what the album lacks—namely, even a single song from an East African artist, despite the prominence of Kenyan musicians such as Victoria Kimani and Nyashinski and Tanzanians such as Diamond Platnumz (whose nickname is quite literally “Simba”). Given Beyoncé’s proven ability to produce meticulous work, it’s curious that her “love letter to Africa” appears to have left out the region from which The Lion King draws the majority of its visual cues.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/07/disney-beyonce-lion-king-soundtrack-incomplete/594139/
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 12:22 (five years ago) link
Should have had Sauti Sol on there :(
― Frederik B, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 12:31 (five years ago) link
Songs inspired by but otherwise unrelated to photorealistic movie remake of talking/singing/dancing Disney lions not representative of entire continent of Africa but especially places in East Africa shockah?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 14:26 (five years ago) link
it's a very valid criticism but i don't feel it's that important considering the context is "it's a tie-in album for the shitty lion king remake" which means my standards are not really the highest and mostly i'm pleased that this is successful as it is
― ufo, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 15:31 (five years ago) link
not sure why beyonce is the only artist who needs to be held to this standard of accountability; i notice ed sheeran also did not include any east african artists on his new album
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:03 (five years ago) link
which, you know, small blessings i suppose
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:04 (five years ago) link
the criticism is because of the lion king being based on kenya specifically
― ufo, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:09 (five years ago) link
pretty sure the lion king is based on Tezuka's Kimba specifically but hey
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:17 (five years ago) link
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/how-beyonce-made-the-lion-king-the-gift-861019/
Rolling Stone article on how the album was put together in Los Angeles and how certain artists were chosen and flown there to participate.
It seems like a good thing that B was able to at least get the artists that are on this.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:28 (five years ago) link
the lion king being based on kenya specifically
lol Kenya, home of singing dancing talking lions with the voice of Beyonce.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:31 (five years ago) link
I don't get why that's funny? Aristocats is supposed to take place in France as well, even though there are no dancing cats in France.
Wakanda is supposed to be in East Africa too, right? Were there any East African artists on the Black Panther soundtrack?
― Frederik B, Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:36 (five years ago) link
fp'd beyonce for this
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 23 July 2019 16:53 (five years ago) link
After listening to the whole thing a few times (well minus the spoken interludes), I like this a lot.So far, my favourites are "Bigger" (which is a much better big cinematic OTT track than "Spirit"), "Brown Skin Girl", "Keys To The Kingdom" (these two songs might be my summer jams !) and "My Power" ("Otherside is pretty strong too).I actually prefer this to the Black Panther soundtrack (which was already pretty good).
― AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 24 July 2019 10:23 (five years ago) link
As for the "controversy", I don't know. I could understand that artists from east african countries are disappointed that they're not on this but it's just a subjective artistic project from an individual, not an academic research project or else which would have required an "objective" study on the matter.
― AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 24 July 2019 10:26 (five years ago) link
Good, nuanced piece on “the complexities of representation”:https://www.okayplayer.com/music/beyonce-the-lion-king-the-gift-review-east-africa.html
― breastcrawl, Saturday, 27 July 2019 12:40 (five years ago) link
Is it just me or is D. Glover singing with a kind of mock african accent on "Mood 4 Eva" ?
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 29 July 2019 11:09 (five years ago) link
Tiwa & Eazi’s “Keys To The Kingdom” has really snuck up on me. I wake up with that song playing in my head on the regular now.
― breastcrawl, Wednesday, 21 August 2019 19:14 (five years ago) link
i keep meaning to ask what your display name is in reference to.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 21 August 2019 19:56 (five years ago) link
oh forkspaws, you shouldn’t have... the secret behind my display name will cause the whole of ILM to blow to pieceseither that, or it’s some innocuous dutchism
― Free, Freestyler (breastcrawl), Thursday, 22 August 2019 17:44 (five years ago) link
anyways, what track has turned out to be your favourite on this album?
― Free, Freestyler (breastcrawl), Thursday, 22 August 2019 17:46 (five years ago) link
i don't know from "innocuous dutchism"s, gonna need more info there!i'm really basic, so likely "find your way back" is my fave. followed closely by billy eichner and seth rogan doing schtick behind chanting.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 23 August 2019 00:25 (five years ago) link
https://thenativemag.com/communities/beyonce-black-is-king-visual-album/
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Thursday, 9 July 2020 20:41 (four years ago) link
looks like the companion album is just a deluxe edition of the lion king: the gift that doesn't have the film dialogue snippets and has "black parade", an extended mix of "black parade", and a remix of "find your way" added on at the end― ufo, vrijdag 31 juli 2020 7:27 bookmarkflaglink
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Friday, 31 July 2020 13:09 (four years ago) link
just trying to make this thread happen, can’t you see?
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Friday, 31 July 2020 13:19 (four years ago) link
I still don’t know what an innocuous dutchism is.Call me old fashioned, but i prefer new audio to new video.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 31 July 2020 15:11 (four years ago) link
there is no shame in not knowing.the new “Find Your Way Home” remix is nice, though not essential. happy people are getting another chance to discover the absolute jam that is “Already”.
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Friday, 31 July 2020 15:19 (four years ago) link
“Find Your Way *Back*” - I’m so sorry
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Friday, 31 July 2020 15:33 (four years ago) link
ooooohhh there’s actually a video for “Already” now?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agCgvFTJeRs
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Friday, 31 July 2020 17:03 (four years ago) link
That video is incredible
― Indexed, Friday, 31 July 2020 20:35 (four years ago) link
https://www.essence.com/entertainment/only-essence/beyonces-black-is-king-criticism/
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 August 2020 01:37 (four years ago) link
BURUNDIAN WRITER JUDICAELLE IRAKOZE PENS A WARNING TO BEYONCÉ’S FANS, REMINDING THEM THAT "WE DON’T HAVE TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH A MONARCHY TO MATTER.
Above article
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 August 2020 01:43 (four years ago) link
Oumou Sangare on the album and Burna Boy and Beyonce holding a Robert Farris Thompson book on Yoruban art
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 August 2020 01:44 (four years ago) link
Readin about possible Beyoncé influences-Jason Farago NY Times art critic cites Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh, Nigerian artist Jelili Atiku , & Jean-Paul Goude ( who did Grace Jones album covers) among others
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 August 2020 01:48 (four years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/arts/music/beyonce-black-is-king.html
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 August 2020 01:49 (four years ago) link
Is there a separate thread for Beyonce Black is King?
I don’t see one. It’s flawed, but I still find a lot to like about it.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 August 2020 20:06 (four years ago) link
there’s a Black Parade thread in anticipation of new material, but Black Is King uses the music of Lion King: The Gift, so feel free to discuss the movie here, I think (I haven’t seen it myself)
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Friday, 7 August 2020 23:03 (four years ago) link
You should see it.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 August 2020 23:33 (four years ago) link
I don’t have Disney+ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Saturday, 8 August 2020 00:16 (four years ago) link
i'm beginning to get annoyed by having to initiate a trial of some service or another that i largely don't want to use just to see a compelling pop artist's latest project
― dyl, Saturday, 8 August 2020 03:35 (four years ago) link
I understand. Wife and I decided to splurge.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 8 August 2020 17:21 (four years ago) link
on ilplex btw
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 8 August 2020 21:32 (four years ago) link
six perspectives on Black Is King in the New York Times
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Monday, 10 August 2020 19:45 (four years ago) link
oops, that’s the same article curmudgeon posted
― No mean feat. DaBaby (breastcrawl), Monday, 10 August 2020 19:46 (four years ago) link