Beyonce’s new collaborative concept piece celebrates African Culture and is linked to her role in the recent Lion King remake. With an all-star lineup, would Beyonce deliver another project jam packed with the most quotable music known to man? The short answer, pretty much.
Firstly, it’s important to discuss the concept. Named, ‘The Gift’, Beyonce puts African culture on the highest pedestal and the whole project feels like a big celebration, of a wonderful film and an amazing continent. Perhaps the most impactful aspect of this album is the fact it is genuine. I was worried it would be a cringe-worthy appropriation and commercialisation of something so pure, but Beyonce appropriately collaborated with some of Africa’s biggest stars, who all perform exceptionally. If this album had just been Beyonce talking in an African accent, this would have been a disaster, but thankfully she did it well.
The songs are separated by short skits featuring dialogue from the film. This does a particularly good job of connecting the album, as this acts as a constant re-centring of the album thematically. It’s a very nice touch that, for the most part, the songs after each skit connect to the skit, which provides relevance for every song. Moreover, The Lion King contains some very poignant and powerful messages, especially considering identity, which ensures the songs each have an important message. The songs Bigger and Brown Skinned Girl are the best examples of this. Beyonce is using her incredible position to make an important statement, which is amazing to see. The power in Beyonce, the biggest pop star in the world, writing anthems empowering those who struggle to see themselves represented at all in modern culture is so significant, which really ties together the themes of the album as a whole and The Lion King as a film. Thematically this project is very strong.
Lastly, musically this album holds up. Again by collaborating with genuine African superstar performers and producers, she is ensuring that the project has musical validity from an African perspective, while simultaneously putting American spins on songs where they are necessary, for example Mood 4 Eva (what a banger). Furthermore, we see many different sides to Beyonce as a singer on this record, as there are songs where she is rapping, singing chilled out stuff and belting (like the Beyonce of old used to) which keeps the album varied and interesting. There are more good songs than bad songs on this album, which is actually very unusual for a concept project so specific as this.
With a versatile performance from Beyonce, great music and an incredible theme, this album is a great accompanying soundtrack to The Lion King, and puts similar projects like Black Panther’s album soundtrack to shame. Beyonce really is the queen, and she’s delivered once again.
Spazzy McGee 