Beyonce's visual album celebrates black history

Beyonce in her latest album Black Is King, which is an exploration of black history, power and success that also references colonialism, economic disparity and racism. PHOTO: WALT DISNEY STUDIOS/INSTAGRAM

NEW YORK • Pop superstar Beyonce last Friday released her much-hyped visual album Black Is King, an ambitious video billed as a companion to her 2019 album of songs inspired by Disney's live-action remake of The Lion King.

The highly stylised visual narrative released on the Disney Plus streaming platform runs an hour and 25 minutes and, like The Lion King, tells the story of a boy who navigates an onerous world, finding himself far from his family.

The album is an exploration of black history, power and success that also references colonialism, economic disparity and racism.

Beyonce calls the work a "labour of love" that serves "a greater purpose" than its original role as a companion piece to The Lion King: The Gift, given the current sociopolitical climate. The police killing of a black man, Mr George Floyd, in May ignited mass anti-racism protests amid the coronavirus pandemic currently ravaging the United States.

"Many of us want change," Beyonce wrote on Instagram. "I believe that when black people tell our own stories, we can shift the axis of the world and tell our REAL history of generational wealth and richness of soul... not told in our history books."

Powered by lush visuals and her soaring vocals, Black Is King places heavy emphasis on notions of family and motherhood along with philosophical threads of origin and legacy.

A-listers including Beyonce's hip-hop mogul husband Jay-Z, actress Lupita Nyong'o, jack-of-all-trades Pharrell Williams and model Naomi Campbell feature in the production.

Beyonce's mother Tina Knowles-Lawson and former Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowland also make appearances, as well as daughter Blue Ivy and her twins, Rumi Carter and Sir Carter.

The film follows Beyonce's 2016 visual album Lemonade, which emphasised black womanhood against the backdrop of America's heritage of slavery and culture of oppression.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 03, 2020, with the headline Beyonce's visual album celebrates black history. Subscribe