Beyhive is back: Beyonce releases new song day before Super Bowl appearance

Regardless of the controversy Bey is set to storm the stage with Formation at this year’s Superbowl, headlining alongside Bruno Mars and Coldplay, while Lady Gaga performs the Star-Spangled Banner.

The song is only available for download from Beyonce’s husband Jay Z’s subscription-based streaming service Tidal, but the music video is live on her YouTube page. Arriving on the eve of Beyoncé’s performance at the Super Bowl half-time show, the new song was reportedly produced by Mike Will Made-It and co-written by Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd.

Check out “Formation” below. Amid frenetic dance numbers and Southern cotillion-style costumes, the video takes on themes such as police-involved violence, Hurricane Katrina and Creole culture.

Her lyrics – “My daddy Alabama, Momma Louisiana/You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bamma” – prove as much.

The Drunk in Love star stunned fans on Saturday (06Feb16) when she released the new promo, which featured footage from filmmaker Chris Black’s 2014 documentary That B.E.A.T., about New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA)’s bounce music.

One scene cuts between the dancing boy and the band of cops, to a graffiti’d wall with the words “STOP SHOOTING US” on it. The song features a sample of New Orleans bounce queen Big Freedia and Beyoncé starts the video sitting on a half-submerged New Orleans police auto.

As she bounced down, Beyonce had to jump back, leading many to think it was an unintentional extra move. The show is bound to be important for a myriad of reasons, most notably it representing one of the last performances of Coldplay before they retire.

“I remember growing up watching the Super Bowl with my family, and it’s an event that families come together and watch”, she told CBS (via ET).