Beyoncé’s Black is King Visual Album Review
by Judy Bokao & Christine Kinori
The 20 years of Beyoncé’s journey in the entertainment industry is a testimony to her tenacity together with her formidable catalogue in the music industry. Beyoncé’s work in the two fields gets more challenging at each turn and we are all in for the ride.
Although she did blossom as a songwriter during her time as the leader of Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé did come out as the premier contemporary R&B artist back in the 2000s. While she did take quirky film roles starring with Mike Myers and Steve Martin in the Austin Powers and Pink Panther, her range has certainly blossomed past that.
Beyoncé’s second visual album after Lemonade is worth the wait. It is a feather in her hat to her Lion King album, The Gift. However, describing Black is King as simply a visual album is a complete understatement as it is a film in and of itself.
The Black is King album is a worldwide contemporary reimagining of the Lion King story across many countries in three continents. Concerning human Simba’s journey with Beyonce’s as the light guide and narrator, the film also makes use of sound clips from the Lion King to help with transitions which help in shaping the story. All the film protagonists are recreated as real-life characters with more substance and personality. The hyenas are also seen as a devilish biker gang while “Mood 4 Eva” depicts life with Pumba and Timon in a lavish mansion.
Black is King speaks to the richness and beauty of Blackness without it appearing to be grotesquely wealthy or contrived too much. The film also offers different styles of productions, at times minimal with Beyoncé’s singing in a completely vast open space on songs like “Bigger.” Other sequences are really colorful and loud, with vibrant imagery together with high energy dancers on “My Power.”
Black is King is a visual feast that offers several slow panning stillness scenes where striking beauty, together with the duality of the bright colors, is absorbed against the deep brown tones. Some dancers celebrate under the green, black and red Pan African flag, which is designed by Marcus Garvey. It is a quite unapologetic statement on the Blacks’ unity during this period when the world has forgotten about us as Blacks.
Beyoncé did describe the project as a ‘labor of love’ and Kwasi Fordjour, Parkwood Entertainment Company’s Ghanaian creative director was the co-director. There was also additional input from across the African continent. Every song comes with a completely different visual, although it follows the story well. There is nothing that appears to be out of place, and everything appears to be familiar and beautiful. It is, however, not possible for one to watch the emotive story unfold that is accompanied by Yrsa Daley-Ward’s writing, Warsan Shire’s poetry and West Africa’s warm images without feeling emotional.
Before its release, there were fears that the film would fall into a gimmicky trend which is described by Jade Bentil as “Wakandification.” It is an idea that most of the Western media outlets usually essentialize many African cultures; repackage them neatly before reselling them to Western audiences. However, Black is King does the complete opposite. It is storytelling that is inspired and led by African traditions, sounds and creative while speaking to the diaspora and those who are in search of an identity. Black is King glamorizes economic and class division through an overload of hierarchical and ethnic symbols.
There is only one criticism we have. The film draws lots of inspiration across Africa right from Lagos to Namibia. The Lion King is, however, set in East Africa, and it would have been great to see greater inclusion of East African nations and cultures. Maybe there will be a sequel, though!
About the Authors:
Judy Bokao is 20 years old and was born in Ethiopia but relocated to Nairobi two years ago. She is passionate about everyone having equal rights and is also big on conservation and speaking up for our planet. Judy loves reading and photography and is just a free-spirited young lady trying to grow into a woman her mom can be proud of.
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Christine Siamanta Kinori grew up in a little village in Kenya known as Loitoktok near the border of Kenya and Tanzania. All she wanted to do when she grew up was to explore the world. Her curiosity led her to join Nairobi University to pursue a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. She later got a job with an amazing travel magazine Nomad Africa which gave her the opportunity to explore Africa. She also writes for numerous travel websites about Africa and tries to create a new narrative in the media about our aesthetic continent.
Christine claims to have somewhat unhealthy addiction to TV and reading, as it is a fun way to keep herself occupied during the long journeys for her travel writing. She is also a believer of letting people be their beautiful selves. To her, love is love and it is the greatest gift we have as humans.
