Breakfree: Beyoncé’s Formation Video (She Slay, Okay)

Watch Bey's new music video

Over the weekend Beyoncé dropped her most political video to date, ahead of her show-stealing performance in front of millions at the Super Bowl.

The Formation

Formation is a protest and a celebration of female power and African-American beauty. The fashion (mostly Gucci, styled by Shiona Turini and Marni Senofonte) is SO GOOD. Plus, the visual feast of a video features a Blue Ivy cameo, so we couldn’t love it more.

As ever, the lyrics are already on everybody’s lips. ‘I got hot sauce in my bag, swag’, ‘I came to slay, bitch’ and ‘Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper’ are some of the most quotable.

What’s more, as soon as the new single dropped The Formation Collection was available to purchase via Beyoncé’s online store. We urge you to buy a ‘I twirl on them haters’ sweatshirt and a ‘hot sauce’ hat.

The video is packed with powerful collaborations too: it’s directed by Melinda Matouskas (she has directed 8 of Beyoncé’s previous videos and won a Grammy for her work on Rhianna’s We Found Love video) and the song opens with a voiceover from Messy Mya, a New Orleans bounce artist and social media star who was murdered in 2010 (bounce, for the uninitiated, is a New Orleans genre of hip hop). Formation also features spoken word segments by New Orleans royalty Big Freedia, another bounce artist.

Tidal (the music streaming service owned by Beyoncé’s husband Jay Z) currently has the exclusive sales rights to Formation and on 5 February Tidal announced that it will be donating $1.5 million to Black Lives Matter and other social justice groups. The couple are making a very public show of support for the black community and are using their platform to raise questions about racial injustice in America.

Beyoncé slay, okay.