Behind “Formation”

Josué David Munera Rangel

Semantics and Vocabulary- Nelson Pérez
3HM- Modern Languages
The Visual Album
• LEMONADE, Beyoncé's sixth studio album and
her second visual album, features 12 new
songs and a corresponding short film.
• It is a conceptual project based on every
woman's journey of self knowledge and
healing.
• the album references both the singer’s
personal struggles, and some of the wider
issue faced by black women today and
throughout history.
• The collection’s title is a celebration of
metaphorical lemonade-making: an ode to
overcoming hardship, turning things around,
and triumphing over adversity.
The song
Produced by Beyoncé & Mike WiLL Made-It

• Released on February 6, 2016, accompanied

by its official music video without any
previous announcements.
• Formation contains strong political criticism in
its lyrics, being described by LA Times as "a
statement of radical black positivity."
• MTV :"a song whose lyrics are teeming with
notions of empowerment and pride in her
heritage as a black American.
• Time magazine: political song because of its
references: it focuses on black men's deaths,"
and call African-American women to stand
side by side ("in formation").
• Rolling Stone: "in the era of
#BlackLivesMatter, 'Formation' felt downright
necessary" and further deemed it "a powerful
statement of black Southern resilience"
The lyrics

“My daddy Alabama, momma Louisiana

You mix that negro with that Creole, make a
Texas bama
I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros
I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils
Earned all this money, but they never take the
country out me
I got hot sauce in my bag, swag”
“Bama” was originally black slang for working class
blacks arriving North from the South during
the Great Migration. It meant someone who didn’t
know how to behave “properly” and wasn’t
presentable for white sensibilities.
“Bama” is both classist and racist, and Beyoncé
using it in her song speaks to flipping off
respectability politics.
Beyoncé’s dad hails from Alabama. Her mother is
descended from Joseph Broussard, a French-
Canadian who led an unsuccessful native uprising
against the British in the 18th century.
In Louisiana, “creole” is used to describe mixed-
race descendants of Francophones. In the
complex racial politics of Louisiana, Creoles are
considered distinct from Blacks. The French “code
noir” treated people of mixed race as a separate
social caste from both Blacks and Whites, whereas
American laws in the slave era classified people of
mixed ancestry as Black.
Without the influence that her parents' varied
backgrounds had on her, Beyoncé’s childhood in
Texas wouldn’t have been the same.
- With a double entendre, Beyoncé plays with
the stereotypes of African-Americans and
brings up her family, specifically “baby heir” to
the Carter dynasty, daughter Blue Ivy. Blue Ivy’s
hair has become something of an internet
meme, with a petition to comb her
hair circulating.
When Beyoncé says she likes her “baby heir
with baby hair and afros,” she is referencing
two elements of black hair and traditionally
black hairstyles: the afro and baby hair, the
small wispy hairs close to the hairline.
- Regardless of the hate, Bey assures everyone
she’s proud of her family’s traditional black
heritage. Jay Z’s nose has been mocked
throughout his career and rumors swirled in
2013 that Bey herself was going the way of
Michael Jackson and undergoing a “nose job.”
Beyoncé and her husband together are worth
upwards of a billion dollars, and Beyoncé
herself is reportedly worth about $250 million by
Forbes.
Her roots show in some of her behaviors, like
carrying hot-sauce in her purse, a must have
for a southerner in need of spice at any given
time. If she’s repping the local Louisiana
brands, she’s likely carrying Tabasco, Crystal or
Louisiana hot sauce?
Despite the amount of coin in her purse, she
will continue to be the same country girl who
was raised as in Houston, Texas.
References

 https://genius.com/8640140
 https://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/25/entertainment/lemonade-beyonce-
meaning/index.html
 https://www.ukessays.com/essays/film-studies/analysis-beyonce-formation-video-black-
lives-4599.php
 https://www.amazon.com/Lemonade-Beyonce/dp/B01EPOY1AQ
 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/beyoncs-new-album-why-is-it-called-
lemonade-plus-everything-else/
 http://www.mtv.com/news/2736753/beyonce-formation-single/
 https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/our-favorite-songs-and-videos-right-now-
beyonce-kanye-west-and-more-20160302/beyonce-formation-20160302