How Afrobeats has become an unstoppable musical force, a movement that is redefining the genre, the music industry and even the public’s perception (or lack thereof) of a female-driven music. And now, a massive music video for Beyoncé’s “Formation” will be shot in South Africa.
“I’ll be back in South Africa!”
Photo courtesy: Beyoncé
It has been exactly 12 months since Beyoncé dropped her sophomore album Lemonade on September 4. The video for the album’s first single “Formation” has already amassed over 1.6 million views on YouTube and has attracted the interest of high-profile producers such as Stargate and Pharrell Williams.
During an interview with CNN while on location in South Africa at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival held at New Era Stadium, Beyoncé spoke about the power that the song has in shaping her own identity.
“The first song on the album ‘Formation’ is what the people call a ‘turning’ song. It’s not really a dance song,” she said in the interview. “To me, I’ve always been one of those people where I’ve thought of myself as a young adult, a woman, a black woman, whatever. But on this song, it was like: ‘Oh I am black, black, black, black. I’m black, black, black, black, black. Look at me, I’m black, black, black, black.’ And I think that made a big change.”
“I’ve always been one of those people where I’ve thought of myself as a young adult, a woman, a black woman, whatever,” Beyoncé continued. “But on this song, it was like: ‘Oh I am black, black, black, black. I’m black, black, black, black.’ And I think that made a big change. “
Now, she said the song became “the soundtrack for who I am as a black woman, because it was like: ‘This is my music, this is my voice, this is how I am’.” With the song charting on the Billboard charts and the video having garnered over 1.6 million views on