The last time Beyonce surprised the music world with an album, ‘Beyonce (2014), she dominated everything she touched, she trended worldwide on social media, she created a meme that’ still current today (I woke up like this), and her surprise music videos and dance choreography landed her on many a list.
Yesterday, she dropped, ‘Formation’, a day before she shares the stage, maybe the biggest stage of all, the Super Bowl half time show, with Coldplay. What happened? The internet went nuts. Again. Coldplay and Beyonce released a collaboration a couple of weeks ago, ‘Hymn for the Weekend’, that video while beautifully shot (in India), and brilliantly colorful with its ‘Holi’ inspired theme, hasn’t found the same spark as Formation.
Formation is heavily inspired by New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, creole culture, and police brutality, it also features a cameo by Beyonces’ daughter, Blue Ivy. Does that feel like too much in a video? It’s not, it works really well, and even while you’re watching it for the first time, you realise it’s something special – it’s got a real sense of artistry to it. It also created quite the buzz because of the lyrics, which is hard to comprehend, when in 2016, you think you’ve heard pretty much everything, and nothing seems vulgar anymore. It’s important to recognize that the lyrics didn’t make noise because of vulgarity, but because of who was saying them. One lyric in particular – ‘When he fuck me good, I take his ass to Red Lobster’
Now, Red Lobster is not a great restaurant, some people would dispute it even being called a restaurant, a restaurant to celebrate something? Nah. Here’s the thing, has Beyonce become so wealthy, that she has lost her sense of value? Did her private car randomly pull up to a Red Lobster parking lot so the driver could get some crab cakes, and then he shared them with her, and all of sudden, she’s like, ‘this is divine’ ? Maybe it reminded her of a simpler time? Or maybe she just realised that hearing ‘Red Lobster’ on a ‘Bey track would make people stop. Red Lobster, of course, sent out a tweet to try to ride the wave, even if the tweet fell amazingly short.
“Cheddar Bey Biscuits” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? #Formation @Beyonce pic.twitter.com/QzgVtYAKNo
— Red Lobster (@redlobster) February 7, 2016
Whatever the case, check out the full video here