be a song that marching bands would play, and asked for horns to be added to the track to evoke the sounds of New Orleans. Will explained that Beyoncé "took this one little idea we came up with on the way to Coachella, put it in a pot, stirred it up, and came with this smash. She takes ideas and puts them with her own ideas, and makes this masterpiece."

Release

"Formation" was released on February 6, 2016, accompanied by its official music video. It was a surprise release, being released with no prior announcement in a similar manner to Beyoncé's 2013 self-titled studio album. The song was made available for free download exclusively via the subscription-based music streaming service Tidal. The release of the song was also followed by new merchandise through the singer's website with items and clothing citing lyrics from the song. The release date of the song was noteworthy as it was the start of Black History Month, during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the day after Trayvon Martin's birthday, and the day before Sandra Bland's birthday.

Composition and lyrical interpretation

"Formation" is a Houston trap and New Orleans bounce song. The song is written in the key of F minor in common time with a tempo of 123 beats per minute. It has a minimalistic beat containing rubbery synths and a heavy bass line, which transforms into a horn-infused stomp reminiscent of marching bands and military tattoos. Regina N. Bradley for ''The Huffington Post'' wrote that the synth effect sounds like a tweaked electronic banjo from the bayou, which positions Beyoncé "squarely in the middle of a messy Black South". In ''The Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning'', Joseph Michael Abramo wrote that Beyoncé's implementation of electronic production, brass elements and vocal fry in "Formation" acts as a tribute to the signifiers of black music, while also forming a critique of institutional racism together with the lyrics. The song has an unconventional structure that deviates from the norm of pop music. American singer-songwriter Mike Errico called the songwriting "practically Dylanesque", with no single clear chorus on the track, but instead a chorus followed by a "super-chorus" that "blows what we thought was the chorus out of the water".

Beyoncé's vocals span from D₃ to A₄ in the song. Beyoncé employs multiple delivery styles on the track, with the introduction being delivered in a hoarse, whispered tone that switches into a half-rapped, half-sung cadence as the song progresses. Lauren Chanel Allen of '' Teen Vogue'' noted how Beyoncé used "a lazy trap flow" instead of "her superhuman vocal range", which acts as a refusal to code-switch and an embracing of blackness. ''The Guardian'' Alex Macpherson characterized Beyoncé's delivery as "playful" and "carefree", noting the "amused drawl" of the opening line and the "sudden giddy exclamation as she lands on the word "chaser" in the chorus". Sheldon Pearce of ''Pitchfork'' described how Beyoncé raps on the track, implementing enunciated syllables, "hard-cracking consonant sounds and precisely-measured alliteration" that make the lyrics satisfying to recite.

"Formation" contains strong political criticism in its lyrics, being described by ''Los Angeles Times'' Mikael Wood as "a statement of radical black positivity." It also was noted by Joseph Lamour who commented during a review for MTV that "Formation" is "a song whose lyrics are teeming with notions of empowerment and pride in her heritage as a black American with roots in Alabama and Louisiana." In the opening line, Beyoncé says "Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess", addressing the conspiracy theory about the singer's connection to the Illuminati. With this line, Beyoncé is dismissing those who believe that black women can only achieve success through secretive manipulation instead of recognizing their talent and hard work. NPR's Mandalit del Barco noted during the first verse, Beyoncé represents her family roots, she said, "Her mother is from Louisiana, as she let us know in the song. This has always been a big part of her identity; it's not one that the mainstream focus is on. People talk about her not centering it." She also described the lines as an "unapologetic blackness".

Critical response

Reviews

"Formation" received widespread critical acclaim upon release. Alexis Petridis, head rock and pop critic for ''The Guardian'', characterized "Formation" as "a masterpiece", citing the "adventurous" music, Beyoncé's "perfect" vocal performance which switches "between playfulness and determination", and the lyrics that act as "a powerful statement of black resilience and a tribute to the fabulousness of Beyoncé". ''Pitchfork'' named the song "Best New Track", with Britt Julious describing it as one of Beyoncé's "most instrumentally-dense and trend-forward productions" which is made specifically for black women, "an audience that might not receive the sort of mainstream, visually and sonically-enticing wisdom that Bey has perfected". Julious added that "for Beyoncé (and for her listeners, too), the unapologetic embracing of one's blackness and the power one can harness when making a name, livelihood, and legacy can't ever be ignored or taken for granted." ''The New York Times'' Jenna Wortham praised the expression of black identity in the song, writing that is "about the entirety of the black experience in America in 2016" encompassing topics such as beauty standards, police brutality, empowerment, and shared culture and history. Wortham also characterized the song as "an existential call to action", with Beyoncé telling black women to join her in formation, making "a power structure that doesn't rely on traditional institutions."

In ''The Lemonade Reader'', Tamara Winfrey Harris described the song as "a radical act", with Beyoncé forgoing an image of blackness that appeases white Americans ("smiling, agreeable, passive, straight, and as close to white as possible") in favor of one that makes them uncomfortable ("Nappy Black, 'Bama Black, queer Black, sexual Black, militant Black"). Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley, a professor of African Studies at University of Texas at Austin, writes for ''Time'' that the song, which many called "political" because of its references, "differs radically from other post-Ferguson protests songs like Trip Lee's "Coulda Been Me" or Rihanna's " American Oxygen" video, which focuses on black men's deaths", calling African American women to stand side by side ("in formation"). Kevin Fallon of ''The Daily Beast'' called the song "a booming meditation on black identity, the validity and transience of a person's roots and history, and the crushing interplay between power and helplessness, agency, and victimization". A ''Rolling Stone'' journalist wrote that "in the era of #BlackLivesMatter, 'Formation' felt downright necessary" and further deemed it "a powerful statement of black Southern resilience". "Formation" was later placed at number one on the same magazine's "50 Best Songs of 2016" list by Rob Sheffield, with him commenting: Formation' was a song that kept hope alive in a bleak year – and it will be essential ammo for the struggles to come in the next."

Recognition

According to global critic aggregator Acclaimed Music, "Formation" was critics' top song of 2016. It was named the best song of 2016 by ''Rolling Stone'', ''Time'', NPR, ''Rolling Stone Australia'', ''Rolling Stone Argentina'', ''Complex'', ''Entertainment Weekly'', '' Fuse'', '' Paste'', ''The Music'', ''Musikexpress'', '' Aftonbladet'', ''Idolator'', '' Mashable'', '' Red Bull'', and ''PopMatters''. In the annual ''Village Voice'''s Pazz & Jop mass critics poll of the year's best in music in 2016, "Formation" was ranked at number one. The song was also named the best international song of 2016 by ''Rolling Stone Brazil''. ''Pitchfork'' and '' Spin'' named the song the second best of the year, while '' Noisey'' named it the fourth best. '' Fact'' named it the fifth best song of the year, while ''NME'' the sixth. '' Billboard'' ranked "Formation" at number one on their "10 Best R&B Songs of 2016" list, and number 14 on their "100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list. "Formation" was also named one of the best songs of 2016 by ''The Irish Times'', ''Elle'', and '' Harper's Bazaar''.

In 2019, ''Essence'' and '' Parade'' named "Formation" the greatest song of the decade (2010s). ''Consequence of Sound'', ''Paste'', ''Insider'', and ''Tampa Bay Times'' listed "Formation" as the third greatest song of the 2010s. For ''Pitchfork'' and ''Rolling Stone'' it was the fourth best of the same period, while for '' Stereogum'' it was the 8th best, and for ''NME'', the 11th best. ''BBC
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