Beyoncé once again surprised fans with a music video Saturday, Feb. 6. The video to the song "Formation" was produced by Mike Will Made-It and was themed around the New Orleans experience and aspects of the black culture. In case you missed it, here's a recap of Beyoncé's most unapologetic moments in the video.
1. When she acknowledged her country roots in the best mathematical equation ever by stating, “My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana. You mix that Negro with that Creole make a Texas 'bama... Earned all this money but they never take the country out me.”
2. When she proclaims her love for "Jackson 5 nostrils," a reference to wide noses that are a common characteristic in black people but often deemed as unattractive by society.
3. When she featured an array of black hairstyles including afros, wigs in a hair store, cornrows, lengthy micro braids, a bun and what seems to be yarn braids.
4. When she played around with the concept of being a powerful black woman.
Of course, she did this in the most elegant and contradicting way by first, showcasing black women dressed in Victorian era style clothing in a parlor and later on showcasing a complete different aesthetic of black women in more modern day clothing dancing in formation. She also displayed the concept of a black woman taking care of her man by informing listeners about how she rewards "him" when she "take his a** to Red Lobster," "take him on a flight on my chopper," and "drop him off at the mall, let him buy some J's."
5. When she paid homage to the devastation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina by featuring scenes with streets completely flooded.
The opening linem "What happened in New Orleans" from Messy Mya set the location.
6. When she highlighted New Orleans' culture by featuring clips of Second Line parades, four band majors, Mardi Gras Indians and other visuals from Mardi Gras.
7. When she included aspects of the black community life by showing clips of a black church service, guys playing basketball in a gym, a southern cowboy riding on a horse and views of neighborhoods.
8. When she featured voice overs of two New Orleans stars.
The first, social media sensation and bounce artist, Messy Mya, whose voice-over from a Youtube video was the used in the opening scene. The star stated "What happened at the New Orleans. B*tch I'm back by popular demand" in her unique accent. The other person was Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia, who also had a few voice overs. One of them being her signature phrase, "I came to slay B*tch."
9. When she made comical references about beloved black food and traditions with lyrics like, "I like cornbreads and collard greens b*tch" and "I got a hot sauce in my bag, swag."
10. When she stated her stance on Black Lives Matter throughout the video by standing on a New Orleans' police car that was eventually submerged in the flood waters surrounding it, flashing across a wall that has the words "Stop Shooting Us," and showing a little black boy dancing in a hoodie in front of white cops.
The little boy eventually assumed the "hands up, don't shoot" position and the cops joined him.
11. When she talked about her black wealth proclaiming she might be the next "black Bill Gates" and "the best revenge is to get that paper."
Her pride in her money didn't stop at just the lyrics. Throughout the video, Beyoncé can be seen wearing a few designer pieces from names like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Fendi. She also flaunts lots and lots of jewelry.
12. When a short clip showed a man holding up a newspaper called "The Truth" with the front page story showing a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. and the caption "More Than A Dreamer."
It served as a reminder that Martin Luther King Jr.'s work went beyond his "I have a Dream" speech and the statement kind of built on another theme: That Beyoncé herself is more than a dreamer.
13. Finally, the most unapologetic moment of them all is when Beyoncé asserted that she is a hard working person with lyrics explicitly stating, "I see it, I want it," " I dream it, I work hard," and my personal favorite, "you know you that B*tch when you cause all this conversation."
