Rolling Stone: Queen Bey’s ‘Formation’ Is The Best Music Video Of All Time!

YourBlackWorld.net, By Victor Omondi, Posted August 10th 2021

This past weekend marked Music Television’s (MTV) 40th anniversary. In celebration of the anniversary, Rolling Stones listed down a hundred of the greatest music videos ever released. Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ topped the list.

The video, directed by Melina Matsoukas, came to many as a surprise, as it was released a few days before its performance at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. The video debuted at just the perfect time – during Black History Month – loaded with a powerful message about Black culture.

The magazine termed Beyoncé as one of the most important artists. “If Beyoncé’s self-titled visual album established her as one of the greatest artists of all time, her surprise-released ‘Formation’ video (and ensuing album Lemonade) marked her as one of the most important,” the magazine wrote.

BEYONCE ‘FORMATION’ VIDEO FROM THE 2016 LEMONADE ALBUM

More into the video, Queen Bey decried the malady of police brutality, referenced Hurricane Katrina, and boasted of her Creole background as well as her country’s roots. She also took pride in her Black skin color.

As it always happens when an artist takes a bold step to decry social injustices, the song and video faced a lot of criticism, as some said she was spreading anti-police messages.

However, the silver lining in the song is that it earned the superstar quite some awards. Besides Rolling Stone’s latest recognition of the video, ‘Formation’ won a whopping 6 awards at the MTV Music Video Awards and was ranked the Best Music Video at the Grammys in 2017. Billboard similarly named the visual as the best music video of the 2010s.

“In under five minutes, Beyoncé moves from a plantation-style house where the Black denizens are the masters not the slaves to the top of a sinking police car,” Rolling Stones wrote.

“This Is America” by Childish Gambino was the 4th on Rolling Stone’s list. The hit previously won 4 times at the 61st Grammy Awards and topped on the US Billboard Hot 100. The other two notable songs in the publication’s top 10 were “Untitled (How Does It Feel?” by D’Angelo, coming 7th, and the late Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jeans.”