The Rae Sremmurd artist and songwriter shares the story behind the hit on a new episode of 'Yara Shahidi’s Day Off.'
Swae Lee, the multi-platinum recording artist and member of the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd who came up with Beyonce's iconic 2016 "Formation" lyric, is sharing how the life-changing moment came to be.
In an sneak preview of his upcoming appearance on Yara Shahidi's Day Off, obtained exclusively by ET, Lee opens up to pal Yara Shahidi about the origin of the line that would become a touchstone of Bey's Lemonade era and an inescapable part of the cultural zeitgeist that year.
"I'm saying, for me, like, 'OK ladies, let's get in formation,'" he tells the actress. "Like, all the ladies. You know what I'm sayin'?"
Swae and his brother, Slim Jxmmi -- who together make up Rae Sremmurd -- were working with super producer Mike WiLL Made-It on the freestyle. Later, during a session with Beyonce, Mike played her the track.
"She was feelin' that," Swae recalls. "I remember the first time I met her. It was crazy, like, her energy is unmatched. She got in there and did her thing. It ended up being one of the biggest songs in the world."
After, Bey invited Rae Sremmurd to join her as an opening act for the Chicago stop of her Formation World Tour.
Yara Shahidi's Day Off -- which follows the Black-ish star as she explores the hidden passions of her celeb friends -- debuts new episodes every Thursday at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on Facebook Watch. On this week's installment, titled "Making Kicks and Hits with Swae Lee," Swae and Yara explore authenticity, consistency, and consistently thinking outside the box, while creating a fresh pair of custom kicks.
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