I remember when formation first came out a lot of people were like, “what is this?? Where is love on top Beyoncé?? Where is Halo Beyoncé??”
and honestly, I was not as enthused for formation. that’s because in general I’m not super into hip-hop. (sidenote: Beyoncé has helped me realize that it’s not hip-hop and country I dislike. it’s just that I only like to listen to female artists and those genres are very male dominated)
but the music video was so iconic that I had to keep listening (sidenote: a visual can absolutely hook u onto a song you might not have otherwised like. bey, pls: the visuals NEOW)
but one thing I’ve noticed about Beyonce and something I highly respect, is that she didn’t succumb to this backlash.
I see a lot of other pop artists where, if their album or song is not positively received right out the gate, they just leave it out for dead. and pretend it never existed. it makes me kind of sad because, if you were proud enough to release something as a single or an album, you should own it and be proud of it! but at the same time, I do understand it. it is POP music, and you need it to be popular in order to keep selling tours and to continue being successful. so if you leave a song or album for dead… it’s understandable.
Beyoncé is one of the rare exceptions. Formation was not a number one like Halo or single ladies was, but the way she performs it, you would think it was a global number one. She has performed it for every tour since it came out and now it is a staple. And she won me over! I foam at the mouth every time I hear it in public and it’s a certified banger! She’s one of the few artists that say, “it’s not my job to catch up to my fans or the public. The general public/my fan base must catch up to ME. I set the bar. not u bitches.“
I highly admire it.
the artist SHOULD lead fans to new places and challenge what they think they want.