Beyonce takes on police abuse in surprise new track

Just when you thought you had caught up with all of the Beyonce news, another bombshell dropped.

The pop superstar released a single and accompanying video, “Formation”, yesterday in a surprise one day before she is set to perform before tens of millions of television viewers during halftime of the Super Bowl alongside British rockers Coldplay.

The 34-year-old diva makes lyrical nods towards her Creole parentage and Texan roots, compares herself to Bill Gates, and manages to incorporate one of her funniest lines to date, declaring “when he f**k me good I take his ass to Red Lobster”.

There are wig shops, an army of dancers moving in sync beneath matching clouds of curls, and a very confident cameo from Blue Ivy Carter, who rocks her baby hair in an Afro, the way, according to the song’s lyrics, Beyoncé likes it. But the singer’s own golden blonde hair shines brighter still.

In a likely allusion to Hurricane Katrina and the widely criticised government response, Beyonce sings throughout the video on a New Orleans police auto that is sinking into water. The Black Lives Matter movement also gets touched on, particularly through a graffitied wall that reads “stop shooting us”.

“Formation” is available to stream and download through Tidal.

At the end of 2013 Beyonce dropped the album “Beyonce” unannounced on iTunes; it went platinum in days.

Beyonce’s new video “Formation” is an unapologetic celebration of black culture and history.