These lines are also perhaps the ones that most rely on the video images in order to convey their true meaning.īeyoncé is never alone while singing these lines. At first listen, it seems as though she is purporting the idea that she’s just another “diva,” and her repetition of “I slay” could come across as unintellectual. Most indefinitely, these are the lines that cause many academics to dismiss Beyoncé’s lyrics as shallow and one-note. We gon’ slay (slay), gon’ slay (okay), we slay (okay), I slay (okay) Get what’s mine (take what’s mine), I’m a star (I’m a star)Ĭause I slay (slay), I slay (hey), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)Īll day (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay) Sometimes I go off (I go off), I go hard (I go hard) She cruises down El Camino Real, a historic locale of brown-skinned consumerist pride. Her Southern roots enable her to slip those “albino alligators” (white haters) over her shoulder. Ever aware of her light skin, she has used it as a platform to blend her way into the mainstream, only to then both own her dreams and own - literally - a large fortune. Over the course of her career, she has amassed fans that cross boundaries of race, culture and class. Here is Beyoncé’s first and only direct reference to her light skin.
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I twirl on them haters, albino alligatorsĮl Camino with the seat low, sippin’ Cuervo with no chaser I dream it, I work hard, I grind ’til I own it I see it, I want it, I stunt, yellow-bone it In my mind’s eye, she’s expressing her desire not to just “shake her booty” with other performers, but rather to assert her place in the entertainment industry, all the while not letting go of - or whitewashing - her Black roots. To me, these lines represent Beyoncé’s singular focus. I like cornbreads and collard greens, bitch I did not come to play with you hoes, haha Oh yeah, baby, oh yeah I, ohhhhh, oh, yes, I like that If Beyoncé wanted to praise features most aligned with “Black beauty,” she would instead have discussed other body parts, such as her “big lips” and “big butt.” Instead, she focuses on what makes her powerfully, and almost defensively, Black. “Afros,” “negro nose” and “Jackson Five nostrils” are all representative of the stereotyped features of both “revolutionary” and “unsexy” Blacks, as defined by media representation and Western standards of beauty. The most famous lines of “Formation,” these bold words assert Beyoncé’s self-acceptance, not just as a “yellow bone,” light-skinned pop star, but also as a Black woman who loves her Black features. I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrilsĮarned all this money but they never take the country out me I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bama
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I’m so possessive so I rock his Roc necklacesĪgain, Beyoncé is using a common tool to establish herself to her listeners and viewers, but with emphasis on her appearance and outward persona, which she will soon challenge.
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I’m so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress (stylin’) Paparazzi, catch my fly, and my cocky fresh Y’all haters corny with that illuminati mess Her e is my (layman’s) analysis, stanza by stanza*:īeyoncé begins “Formation” with a standard self-aggrandizing line, but with an almost slip-of-the-tongue reference to Hurricane Katrina at the forefront, signaling a shift from the norm. I also argue that Beyoncé uses the sometimes “-shallow” lyricism of traditional Pop and R&B songs to dismantle, or at least disrupt, the very genre itself. As a fellow “yellow bone,” I’d like to weigh in and suggest that Beyoncé’s lyrics are revolutionary not because they express a unique viewpoint, but because this viewpoint was expressed by one of the most salient Black women in America. And like most of America (not just Black America) I’ve had dozens of opinions flash across my newsfeed. Like most of Black America, I watched Beyonce’s “Formation” video yesterday in wonder.