It is the 21st century and yet American society has to alter their stereotypical views of the African American culture. Pop artist Beyoncé has been linked with empowerment for a long time. She is worked as a cultural norm for movements of racial and gender equality. Her message and belief is shown through her new song “Formation”.
Beyoncé portrays her powerful message through the lyrics in her song “Formation”, although the first portion of her lyrics are based on her life before she leads to her focused message. In the background at the beginning of the song you hear “What happened after New Orleans”. She is making reference to Hurricane Katrina. This serves as a major symbol because many innocent lives were lost during this event. It serves…show more content… Through the lyrics “I like my baby hair and afros/ I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils/ Earned all this money buy they never take the country out of me/ I got hot sauce in my bag” she uses bold words such as “afros” “negro nose” and “Jackson 5 nostrils” which declare her self acceptance as a black woman who values and loves her black features. Although these words represent stereotype features of “unsexy” blacks which is defined as so by the media, Beyoncé stands by her heritage and culture. She makes reference to “Jackson 5 nostrils” which was his young group when he was still black to say she loves her “negro nose” as it was rumored that she had gotten a nose job. She also mentions in one of the lyrics stated previously that she is rich and that all the money she has wouldn’t take away her roots. She added the reference to Texas “I got hot sauce in my bag” to validate her point. Furthermore, she says “When he do me good I take his ass to red lobster, cause I slay”. This lyric represents how she is still intact with her country roots as “Red Lobster” is a cheap place to have a meal and she tends to dine there. In addition, she states “I did not come to play with you hoes, haha, I came to slay/We gon slay, gon slay, we slay, I slay”. The first lyric represents her focus. She states that she doesn’t just want to mess around with other performers but she wants to claim her position in the entertainment industry without releasing her black roots. The second lyric depicts that she’s not just slaying for herself but for all the black men and women in America. This leads to her final intense lyrics. “Ladies now lets get in formation/Best revenge is your paper”. When she says “Formation” she is saying that she’s the best in the music industry and to get in line with her. Her sole