Freedom Lyrics

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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About

Genius Annotation

“Freedom” is an anthem dedicated to black women. The song brings Beyoncé’s visual album to an apex with the scene ‘hope’ and features the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner pictured with photos of their deceased sons.

Throughout the song, Beyoncé alludes to herself as a force of nature who can empower other women like herself to break free of the bonds society places on them. She addresses her struggle with infidelity as a black woman, as well as alluding to the history of slavery inflicted upon African-Americans, including current issues and the Black Lives Matter movement. Beyoncé and her writers, musicians, and producers sonically reference the musical memories of all those periods.

Beyoncé is joined by Kendrick Lamar in their first ever collaboration. While Beyoncé focuses on women’s issues, Kendrick continues to touch on institutionalized racism, a major theme of his critically acclaimed 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly. However, Kendrick also brings women to the forefront, alluding to 2Pac’s “Dear Mama” and “Ride 4 Me” while sending a message of empowerment to his own mother.

In Kendrick’s verse, he employs a style of writing that counts down from ten to five, before switching to a syllable count to further the countdown. This gives the impression that Kendrick is counting down towards something significant. Within context of the song (and the final bars of the verse), Kendrick is likely counting down to freedom from oppression. Yasiin Bey employs a similar writing style on “Mathematics.”

Along with issues affecting black women, social equality justice are major motifs of this song.

Producer Just Blaze told the Rap Radar podcast that Beyoncé came to him with the “Let Me Try” sample by Kaleidoscope and an already completed demo.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What's the story behind the sample?
Verified Commentary
Just Blaze
via Rap Radar
Genius Answer

Shout out to the homie Egon from Stones Throw, he’s kind of the one that brought that sample to life. I forget the original writer’s name, but there’s only 300 copies of that record in existence. It was recorded in Mexico back in I think the late 60s. Egon had re-issued it a couple of years ago, so now it’s out there, but for years if you didn’t have one of those 300 copies, you were out.

What was Just Blaze's process when making this track?
Verified Commentary
Just Blaze
via Rap Radar
Genius Answer

Basically, did the idea at the house. Got it to where I felt it was right. One of her things was, she said ‘This sounds like you, this feels like you.’.. Sent it back to her. And I was a little nervous cause I didn’t hear anything right away… But I mean it’s Beyonce we’re talking about, she’s doing a zillion things at a time… Then I finally got the email back, like ‘This is it.’

When and where was this song written?
Verified Commentary
Carla Marie
via Fader
Genius Answer

Within 24 hours of hearing the song, Beyoncé recorded what we had so far, just to test herself out on it. Then she got to work on how she wanted to say the words properly. She’s a visionary herself, so she started helping us find the direction of the song. She wanted it to be a female anthem, and we wanted to address certain issues. We met in the summer [of 2015], and in the beginning of 2016 we were still working on the second verse, trying to refine it. It wasn’t just like, ‘Yeah, take the song.’ We really crafted it all together.

Who came up with the idea to use this specific sample?
What certifications have this track received?
Credits
Engineer
Additional Programming
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Vocal Producer
Recording Engineer
Assistant Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Additional Piano
Mixing Engineer
Background Vocals
Recorded At
The Beehive, Los Angeles, CA
Released on
April 23, 2016
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