How has Beyoncé's self representation evolved over time? Compare the videos to Jumpin’ Jumpin’ and Formation
Both music videos have an energy which is constructed through beat matching. However, thematically, these videos could not be more different, with the video to Formation demonstrating explicitly political and social ideologies
The line ‘I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils’ demonstrates that Beyoncé is produce of her facial features, and is empowered by black beauty
In the video to JJ, Beyoncé has straightened hair, which was very common for black celebrities at the time to conform to hegemonic, white beauty standards.
By embracing black intently, Beyoncé in Formation constructs a more diverse, celebratory and even challenging representation of black womanhood
In the video to formation, Beyoncé still dominates the screen time, yet shares it with a variety of other people and a variety of diverse and complex settings. The variety of settings connotes the complexity of black female identity in the 21st century
In formation, Beyoncé's vocals are calm, relaxed, and apparently less edited. Her voice in formation is more oriented to hip-hop than R&B
Her voice is deep, cracked and croaky, which is symbolic of the deep social-political issues that this song and this video deals with.
The lyrics of the song consider aspects of race, identity, and togetherness. While these themes were not widely discussed in pop music of the early 00’s, but after significant changes such as the Black Lives Matter movement, discussions of race and ethnicity and police brutality have become mainstream
Compare the videos to Independent Woman pt 1 and Formation
Formation lacks significant CGI and obviously high production values. Additionally Formation has no celebrities in it other than Beyoncé herself, and can be considered to be less overtly commercial
The genre of music has changed significantly from generic pop music to more mature and inventive and uncompromising pop music
Formation is disjointed, and has a less obvious melody than the pop music of Destiny’s Child
Beyoncé's voice is performatively raspy, ugly, and laconic. It takes a completely different approach to singing and song writing
Her vocal delivery is more accented, drawling and less polished than the commercial delivery of Indie Woman pt 1. This is emphasised through the fact she is talking rather than singing, which also serves to construct her identity and personality
The lyrics of formation construct a complex representation of culture and ethnicity, demonstrating Beyoncé's highly diverse and complex upbringing
The lyric ‘I like my negro nose’ makes reference to Beyoncé's nostrils, and this is something that was played down in her Destiny’s Child days when she wore heavily contoured makeup to limit the visibility of her black features. This was done in the hope it would make her more commercially viable, which draws attention to the institutional widespread racism of the early 21st Century