Formation

The song "Formation" by Beyonce has so much meaning behind it, which leads to lots of criticism both good and bad.  When i first saw the music video "Formation" i first took it as another song of hers that had the potential to become a hit because the lyrics sounded pretty catchy even though i have never paid much attention to what the lyrics themselves were saying.  When i read the lyrics  i started to look at it as just another song of Beyonce who defines her, who she is and how much of power she carries with her, which is not much different from any other song of hers.  Beyonce is an artisrt who have always made songs that have both a lot of power and meaning behind it.  However i believe what made so many people people look at the song in  a wrong g way is not anything about the song in specific: people took the song to their own personal ways.  Some will say she used the song to attack the police when all she actually did was bring awareness to a problem that this society is facing.  The only possible thing that might not be so right about her music video is how she mentioned the victims from the Hurricane Katrina, because it involved so much.  the Super Bowl performance was most likely what really got so many bad criticism because a lot of people looked at it as her advertising her music and many did think that she was sending negative messages.  since Beyonce herself did not say much about her music video or her performance on Super Bowl people will just keep assuming things because they do not have any concrete answer however me personally do believe her song was not meant to attack any part in specific matter fact i ma one of those that sees it as just another artist trying to bring attention to a situation like J Cole did, Kendrick Lamar and much more others did.

Beyonce: Super Bowl Performance

It was a bold move for Beyonce to release such a controversial  song two days before the Super bowl then perform it. Although the song is quite entertaining, I still do not feel the super bowl was the right place to preform it. I have no problem with her singing about her heritage and where she is from. I just feel like the super bowl should have songs that make you want to get up and dance and that are upbeat. The song that she preformed was very serious and  personal. I do understand why she preformed it because it is black history month, so it makes sense and she was just trying to get the message out about Civil rights and women standing up for what they believe in. Beyonce is a very powerful women, so she is not going to take a lot of crap for preforming this because according to most people she a Queen.

One of the main things I wanted to bring up about her song "Formation" was how people think she made a anti-cop statement in her song. People think the song portrays cops as villains and they just shoot innocent people, but thats not true at all. Cops protect us and Beyonce would never speak bad about them. Everybody is just picking bad things out of here song when there is so much good about it. Even though I do not think it was the right place to preform the song I still think it was great of her to speak her mind.

The Queen is Here

Beyonce made a big impact releasing her new song “Formation.”  This song being released two days before her performance at the Super Bowl made her the biggest talk in the music world for the last couple weeks.  Whether some say she didn’t know and others say she was well aware, the impact that Beyonce left throughout the world will be talked about for a long time.  Beyonce has a lot of power as a women and this was taken well, if she wasn’t of such high power she would have possibly gotten shunned upon more.  I think it is a political song to say the least, but Beyonce knew this would be talked about and have a large impact on society.

            This song caused such a ruckus because of the time of the release and the Super Bowl performance that followed it two days later.  I watched the Super Bowl performance and thought “what is this song she is singing?”  I had no idea, I hadn’t heard the song before.  After getting assigned to watch and listen to this music video I understood why people were a little overwhelmed.  The message I felt out of the song had to do with Civil Rights and women to start standing up for what is theirs.  I understand releasing the song because it is Beyonce and she makes music but her plan was to make it loud and proud for the world to hear it.  She knew going into the Super Bowl this is the time to make the most of this song.  There are always going to be people on both side of the spectrum when it comes to whether it is right or wrong so the aftermath was pretty predictable.  Some can’t get enough of the song some people can’t stomach to listen to it again.

            Personally, I thought the song was catchy and that is was really ballsy for her to release it how she did.  This impacted a lot of people whether they are a diehard Beyonce fan or they think “who the hell is Beyonce.” Which is pretty unreasonable because who doesn’t know Beyonce….? I think this song is helping her reach out to people who feel the same way as her as well as promote herself as an artist.  It will be recognized song for change for a long time.

