Get in Formation: 10 pre-Lemonade moments of Beyoncé at her assertive best

This week, Mrs Beyoncé Knowles-Carter announced the introduction of Formation Scholars – a newly established scholarship program for young female college or graduate students in the US.

With her acclaimed 2016 album Lemonade recently celebrating its one-year anniversary, Beyoncé has shunned traditional channels of acknowledging the milestone, instead breaking this news that offers four students USD $25,000 each to further their academic and creative aspirations. The students will be selected from four schools – the Berklee College of MusicHoward UniversitySuperman College and the Parsons School of Design – and will be studying in the fields of literature, music, creative arts or African-American studies.

According to the official statement, the Formation Scholars program has been establish to ‘encourage and support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, conscious and confident.’

Of course, the emergence of Lemonade into popular music and culture comes off the back of a long established career Beyoncé has made in confidently highlighting the power behind female independence, ambition and success. So with this in mind (and let’s be honest, it’s a good excuse to line up a day of Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child on repeat), we take a look at some of our early favourites.

“GROWN WOMAN” (2013)

“DIVA” (2008)

“BILLS, BILLS, BILLS” (1999)

“INDEPENDENT WOMEN (Pt. I)” (2000)

“RUN THE WORLD (GIRLS)” (2011)

“BEST THING I NEVER HAD” (2011)

“***FLAWLESS” (2013)

“IRREPLACEABLE” (2006)

“PRETTY HURTS” (2014)

“SURVIVOR” (2001)

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