Check out my conversation with Fast Company about “Formation,” songwriting, and the rise of “The Superchorus.”
Excerpt, plus lyric and structure breakdown, which got kind of complicated…:
“It feels new because you get a little bit lost in the form—you’re not being catered to,” says Mike Errico, a singer-songwriter and adjunct instructor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. “[Producer/songwriter] Max Martin is very much a caterer—he’s a good escort and he’s a reliable narrator, musically. But this is actually pushing it. You don’t have control of the plane. That’s something that’s exciting about this.”
What’s happening in “Formation” is what Errico describes as not necessarily a break from the traditional verse-chorus form, but an evolution of it.
“I do suspect that the way present-day songs are conceived does impact the ways writers chose to innovate,” Errico says. “For instance, if you are writing a melody over a groove that is static, looped, and extended out—a process referred to as ‘toplining’—a creative mind will accept the track as an unmovable parameter and generate interest by changing up the melodies and hooks. At the end of a topline session, the writing team may have several sections they love, but instead of tossing them out in order to preserve preconceived notions of song form, they will line them up and make multiple hook-laden sections out of each.”
VERSE 1
Y’all haters corny with that Illuminati mess
Paparazzi, catch my fly and my cocky fresh
I’m so reckless when I rock my Givenchy dress
I’m so possessive so I rock his Roc necklaces
PRE-CHORUS
My daddy Alabama, my ma Louisiana
You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bama
CHORUS
[Errico: “While this is not repeated (a characteristic of choruses) it is set up like a normal chorus would be—it’s a kind of deception. When you think you’ve reached the summit, guess what…you haven’t.”]
I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros
I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils
Earned all this money but they never take the country out me
I got a hot sauce in my bag, swag
THE “SUPER-CHORUS”
[Errico: “One could simply call it the second half of the chorus and not be ‘wrong,’ but to my ear, it’s a new plateau that could exist on its own. Unlike a bridge, which functions in relation to sections that precede it, this section blows what we thought was the chorus out of the water. Hence, the name ‘super-chorus.’”]
I see it, I want it, I stunt, yellow-bone it
I dream it, I work hard, I grind ’til I own it
I twirl on them haters, albino alligators
El Camino with the seat low, sippin’ Cuervo with no chaser
THE POST-SUPER-CHORUS
[Errico: “If you buy the term ‘super-chorus,’ then logically, this is the post-super-chorus. It serves the same function that many Max Martin/Dr. Luke ‘post-choruses’ do—Katy perry’s ‘Roar’ being a particularly sticky example. It’s characterized by a de-emphasis on actual words and a stress on infectious repetition for its own sake. In this way, a section like this ‘internationalizes’ a song, since knowing the language is not required in order to jump in and participate. This works for K-Pop, Beyoncé, or any soccer-stadium anthem with lyrics that basically read like a string of ‘whoa’s.’”]
Sometimes I go off (I go off), I go hard (I go hard)
Get what’s mine (take what’s mine), I’m a star (I’m a star)
Cause I slay (slay), I slay (hey), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
All day (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
We gon’ slay (slay), gon’ slay (okay), we slay (okay), I slay (okay)
I slay (okay), okay (okay), I slay (okay), okay, okay, okay, okay
VERSE 2.1
[Errico: “The second verse often builds variations on the themes of verse one, and we see that here. Basic verse elements remain and the rhyme scheme stays close to the ‘AAAA’ of verse one. However, she retains the ‘cause I slay’ hook from the post-super-chorus. I know, that sounds crazy to me, too. In short, at this point we’re getting some repetition, but it’s also being recast.”]
Okay, okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation, cause I slay
Okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation, cause I slay
Prove to me you got some coordination, cause I slay
Slay trick, or you get eliminated
VERSE 2.2
[Errico: “I’m calling it ‘2.2’ and not simply verse three because it’s building off verse two and retaining the post-super-chorus hook at the end of the lines. Rhyme scheme remains ‘AAAA,’ although liberties are being taken with ‘chopper’/‘shop up.’”]
When he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay
When he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay
If he hit it right, I might take him on a flight on my chopper, cause I slay
Drop him off at the mall, let him buy some J’s, let him shop up, cause I slay
VERSE 2.3
[Errico: “This retains qualities of verses 2.1 and 2.2, but the arrangement is scaled back. The breakdown is a new look at the verse form we’re hearing for the third time in a row, and her stripped vocal delivery serves as a callback to verse one. Breaking the arrangement down also creates contrast, and the following super-chorus will sound that much louder because of the relative quiet that preceded it. This technique was used to great effect by Nirvana in ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ and by Max Martin/Dr. Luke—among others—in the breakdown after the bridge of Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone.’ These three verses in a row are not common, and I think it’s a symptom of the topline writing style.”]
I might get your song played on the radio station, cause I slay
I might get your song played on the radio station, cause I slay
You just might be a black Bill Gates in the making, cause I slay
I just might be a black Bill Gates in the making
SUPER-CHORUS
I see it, I want it, I stunt, yellow-bone it
I dream it, I work hard, I grind ’til I own it
I twirl on them haters, albino alligators
El Camino with the seat low, sippin’ Cuervo with no chaser
POST-SUPER-CHORUS
Sometimes I go off (I go off), I go hard (I go hard)
Get what’s mine (take what’s mine), I’m a star (I’m a star)
Cause I slay (slay), I slay (hey), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
All day (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay), I slay (okay)
We gon’ slay (slay), gon’ slay (okay), we slay (okay), I slay (okay)
I slay (okay), okay (okay), I slay (okay), okay, okay, okay, okay
VERSE 2.1B
[Errico: “Very traditional, and sung in the style of the verse at the top of the song. A kind of bookend is created, and the song lands with a summarizing bit of wisdom/advice. From a songwriting standpoint, this is practically Dylanesque.”]
Okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation, I slay
Okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation
You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation
Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper