Beyoncé Formation Nail Art & Video Breakdown
So over the weekend, Beyoncé dropped her latest single and video with no prior publicity or marketing but sure when you're Beyoncé, why bother with such silly things?!? Myself and approximately 8 million other people (as of 7/02/16) have watched it on a loop. On the surface, its a visually stunning video which shows Beyoncé in a myriad of different outfits and guises as well as the city of New Orleans during the grips of Hurricane Katrina, a striking sequence with a young black boy in front of riot police and a cameo by Blue Ivy. I've done some nail art inspired by the video but first, some thoughts on the video.
What I take from Formation is Beyoncé commentary on the Zeitgeist; celebrity culture, inequality and racial issues. Whilst the video could possibly be misconstrued as Bey's "Jenny from the Block", it's so much more than that. In just under 5 minutes, Beyoncé sings about her heritage, media speculation, black pride as well as her position as one of the most influential women on the planet. That last statement may seem arbitrary but its the simple truth. Like I said before, Bey is one of the very few artists who can drop something like a new single or AN ENTIRE ALBUM with no prior notice and see it blow up and circulate around the world in a matter of moments. While people may take issue with the explicit lyrics, risqué costuming and her confident assertions of being a star, it's pretty clear that at this point, Beyoncé just doesn't care. She's worked hard for what she has and is going to enjoy it. She calls on women to join her and get in formation, follow her path of hard work to get to where you want to be because to quote the lady herself "best revenge is your paper."
Now, I'm not a Beyoncé stan by any means, I listen to her stuff and have a few choice songs on my daily playlist on Spotify but I wouldn't say I'm a card carrying member of the BeyHive. That being said, you can't deny Beyoncé's status as a pop culture icon who has been embraced by all walks of life around the world. With Formation, she reinforces her identity as a strong, black female figure who is unfortunately the exception, not the rule. Formation is a call to arms for many who feel they don't have a voice in the white, male dominated world of the West. In other words, I like it. Watch it here.
Now a quick word on the nails. One of the most striking moments of the video is at the end when Beyoncé is submerged in water on top of the New Orleans police car. I used Models Own Watermelon as the red base and diluted Models Own Grace Green to act as the slightly murky water. I didn't want to be too neat with the water effect since it wouldn't be neat in real like. I quite like the effect of having the striking red submerge but still a bit visible in the murky green.
So what are your thoughts in Beyoncé's new video? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to follow, like and subscribe on all the social media sites to the left, until next time :-)
What I take from Formation is Beyoncé commentary on the Zeitgeist; celebrity culture, inequality and racial issues. Whilst the video could possibly be misconstrued as Bey's "Jenny from the Block", it's so much more than that. In just under 5 minutes, Beyoncé sings about her heritage, media speculation, black pride as well as her position as one of the most influential women on the planet. That last statement may seem arbitrary but its the simple truth. Like I said before, Bey is one of the very few artists who can drop something like a new single or AN ENTIRE ALBUM with no prior notice and see it blow up and circulate around the world in a matter of moments. While people may take issue with the explicit lyrics, risqué costuming and her confident assertions of being a star, it's pretty clear that at this point, Beyoncé just doesn't care. She's worked hard for what she has and is going to enjoy it. She calls on women to join her and get in formation, follow her path of hard work to get to where you want to be because to quote the lady herself "best revenge is your paper."
Now, I'm not a Beyoncé stan by any means, I listen to her stuff and have a few choice songs on my daily playlist on Spotify but I wouldn't say I'm a card carrying member of the BeyHive. That being said, you can't deny Beyoncé's status as a pop culture icon who has been embraced by all walks of life around the world. With Formation, she reinforces her identity as a strong, black female figure who is unfortunately the exception, not the rule. Formation is a call to arms for many who feel they don't have a voice in the white, male dominated world of the West. In other words, I like it. Watch it here.
Now a quick word on the nails. One of the most striking moments of the video is at the end when Beyoncé is submerged in water on top of the New Orleans police car. I used Models Own Watermelon as the red base and diluted Models Own Grace Green to act as the slightly murky water. I didn't want to be too neat with the water effect since it wouldn't be neat in real like. I quite like the effect of having the striking red submerge but still a bit visible in the murky green.
So what are your thoughts in Beyoncé's new video? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to follow, like and subscribe on all the social media sites to the left, until next time :-)
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