Bey is back!
The day before she's scheduled to perform during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show, Beyoncé dropped a new surprise single called "Formation."
The track features a swampy, springy beat from producer Mike WiLL Made-It, and is packed with biographical lyrics about her proud ties to the south—"They'll never take the country out me / I got hot sauce in my bag / Swag"— and how much she simply slays the competition.
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In the accompanying music video, Beyoncé is seen lying atop a partially submerged New Orleans police car, dancing in an antebellum Big Easy home with various outfits of the era, and generally looking like the Queen of the Creole South. Bounce-music icon Big Freedia and Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy Carter both make brief cameos.
Later in the video, a line of police officers stand opposite a dancing child in all-black clothing; they put their hands up and a wall tagged with the words "stop shooting us" appears—a serious nod to #BlackLivesMatter.
The song is available for free download, via Tidal, and is her first new release since the 2014 release of Beyoncé: Platinum Edition. Fans can also check out her new line of "Formation"-themed merch, including a shirt that says "Hot Sauce."
