It features a spoken word poetry by Somali-English poet Warsan Shire, Beyoncé dancing along with a group of female dancers with painted bodies and a cameo appearance by tennis player Serena Williams.

[13] Mike Wass of the website Idolator felt that "Sorry" was intended as a female response to "IDFWU" (2014) by Big Sean and further found similar phrases.

[15] Similarly, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine noted the lines "Suck on my balls, I've had enough" were an "unmistakable hint" that the lyrics revolve around Jay Z.

He also found the lyrics "Big homie better grow up" as a reference of the self-given title by Jay-Z during his guest appearance on their past collaboration "Crazy in Love" (2003).

[11] On the other hand, Lindsay Mannering from Bustle magazine felt that it was hard to determine whether the lyrics were inspired by the pair's private life due to the prominent usage of innuendos.

However, she later clarified that although the song may not necessarily be autobiographical, "Beyonce has a tendency to reveal her truth through music... so it's possible that 'Sorry' references her emotions after Jay allegedly cheated on her".

[19] The song opens with the lyrics of the hook "Sorry, I ain't sorry", with the protagonist seemingly apologizing for something, but as it turns out later, she adopts an unapologetic stance realizing she was the victim.

[18] It features the lyrics "Boy bye" and urges listeners to put their middle fingers up; the singer finds personal empowerment in those lines.

Online dubbed "Sorry" as the "most controversial song" on Lemonade due to the alleged infidelity and "Becky with the good hair" mistress discussed in the lyrics.

[22] Amy Zimmerman, writing for The Daily Beast deemed "Sorry" by far the most iconic single and coined it as the song which "introduced the world to Jay Z's most infamous alleged mistress, 'Becky with the good hair'".

[24] Spin journalist Greg Tate credited the line mentioning Becky for "breaking the Internet" and praised the fact that it was potent enough to promote the new material by the singer with "few dollops of viral poesy and self-inflicted gossip-mongering".

[27] Ray Rahman from Entertainment Weekly called it a "middle fingers up anthem" which was "sure to be sung by spurned lovers for as long as there are Beckys with good hair".

[29] NME writer Larry Bartleet wrote that the singer expresses a "sorry, not sorry" stance in the song and noted how in the lyrics "suck on my balls", "the sense of release is palpable".

[33] Pretty Much Amazing's Peter Tabakis wrote that the tracks "Sorry" and "6 Inch" on Lemonade were "the equivalent of a post-bloodbath hair flip and door slam".

[35] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone was highly positive of the singer's voice capabilities, saying they were "the most astounding sound... as she pushes to her bluesiest extremes, like the hilariously nasty way she sneers, 'He's always got them fucking ex-cuuuu-ses.

[12] Jon Pareles from The New York Times summarized it as "twitchy, flippant song that's by no means an apology" but "a combative, unglossy track on an album full of them" instead.

[9] Maeve McDermott of USA Today opined in his review that although the song was not the most meaningful one by the singer, "it's a breezy, beautiful kiss-off that's enough to tell every below-average person in your life, 'Boy, bye.

[41] Billboard ranked "Sorry" at number two on their "100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list: "Between "Tell 'em boy bye" memes and the "Becky with the good hair" witchhunt, Beyonce's "Sorry" ignited more online chatter than most non-Trump political campaigns this year.

But more importantly, Beyonce executes one miraculous vocal tonal shift after another on "Sorry," going from pissed-off exasperation to dignity at any cost ("Suicide before you see this tear"), to small-voiced vulnerability at the very end.

[53][54][55][56] A music video for the song, directed by Kahlil Joseph and Beyoncé herself, was included on the parent visual album as part of a one-hour film which premiered on HBO on April 23, 2016.

[58] In the context of the album's main storyline which follows a woman dealing with her love interest's cheating affair, "Sorry" is placed in the middle, during the stage called "apathy"; the clips opens with that word written across the screen.

[8] Beyoncé is then heard reciting a spoken-word poem about infidelity written by Warsan Shire over the slow melody of a jewelry box playing a theme from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake.

[24][61] As the song begins, the visual moves to scenes showing the singer with braided hair dancing along with women dressed in tribal costumes and with painted faces and bodies in a Southern mansion and a city bus emblazoned with the words "Boy Bye"; bopping and putting their middle fingers up is a part of their dance choreography in line with the song's lyrics.

[65] Chris Kelly from Fact pointed out how it served as "part of a web of connections between Beyoncé and her lover, Africa and America, pop music and classical".

[67][68] The final scenes see Beyoncé dancing on and in front of the bus, before she closes the clip singing the infamous line "He better call Becky with the good hair".

[62] Cosmopolitan's Gina Mei noted how the fact that Beyoncé was surrounded by "gorgeous, powerful, and independent women" throughout the video made it "a tour de force, and it's all kinds of empowering".

[69] Similarly, Zimmer from The Daily Beast noted how the singer was accompanied by "crews of beautiful black women everywhere she goes" in the "good old-fashioned girls rule, boys drool banger".

[59] Similarly, Alyssa Bailey in a review for Elle, called the opening monologue "chilling" and pointed out how it becomes "a mesmerizing dance number, flawlessly executed by Beyoncé" afterwards.

[76] Carey O'Donnell from Paper magazine summarized the clip as a "raucous, fierce ladies night, featuring fellow icon Serena Williams, in all her twerking glory".

[90] According to Ed Masley of The Arizona Republic, the performance was a "suitably bitter rendition" with a "withering delivery of the final payoff, 'He better call Becky with the good hair'".