            

Blog #4

Kayla Leland 

Professor Santos 

EN 003 

February 19, 2016 

  Blog #4

Beyoncé- Formation 

  

This week in class we have discussed Beyoncé’s new song called “Formation” in which she also performed at the 2016 Super Bowl. My first reaction when listening to the song was a little shocking listening to all of the references she has made in the song and it was not until reading the full lyrics did I understand the references more clearly that she was referring too. This song was meant as a Black-power anthem as a tribute to the black power movement in which Beyonce is owning her female empowerment. Beyonce is proud of the woman she is and is proud of her cultural identity as she states " my daddy Alabama, momma Louisiana." One particular part of the song that stood out to me was when  she says " okay, okay, ladies now let's get information, cause I slay" because this is where she is really trying to take the call to action and wants all black women to unite because this formation is what has to come before any real movement. 

 

Although I think it is great for Beyoncé to be able to sing what she feels and sing for black power I found it a little too much. Beyoncé knew what she was doing and chose to make such a big impact by performing at the 2016 Super Bowl. Some may argue that Beyonce came on a little too strong as she could be seen as mocking people. One thing that we have discussed in class that I have never really thought about is the part where Beyonce talks about Hurricane Katrina that caused the massive damage in New Orleans. Some people who were affected by the hurricane saw her song to be taking advantage of the tragedy as a way to make money as she never got to see the suffering people have gone through. Overall, similar to Nina Simone Beyonce has become more political in the sense that she is using her music to make a change against racism.  

Formation – Beyoncé

Beyoncé’s new song, Formation, has caused quite the controversy. She is now being called such things as racist and other very offensive things. Im sure Beyoncé’s knew everyone was going to talk about her song/super bowl performance, but I bet she had no idea it would go this far.

Focusing on just the lyrics, I see nothing wrong. Her song seems to make it should like she is singing about her heritage and who she is as a person. I find it great how she can sing so highly about who she is and where she comes from. Everyone should be proud of who they are. My favorite line from her song is, “I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils”. I personally like these lines the most because she mentions things about herself and her family that she loves and she takes pride in. While watching the music video for this song, I found it very entertaining. After talking about the video in class, I learned so much about the specific things in the video that I didn’t realize before. I didn’t even notice or connect the Trayvon Martin scene when I watched the video. I admired how she put that scene in there because it really sent a message. Some people said that Beyoncé was making light of the Hurricane Katrina trauma in her video, but I saw it as her trying to show the world the tragedies the people went through by showing scenes of flooded streets and houses.

With Beyoncé’s half-time performance, I understand why people would dislike how she dressed her dancers as Black Panthers. Some people could really take offence to that but I feel as though Beyoncé meant no harm. I doubt that Beyoncé purposely put on a performance or a costume that she knew would easily offend people. I think she was just trying the make know that it was the 50^th anniversary of the Black Panthers; I don’t think she meant anything more than that.

 I think sometimes some people get easily offended, and when you’re putting on a performance at an event as big as the super bowl with millions of people watching, you are bound to get criticism for anything that you do. I personally did not see anything that was so shocking and offending that would cause all of this drama, so unless I missed something that was completely obvious, Beyoncé’s new song and performance really did not have an affect on me.

Formation- Beyonce'

                  After watching Beyoncé’s “Formation” video and her Superbowl performance, I had a couple of thoughts to share. There have been many controversies about this subject. This song was meant to be a ‘Black-Power anthem’ and came out in Black History Month. However, when the song came out, there has been many ideas about racism and police matters. There are rumors saying that Beyoncé is against police. It has caused an uproar in media and though people all over the United States. I have even heard that police don’t want to work her upcoming shows when she goes on tour this summer. However, I do not think that she is against police, I believe it was taken the wrong way.

