After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Beyoncé Gisellle Knowles blessed the MTV Video Music Award stage at Madison Square Garden to snatch all of our edges.
Not that we didn’t expect it. Bey always serves. But the superstar went a step further in her performance – which affirmed blackness, empowered black women and celebrated sex positivity – by giving us a condensed version of her Formation World Tour concert.
Literally.
Thank you, @Beyonce. 🍋🍋🍋 #VMAs pic.twitter.com/kz950qH5KK
— ESSENCE (@Essence) August 29, 2016
In a medley of songs that included “Hold Up,” “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” “Pray You Catch Me,” and more, Beyoncé sang her way up and down a stage graced with shiny dancers whose costumes and moves referenced the deep African and African-American culture she comes from.
The singer, whose Lemonade album and visuals were released in April, even broke an MTV camera with her infamous “Hot Sauce” bat.
Because…Beyoncé.
But her extended time on stage reached beyond great visuals and dance moves. In recent years, Beyoncé has made it a point to politicize her work, even arriving at the VMA’s with the Mothers Of The Movement – a group of Black mothers who have lost children to police brutality and gun violence – and ending her exhilarating performance with a powerful formation.
While many believe it to be the Venus Symbol (also associated with the Greek goddess Aphrodite), which represents women, others thought it to be an ode to the late Prince, who the singer celebrates in her Formation World Tour.
Whatever the message, we’re here for it.