When the writing credits for Beyonce’s “Formation” came out, I think everyone was a little shocked to see Swae Lee’s name there. Everyone’s been wondering in what capacity did Swae contribute to a Beyonce song and it turns out, it was pretty much all his idea.
Posted by: Frankie Zing
Mike WiLL, who mentors the Swae and Slim Jimmy of Rae Sremmurd, spoke to the New York Times and said they were freestyling in the car on the way to Coachella when the idea came to Swae:
“And we’re just coming up—we just freestyle, you know?—and Swae Lee said, ‘O.K., ladies, now let’s get in formation.’ And we put it on the VoiceNote. Swae Lee’s got so many voice notes that he doesn’t even record, but I’m like, ‘Dog, we got to do that “get in formation” shit.’ That could be a hard song for the ladies. Some woman-empowerment shit. Like, ‘Ladies, let’s get in line, let’s not just fall for anything.’ I’m seeing that vision.”
WiLL says he had Swae put the line on a beat in the studio, it made it’s way to Beyonce, and she crafted the rest of the song off of Swae’s idea and concept:
“We were just thinking about it being a female anthem. Because I knew I just wanted a banger with Beyoncé, like a ‘Single Ladies,’ but I wanted it to be a new kind of chant.”
“[She took] one little idea we came up with on the way to Coachella, put it in a pot, stirred it up, and came with this smash. She takes ideas and puts them with her own ideas, and makes this masterpiece. She’s all about collaborating.”