                  When I watched the “Formation” video, a lot of things in the video had stuck out to me. But, the lyrics are what really got me thinking. She had talked about where her parents were from, and about her culture and customs. She had also talked about hurricane Katrina and there were scenes that included that, many people found this disturbing and very offensive. I believe that this song wasn’t meant to go against whites, but to support Black Power. Her performance and music video involved black women, but if you listen to the song, that is the whole point. I believe this song was not intended to cause a negative effect but to emphasize black power month, and the “Black Lives Matter” movement. However, everyone can have their own opinion on this specific issue, but I see nothing wrong with how Beyoncé portrayed herself or the song.

                  Beyoncé had released the song the day after Trayvon Martin’s birthday and the day before what would have been Sandra Bland’s birthday. She performed the song and intended to get the attention from people and publicize her tour. She was very smart for performing the song at the Super Bowl and announcing her tour. I don’t think that her intention was to anger any specific group of people, but to help further her in her career.

I slay I slay

This black history month is so memorable.Beyonce is one of the most powerful woman in the music industry. SHe used her power to raise awaraness for social inequalities.When I first saw the video of formation I was shock because most of the content Beyonce has been putting out in her previous career were deem as "safe". Now she is at a point in her life where she has enough mainstream success  and financial security to be able to put out such message to the world.Formation is about black pride; i's about being proud of the skin you are born in and learning how to love yourself but so many people don't see that because they can't relte to it.So many people are offended over the facts that beyonce chose to sing a song about her having black pride.In formation words such "Jackson  5 nostrils" are  purposely used in her song because african American we are known for our feautures such as wide nose and lips and  that it the  standard of beauty in the world. Beyonce pulled a Nina Simone in her career she decided to indirectly protest about the issue of racism that is currently going on through the use of graphic images of;  a little boy  dancing in front of cops, the outfits that she was wearing while she was on top of the car etc. The little boy dancing in front of the cops was such a powerful visuals it reminded me of Trayvon Martin and how  he was powerless and was kill  just for being black. The little boy in the video is fearless and in a way that scene may be seen as the little boy fighting for is right he is unafraid.Beyonce released formation at the right month and performed at the right platform. Performing formation at the superbowl is one of the smartest she could have done.Most of the people at the superbowl were white. It's one of the most  seen event on tv. It was a great way to raise awareness. People are offended because they don't understand how much racism is still an issue today. They don't understad what it's like to be going out shopping minding your own business and having someone else watch the whole time because they see you as a " criminal" not a human being.

     Through the song “Formation” Beyonce wanted to make a statement and she did. She release the song not only in February, Black History Month but also on Trayvon Martin’s birthday, which was no coincidence. I believe Beyonce wanted to use this song and the video as a way for her to say that she is proud of being black, her roots, and where she came from along with bringing attention to the days of slavery, the catastrophe of Katrina, and police brutality that is still continuing. The video displays the real history that the African-American community has gone through and continues to face and even brings you through out the different times periods that is shown through Beyonce’s costumes throughout the video. 

     Towards the end of the “Formation” video was a scene that really stood out to me, when the boy is faced by a row of armed police officers. The police officers do not shoot and put their hands up after the little boy puts his hands up. This is a very powerful scene to me, especially with the recent police brutality incidents that have been all over the new. I think Beyonce was trying to show through this scene black people having control. This is one of the parts of the video where it really stands out to me that Beyonce is trying to promote social change through her video, it was a really powerful image. 

     Beyonce also clearly used the song/video “Formation” for the purpose of uniting black women, even though it does recognize the difficulties all black people go through. For example, she says through out the song “ladies lets get in formation” along with the line “I slay (okay), We gon slay… All day” which is a way for her to call attention to and bring together all women of color so they can support each other throughout lives challenges and the oppression that they face everyday, and that she is there to speak out for them and stand with them. I feel that Beyonce being such a powerful musician did an amazing job standing up and drawing attention to, along with stating how she is proud of being part of the black community. 

