The Gift for the Brown Skin Girls and Literally Everyone Else

8 Songs You can Enjoy if You Seriously Aren’t a Brown Skin Girl

The Lion King: The Gift album cover- I do not own rights to this image.

With Beyonce being her flawless woke self, it’s no surprise that she would opt to make her own soundtrack to dedicated to her involvement in the recent feature film project, The Lion King. On the album she pens a love letter to Africa, and works with some of the hottest names in the Afrobeats scene like Yemi Alade, Mr. Eazi, Burna Boy and Wizkid to name a few.

Even if you haven’t seen The Lion King in theaters yet (and honestly you should), you’ve at least seen the hype around one of the more popular songs on the album, BROWN SKIN GIRL. It is a modern-day-love-yourself-anthem featuring Wizkid, SAINt JHN, and Blue Ivy. (In case you were wondering- yes Blue does have vocals, and yes it is everything and more).

The title speaks for itself, and is clear about who it’s intended for. However on twitter, there’s been debates about the song referring to black girls of all shades including the famous high yella and lightly-filled-in-with-a-light-brown-crayon shades.

Yeah, I’m not really sure why either.

On the song Beyonce literally sings, “She needs an Oscar for that pretty dark skin” about Naomi Campbell. She name drops Kelly Rowland and Lupita Nyong’o, singing “Wish you could trade eyes with me because/There’s complexities in complexion/But your skin, it glows like diamonds”. You know diamonds- one of the raw materials of Africa, along with gold. Clearly, this a praise to the dark skin sisters. AND THAT’S OK!

Too often when we talk about songs praising black women and girls, it is the darker ones who are routinely left out. Rappers- and some RnB artists- have even clearly used only light skinned models and actresses in their videos, or explicity said the words “light skin”, “light brown” or some deviation of the two. BROWN SKIN GIRL is bold and amazing because it lays out exactly who it’s for.

Well what about us, Chantel? Do we not deserve to be praised? Are we not worthy?

Of course, no one is worthy when it comes to Beyonce. We should honestly be grateful that she even made a new album. But in case you needed your ego stroked: Here are 8 songs to listen to if you aren’t a brown skin girl and still want to be included.

1. BIGGER: This song was made for anyone “questioning [their] soul” and needs that push to accomplish things beyond their wildest dreams. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can listen to this and instantly find the motivation to get up and go do something about anything.
2. FIND YOUR WAY BACK: This song is about exploring the world, and remembering the lessons of your parents (or parental figures) during your childhood. It has an upbeat tempo, and tells you “Big, big world, but you got it baby/don’t let this life drive you crazy”. If that isn’t reassuring, I don’t know what is.
3. DON’T JEALOUS ME: This one is for anyone doing their thing and encountering haters. It reminds you that no matter what level success you achieve, there will be someone close behind wishing they had what you have but not necessarily how hard you worked. It chants famous proverbs you probably heard from your nana and ’em: “Sheep don’t run with lion/Snake don’t swing with monkey”. In other words, they don’t all eat with you, and that’s alright- you “got too much gold to try on”.
4. JA ARA è: The title loosely translates to “Fight Yourself” in Yoruba, and speaks about the power of not fighting who you are because if you do, everyone around you suffers right along with you. Burna Boy hits your ear with some sound advice: “Stand your ground like Ogun/Watch your back and just do what you’re supposed to/Take care of family and people you’re close to”.
5. MOOD 4 EVA: Another survival song, Beyonce opens by singing “I know my enemies prey on me, so pray for me”. Honestly, if that doesn’t wake up, you may need to get checked. You listen to this song and become affirmed that you are capable and can’t a soul on take that from you. With “ancestors in [your] steps”, you are guided beyond what human can disrupt. What a mood.
6. KEYS TO THE KINGDOM: This one is for the kings, no matter the shade. Tiwa Savage and Mr. Eazi reminds black men that the past is hard and sometimes difficult to confront, but the fact that you are destined for greatness will never fade. Inside of you is a greatness others may not see, but “the sun and the moon bows for you”. Personally I’d like to see young kings make videos to this.
7. MY POWER: Queens, this is one is for you. This songs is truly a power chant- “They’ll never take away my power!” Nija even names the iconic living single cast which was all black women of all shades- including Synclaire and Maxine, whose skin tones stand on complete opposites of the spectrum. “Refer to me as Goddess,” she continues- and rightfully so. Every queen deserves to sit on her throne unapologetically.
8. SPIRIT: Beyonce opens and closes the album with mantra-esque masterpieces about following your dreams and trusting yourself to accomplish any and every thing you’d like to in this life. “Your destiny is coming close, stand up and fight,” she warns us. “Watch the heavens open, can you hear it calling?” You have to admit it- she definitely picked you up and pushed us to the sea of opportunity with that one.

And if all else fails, you can always listen to the entire album, as a person of color and African descent, and appreciate the influence of the motherland. You can listen to BROWN SKIN GIRLS because it makes you smile. You could even- I don’t know- share it or sing it to the brown skin girls in your life and being them a little joy. But whatever you do, let the dark skinned sisters enjoy this one. For the culture.