Its been little over a week since the release of Formation.
Folks lost their minds, SuperBowl fans were confused, and fans are launching
GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for Beyonce tour tickets. Its been suggested
that Formation is the new Black folks anthem.
Okay. I’m going to go out on a limb, be really really
daring, at risk of losing the one or two cool points I may have and say “yeah,
I don’t really get it.”
I watched the video last Saturday when it was released. I
waited to be wow-ed and blown away like everyone on Twitter promised I would
be. It never happened. Now – it was a very Beyonce-esque song, all about how
great she is and some clever lines about hot sauce and Red Lobster and her
baby’s au naturel hair. And by the way, I actually do sometimes have a little
teeny bottle of Tabasco in my purse. I get it. There are hot sauce
emergencies. But the lyrics did not
elevate to “anthem” level.
As for the video - it was a visually strong video, I’ll give
it that. From the police car floating in flooded New Orleans, the old school
Creole/southern women costumes. Cute Ivy Blue with her full Afro. The little boy dancing in front of the line
of police. All of that. There was some definite Black pride and social messages
embedded. But other than Ivy Blue’s appearance and Beyonce doing what she does
– dancing in a leotard while repeating “I slay” – the video didn’t really match
the lyrics. So, in my logical mind, I
was confused. Perhaps this was her way
of being socially conscious in a low-key, you got to be paying attention, kind
of way.
Then we went to the SuperBowl. She dressed in throwback Michael
Jackson military outfit (the leotard version), with her blond locks
whipping. Her backup dancers were
dressed in black, complete with berets and Afros as a nod to the Black
Panthers. I was more concentrating on Bruno Mars, but still noticed that the visual
message did not match lyrics about her wonderfulness. It still, however,
inspired politicians and police departments to get all bothered about an
“anti-police” message. I don’t know how they read that into it, just because
folks don’t want to get shot by the police.
Then the tour was announced and there was the flurry and
excitement about ticket sales and there were reports of tickets on sale for
thousands of dollars. I thought it was all exaggerated and went on TicketMaster
myself. Yup. Starting at about $100, all the way up to $8000. Per seat. To see
a person. One who has not performed any miracle nor will grant me any special
powers. One who is not touring with
Michael Jackson or Jesus as her opening act or the 12 Disciples as back-up
singers. I’m hoping someone will explain
to me that the $8000 ticket is some kind of resellers’ trick to hold tickets,
Beyonce’s economic folks’ method to drive up demand or something. Some
explanation that confirms that no one is actually spending $8000 for a concert
ticket. Because I’m ticking off all the things I could do with $8000 other than
watch a lady dance in a leotard. And I
want folks to really think about what they could do with $8000. Especially
those who are salivating for their tax refund check or needing a GoFundMe
campaign or selling their plasma. And
oh, she even launched a charitable donation to Flint Michigan, as a portion of
her tour tickets. Well yeah, if you’re charging $1000s for folks to see you for
2 hours, you can surely spare a couple bucks to buy water for some children.
So I’m still stunned. Sure Single Ladies was a great song
and who can not dance when Love on Top or Crazy in Love comes on. And my heart
tugs a bit everytime I hear If I Were a Boy, though I don’t think it gets
played as often as it should. And nah, I
wasn’t really crazy about the 2013 self-named “secret” album, sorry Beehive
residents. So, although I get the pieces
of Formation, if not as a whole work, I don’t really get what all the buzz-buzz
is about, other than it is Beyonce. Or maybe that’s all folks need. For me, I
need a bit more to fall into formation, so I'll still be singing Life Every Voice.
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