Beyoncé’s agitpop

By David Bennun

When Beyoncé performed during the half-time show at this year’s Super Bowl, she debuted a new song, “Formation”. With truculent lyrics about her heritage (“You mix that Negro with that Creole, make a Texas bama/I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros”) and a troupe of dancers dressed as Black Panthers, it was an extraordinary act. This was a black power anthem for the modern era – and she broadcast it to an audience of over 114m viewers. The video that accompanies the song upped the ante; it refers to the pre-civil war South, and to Hurricane Katrina. It’s a challenge – for some, a provocation – backed by the commercial clout her superstar status affords her. I’m doing this, she seemed to be saying, because I can.

Whether by instinct or design, today’s pop stars are a cautious bunch. They may aspire to rock your world, but they are not about to rock the boat. They have opinions, they have causes, but these tend to be fairly innocuous ones: they are against war, or poverty or hunger – but then, who isn’t?