    Nina Simone holds a very powerful voice in the world and fight of woman’s rights. She was also a very powerful woman in the black rights movement.  Many of the songs she produced later on in her career held very political meanings.  In class when we watched part of “What Happened Nina Simone,”you could see when her songs start to become more political and angry.  At the beginning, her songs still held feminist and black power views but they seemed to be more civil and less violent.  In her music you can see how much passion she had, from the lyrics, the real life events she chose to write about, and even the facial expression she makes during her performances on stage.  Her music was real and not just words put together to form a song.

   I found it interesting that in the documentary, Nina told her daughter that after she produced her song “Mississippi Goddamn,” she couldn’t quite get her voice to reach the same octaves as before. That fact alone just shows you how much anger and passion she put into this song. This song was very controversial because songs around that time did not use foul language and it was unheard of for words like that to come out of a woman’s mouth.   I find it strange that the word goddamn created such havoc because now day’s songs use words that are way more vulgar.  It almost seems as if foul language in music has now become a norm.

   Racism and oppression drove the violent side out of her. It was very intense to watch her preform on stage and chant out to her crowd that they should be ready to fight.  Nina lost many fans because of the violence she promoted.  I’m sure Nina cared very much about losing fans, but I admire that she didn’t let worrying about that stop her from expressing how she really feels in her lyrics. She was willing to kill and commit whatever violent act was necessary to gain the rights for black people and woman themselves.  Nina’s passion definitely drove her into a crazy state of mind.  Our beliefs and what we are passionate about takes a huge toll on our behavior.  It is surprising to that think that something we feel so strongly about can affect us in a negative way and can actually consume us. 

Formation Breakdown

        After the 2016 Superbowl, there was quite a bit of controversy over Beyonce’s new song and video. Her new song, titled “Formation” was released the day before the Super Bowl and drew an awful lot of attention to the underlying themes throughout the song. Growing up, I was never a huge fan of Beyonce. However, with that being said, I plan on stating my views on this song completely unbiased.

The song has multiple different sections that are blatantly clear when watching the music video. Throughout the song Beyonce changes her outfits. They go from the sophisticated looking white dresses that are worn in a parlor-type setting, to the raggedy dress she wears while sitting on top of a cop car. There is a red one piece that she wears that is quite revealing. There is the tracksuit she wears in the empty swimming pool, the 80’s themed acid washed jean shorts and lastly the all black dress and hat. I feel as though these different outfits symbolize the evolution of black culture on the women's part. As discussed in class, there may even be a stronger theme of voodoo present when Beyonce is wearing all black. After watching the video a few times, you may notice that she bobs her head in a seemingly strange way while in that outfit. Makes me wonder what the idea really was behind that part of the video.

A few aspects of the song and video did bother me. The first part, that we also discussed in class, was the use of Messy Mya’s voice. I feel as though it was disrespectful, and not discussing the reasoning behind using that recording and not really acknowledge it, especially with the circumstances surrounding Messy Mya’s death, was inconsiderate.  The second part that upset me was the use of Hurricane Katrina “footage.” Although I believe a lot of the so called footage was reenacted, in discussing other reviewer articles in class, victims of Hurricane Katrina were extremely upset by Beyonce’s use of such a traumatic event. She is now making money off of this song, while people who suffered through the horrific event are still struggling to make ends meet.

I think this song and music video brings up a lot of different emotions and problems. For myself, I know it makes me want to say things but I don't because I know how they will be misinterpreted. Just as a lot of people that are white over generalize their opinions on the black culture, I find that just as many blacks overgeneralize about the negative qualities of white people. Especially regarding police brutality. If we were to take a look at all of the shootings that took place by the hands of the cops in the United States, the number of blacks vs whites would about equal out. I feel as though, with the “Black Lives Matter” movement, a lot of the deaths of black people are sensationalized and brought to the news. Ten times more than the shooting of a white man. The entire racism situation is so sad to me. It does not make sense to me how another persons skin color even matters. We are all human with hearts and brains, if only we used them.

