10 Things You Might Not Know About Beyoncé's "Formation" Video

Updated on 8/22/2017 at 4:00 AM

Think you know everything there is to know about "Formation?" Think again. "Formation," the music video from Beyoncé, changed our world last year before Lemonade even came out. Now that we've all had time to process our feelings, it's time to give everything another look. Keep reading for 10 interesting facts about the song from Bey.

That "Illuminati Mess" Is a Very Real Thing

The connection between Beyoncé and the Illuminati goes back years and years. There's even a website dedicated to revealing the truth about Beyoncé and her "true nature." The thing is, Illuminati allegations are nothing new — they've been hurled for years at scores of other pop artists, including Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West. The even crazier thing is, this is one of the first times anyone has bothered to actually address the ludicrous accusations.

That Sound Bite From the Beginning Is From a YouTube Icon

"What happened after New Orleans?" Those are the very first words on the track, and they come from a relatively well-known YouTube personality named "Messy Mya." The video Bey lifted the words from is called "Booking the Hoes From New Wildin." Messy Mya was tragically killed in 2010 during a shooting in the 7th Ward neighborhood in New Orleans.

There's Already New "Formation" Merch

Just in case you missed it, you can literally get in formation with new hats, shirts, and more.

There's Another Famous Voice on the Track

In addition to Messy Mya, you might be wondering about those other instantly iconic words, which hit around the 1:10 mark. "I did not come to play with you hoes. [Laughs] I came to slay, b*tch! I like cornbreads and collard greens, b*tch!" The phrase comes from New Orleans-based bounce rapper Big Freedia, who offered all that and more for the track.

The Song Is Produced by Mike WiLL Made-It

The artist confirmed his involvement on Twitter after the song dropped.

The Timing of the Video Is Either Shockingly Coincidental or Deliberately Perfect

The "Formation" single dropped on Feb. 6. Yes, it was the day before Beyoncé shut down the Super Bowl, and the day before she announced her upcoming world tour, but there's so much more to it. Feb. 5, the day before, is the birthday of Trayvon Martin, the boy who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. Feb. 7, the day after, is the birthday of Sandra Bland, the woman who was found hanging in her Texas jail cell, dead from alleged suicide. The fact that the video drop is positioned between these dates — during Black History Month, no less — is pretty chilling, coincidence or not.

The Music Video Was Actually Filmed in Pasadena

That's right, all of the principle Beyoncé-centric scenes in the video were actually not filmed in New Orleans. A report from Curbed profiles the historic Pasadena home that was used to embody that Southern decadence. The before and after pictures are actually pretty striking.

Those Shots of the Damage Caused by Hurricane Katrina Came From a Documentary

OK, maybe not the shot of Bey on a sinking police cruiser. But the general shots of a flooded and devastated New Orleans come from a documentary called That B.E.A.T., which you can watch on Vimeo.

"Bama" Is Actually a Sort of Derogatory Term

At this point, it's clear that Beyoncé is trying to inspire confidence and empowerment in black culture, and she wants all her ladies to get in formation and to get information. Part of this message includes reclaiming pieces of the culture that have been deemed undesirable, like "baby hair" and "Jackson 5 nostrils." In a more subtle move along these lines, Bey also reclaims an old, insulting term: "bama." The lyrics follow: "My daddy Alabama, mama Lousiana, you mix that negro with that creole, make a Texas bama."

A 2010 article from Washington City Paper really nails the origin of the word and the greater implications it carries:

"Bama [has] been around for quite some time, and its meaning and use [has] changed. Most likely, the word was first used to put down recent arrivals to DC's black neighborhoods from southern states — especially Alabama, says cultural anthropologist and longtime Smithsonian staffer John Franklin. 'It's had currency over several generations,' Franklin says. It was a way of calling someone a black hick: 'There was some disdain for people who didn't live in the city and weren't sophisticated.' The word had particular weight during the Great Migration, when many African Americans left the rural South for northern cities. Then, the point was to differentiate the newer arrivals from the longtime Washingtonians — who worried that the countrified Southerners flooding the district would reflect badly on the whole community. It was, essentially, the way DC's black residents called one of their own a redneck."

Bey's act of reclaiming this term and labeling herself as such with pride fits in with her overall attempt to really dig into her Southern roots. It also poignantly hearkens back to more racially fraught times in US history, a striking nod to the strife of the "Black Lives Matter" movement that's going on this very minute.

The Racial Commentary Runs Deep

The "Black Lives Matter" movement gets prime placement in the music video. Perhaps one of the most visually arresting sequences depicts a little boy in a black hoodie, raising his arms, and a line of riot police doing the same. A cut shows the scrawled, graffiti words, "Stop shooting us." It's clear Bey's pleading for peace on both sides. But when you really look, practically every aspect of the video contains allusions to race: the lyrics, obviously, her decision to put her hair in long, glorious braids, and of course, all the additional shots, featuring black dancers and extras, clear references to Southern black culture, and more. Even her Super Bowl Halftime Show was charged with racial allegory. It's art.