The first time I heard of Beyonce, I listened to her song “Halo”, the way she was able to express her emotions from the tone and her ability to sound like an angel made the ballad even more popular. Through this song, I gained more interest in music and where artists were really able to express their perspective on certain topics such as Rihanna on abuse and Demi Lovato on body image and her sobriety, leaning towards music that was more realistic and bringing awareness to real-life issues. From then on, I have been a huge fan of Beyonce for her ability to speak out and advocate for social justice through her songs. 

“Formation” (2016) by Beyonce was released during Black History Month and became an anthem for Black Power and the Black Lives Matter movement. In the music video, it starts out by showing Beyonce standing on top of a New Orleans police car that is flooded. This is the beginning of her message regarding police brutality because later on in the video, there are glimpses of police officers, the red and blue sirens of the police cars at night in a neighborhood, and a wall of SWAT officers where a young African American kid is dancing in front of them. These scenes are perfect examples of where Beyonce stands on police brutality and how she is sending the public her message of how unjust the interactions have been with mostly white police officers in our society. In the video, the police car is sinking in as the water takes over. That scene reminded me of Hurricane Katrina because of the setting of the video, in New Orleans and how the video is opened with the words “What happened at the New Orleans?” bringing into the perspective of how the tragedy was taken care of by the government. Many of the victims were part of the black community and it seems like Beyonce believed that little was done in terms of providing aid to the people, proving the point that this song is bringing more awareness to the current issues that are affecting the African American community. Another significant scene in the video is when Blue Ivy (Beyonce’s daughter) makes an appearance in an afro. There have been many incidents where many individuals that are not African American have used cornrow or afros because it looks “cool”. When Blue Ivy is introduced, the lyrics are “I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros” proving the point that African Americans should be proud of it and how they should not be discouraged by it. Another example of the appearance of natural hair is instances of Beyonce dancing with her dancers, all female and all African American in afros signifying empowerment and pride in their culture. Overall, “Formation” is a song that sticks to the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and how Beyonce is showing her pride in her blackness, making a statement that she will continue to slay all day.