      In conclusion, regardless of how I feel about Beyonce or Formation more specifically, she still did a fantastic job of getting her points across. She used her platform for something she strongly believed in, and those who resonated with her, are probably rejoicing right alongside her.

Formation- Beyonce

Beyonce's new song, "Formation" is very strong and influential, regardless of people's impression from the Super Bowl. I really like how she's essentially saying, "ladies let's stand up for what we believe in and join a formation". A lot of people have different opinions of the song, but you can't please everyone. Someone, somewhere is going to have a negative opinion of you. Taking that into consideration, and the high power she holds, she felt she could stand up and say what she wanted to say. My opinion of her performance changed a little bit after class. As I mentioned Wednesday, Beyonce said her reason for singing it at the Super Bowl was to show that she's not afraid of who she is, where she comes from and her African American and Creole heritage. I admire her for that. Everyone should be proud of who they are and where they come from. The one thing I didn't agree with was her approach. She knew she's obviously a world famous super star, and she would get some serious backlash. The only thing I didn't understand was why she wanted to spark such a big "controversy" over the "racial war" currently happening. I'm sure it was to raise awareness and attention to the obvious problem, but I feel she's in a position that she could have done it without being so controversial. She's Beyonce, if she did something, I don't want to say less aggressively,  but something that wouldn't have been so debatable to so many people, I feel like she could have gotten her point across as well. In my opinion more people would've agreed with her, and not felt like they were being attacked or accused. I'm just saying she could have done it differently, but like like I said, you can't please everyone. After really hearing both sides, I feel like her performance wasn't as bad as people are making it out to be. She's raising awareness to something she sees everyday, and there's nothing wrong with that. As Nina Simone said, "How can you be an artist and not reflect on the times?"

Formation

In the song Formation, Beyoncé showed a different side of her that most people would never think of. Beyoncé took music to a whole new level because of her powerful meaning of the song. The song Formation is all about black community, and politics. The lyric of this song has deep meanings, which makes the song even more powerful. This side of Beyoncé reminds me a lot about Nina Simone. The song formation was something new to a lot of people, and something people were not expecting, however, many do not feel comfortable with the song, and many loved it. People who do not like the idea of the song, may not like the fact that she performed it at the super bowl, do not like parts of the music video, do not find it necessary, or do not feel comfortable with the song in general. Meanwhile, others love everything about it. In my opinion, those who do not like the song for the reasons I mentioned most likely cant relate to anything in the song, or isn’t touched by it. I can honestly say I love what Beyoncé did. She was not afraid to come out and do something different, or afraid of showing who she really is deep down, and where she comes from.

The song "Formation" by Beyonce is a very powerful song no matter what your opinion of the topic is. I think the song was written in honor of many people she knows, along with events that have happened to her. Watching both the music video and the video at the Super Bowl, I do not really see where people believe she is arguing against police brutality. I know that there are references to people that were victims of police brutality, and like we discussed in class a small child, portrayed similarly to Treyvon Martin. In no part of the video were the police acting in an unjust way to the little boy, they had their hands in the air towards him. I believe that the song can be very meaningful and personal to some people. After talking in class today my point of view changed a little bit from the beginning. At first I believed that they way Beyonce went about performing this song at the super bowl was the wrong thing to do. I still believe that maybe she could have found a better way to do this but I also now see what her thinking process was. Beyonce is a very powerful figure in America, and all over the world. There is no doubt that she was very strategic when planning her performance at the super bowl and the release of this song. She used the platform she was given at the super bowl on top of the platform she has earned to launch this new song and make sure a lot of people heard it. From the artists perspective, this was a brilliant move. Some part of me still believes that the Super Bowl was not the proper place to bring in politics and personal beliefs. However, after class today I do have a different point of view.