According to S2smagazine.com, Beyonce who will release a new album in June will recruit 200 African dancers for the video of her upcoming single "Girl." While I'm sure the choreography will start another ferosh movement like she did with Single Ladies, Bey did come under fire for her L’Officiel Paris fashion spread where she sported African face paint, bone necklaces and African head dresses which some deemed black face and racist. Her new album is also said to feature collaborations from Sleigh Bells, Diplo and Los Angeles hip-hop collective Odd Future.
Here is what a dancer at a cattle call for the music video had to say about what went down courtesy of Bey's fan site:
My friend got there and there were like 200 or more people in the room. A lot of Bey’s old dancers and probably every major dancer and choreographer you could think of. The song is called “Girl”. The video is being directed by Francis Lawrence. He was also there. 8 or 9 choreographers contributed to the routine. Danielle Polanco and Luam were 2 of those choreographers. Beyonce was there of course going over the routine and they were figuring out which pieces of the choreography they would be showcasing in the music video. The theme of “Girl” is like a female empowerment/girl power type of song that is a definite club banger with Top 40/Worldly appeal. The beat is driven by a sample of a popular club song that a lot of you will probably recognize. There’s a breakdown in the song that is described as absolutely fucking disgustingly sick! Definitely an anthem in the style of her singing. My friend couldn’t remember exact lyrics, but “Girl…girl….girl” is repeated a lot through out the song.
More on the choreography. No males will be dancing except these 2 African men that do this sick solo African intro with footwork at the top of the routine. There may be more, but at the meeting today only those 2 men were dancing. One of the choreographers was an African guy from an African dance company. Bey will have an army of like 100 or more girls. 20 of them will be doing the choreography with her and there will be like 100 of them behind her carrying sticks and marching. Men will be used as props and actors with the girls coming all in their faces and intimidating them. Again, the concept wasn’t revealed so that’s just connecting the dots with the choreography and small information that was given. It definitely looks like Bey will have an army or lesion of girls for one of the scenes that is presumably being shot on the 13th. Expect a full out dance number with lots of choreography.
What I don't get is why is it that when redboned black folk like Beyonce sport African war paint they're called Uncle Tom's and every other racist name you can think of, but when white artists like Gaga paint themselves up like extras from the Blue Man Group it's considered avant-garde. Beyonce's roots point straight to Africa and to say that she's embarrassing to the black community when you need to look at bigger artists who stereotype us like Diddy, that virus Lil Wayne and Tyler Perry.
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