One of Hip Hop’s Biggest F*ckboys Came Up With the Best Line in ‘Formation’
No matter what your feelings about Beyoncé’s Lemonade are (which probably range from positive to gut-wrenchingly positive), we all love “Formation.”
But did you know that “Formation” was written in maybe the most random way ever? And that it’s most iconic line was written by one half of noted fuckboy duo Rae Sremmurd?
In an interview with The New Yorker, you know, that magazine adults who like to seem smart always complain about not being able to finish, producer Mike Will Made-It recounted the entire saga of putting Bey’s hit together.
Surprisingly, it started at Coachella when a 21-year-old boy just so happened to say, “Okay ladies, now let’s get in formation.”
That 21-year-old boy’s name is Sae Lee, a.k.a. one of those Rae Sremmurd boys who rap about unlocking the swag and being “up like Trump.”
At the time Mike Well remembers thinking, “Dog, we got to do that ‘get in formation’ shit. That could be a hard song for the ladies. Some woman-empowerment shit. Like, ‘Ladies, let’s get in line, let’s not just fall for anything.”
Then, after Mike Will and Beyoncé just so happened to cross paths at a HOTEL PARTY, she fell in love with the female empowerment message he was selling, and after a week in the studio together, a hit was born.
“She takes ideas and puts them with her own ideas, and makes this masterpiece. She’s all about collaborating. Thats what makes her Beyonce,” Will elucidated. “Being able to know what she wants. A lot of people don’t know what they want. To the point where you can bring them some hot shit, and they’re like, “This shit ain’t it. I need a hit, bro.” And I’m like, “Man, this is a hit. If you don’t like this line or that line, you should take this line out and put your own lines in there, and we doctor it up.” Some people want it cooked. They just want to put a little icing on it and bite it. But it’s really a process to make one of these great songs. It’s layers. Layers and layers and layers.”
Read the entire thing here, or just go back and listen to the song with the knowledge that the most iconic part of the chorus was written by a 21-year-old goofing off at Coachella.
[H/T The New Yorker]
