"The royalty in you is there for you to be a blessing to others. For you to leave a legacy that others can look to and find hope and find strength and find healing as well"-from Black is King
I didn't really know what Black is King was about. When I heard Beyonce made a visual album, I thought it was just going to be some sort of self indulgent, superficial way to enrich herself. Then, I read an article about this movie from the perspective of 7 African artists (you can find it on CBC.ca). As I became more informed, I realized how wrong my perception, my judgement, was and enticed me to watch it, without having seen a preview.
This piece definitely requires you to educate yourself. It requires you to learn about the references made throughout the entire movie and get to know a little more about African cultures. You have to seek out what people who are from Africa are saying about it, their explanation of all the references that people who aren't from their culture don't know is insightful and helpful.
Doing some reading, before or after watching it (I suggest before, so you're an educated viewer), it allows you to appreciate Black is King SO MUCH MORE. I found myself LOOKING for specific people, more aware of the story and what was happening.
From the articles I read, I learned many of the dances included in the choreography are African. I learned of certain moves and dances and was able to recognize them as I watched. I learned most of the dancers and directors are African. The blue dancer? He's Nigerian and one of the choreographers! I learned who the directors are, what their style is, and what part they directed. I learned the wardrobe, from the colours, to the animal print and patterns, and jewelry, represent various African tribes and have symbolic meaning. The scene where women are putting what looks like red clay on their dreads/locks and skin? This is what I learned of them: "the Himba people work vigorously to ensure that their beliefs and cultures aren't contaminated in any way by outside influences, and as a result they have mostly avoided contact with modern society to keep the culture alive. So the fact that Reginaldo Mar, a Namibian creative who works closely with the Himba women, was able to get special permission from the OvaHimba leaders to let the women leave the Kunene Region and get on a plane to fly to Durban was insane to me. In order to do so, they had to get these women birth certificates and passports on very short notice. The Beyoncé team maintained integrity in how the tribes and people are represented, and for that I applaud them." -Muginga António How interesting is THAT?! It's unfortunate that, had someone I follow on social media, who I trust, not shared a link to that article, I would not have known any of this. Not knowing of the Himba people, I feel I would have missed out. That scene would just have gone under the radar. Instead, I LOOKED for it, I waited for it.
I decided to watch with subtitles and I found it made it easier to understand how it follows The Lion King story line. This is a musical interpretation of The Lion King. It's not straightforward. I feel it's like an Opera, or reading Shakespeare, you need to learn about it, to sort of translate it, in order to understand the story, and when you make the effort to learn about it, it makes sense and you appreciate it. This makes me think of my 5th grade school trip to see The Phantom of the Opera. Weeks prior, in music class and as part of our English class, we learned the meaning of every song (I can still hear my teacher saying "read between the lines"), every lyric, what the story was about, the hows, wheres and whys. Because of this, we were equipped to understand and better appreciate what we were seeing. Viewers of Black Is King need something like that. Even those who loved it, like myself, may have missed a lot of the symbolism, which is unfortunate.
I actually prefer this re-telling of The Lion King than the one from 2019 which, while visually beautiful, it just fell flat. Here, there's a certain passion and excitement to it that was missing from the 2019 version. The visuals, the music, the beauty, the story, the journey, it has it all! It's layered and emotional. If we're going to follow The Lion King story, everyone gathered as Beyonce walks to the water holding a baby boy, is the birth of Simba when all the animals gather to celebrate. The song Bigger is talking to Simba about his potential, to embrace who he is, etc. But it's also about insecurity and self love "If you feel insignificant, you better think again Better wake up because you're part of something way bigger You're part of something way bigger Not just a speck in the universe Not just some words in a bible verse You are the living word Ahh, you're part of something way bigger Bigger than you, bigger than we"
I do feel it requires more than 1 viewing to fully grasp everything because there's SO MUCH going on and it's so layered. I feel there should be an accompanying video that explains and delves into all the symbolism, the references, the cultures, etc. I mean, had I not stumbled onto that 1 article (and then searched for others) and had I not watched it with subtitles, all the work that went into incorporating various African cultures, and how the music and lyrics tell The Lion King story, would have all gone over my head and I would be writing a negative review resembling the others.
Whether or not you've watched it, I highly recommend doing some reading in order to have a better understanding of the movie. I suggest/recommend reading: "7 African artists share their feelings on the glory - and missteps - of Beyoncé's Black is King" by Amanda Parris on CBC.ca We Are Africans. Here's Our View Of Beyoncé's 'Black Is King' by Ifeanyi Nsofor and Esther Ngumbi Buzzfeed has an interview with Stephen "Papi" Ojo, the blue man in the movie. He choreographed many of the dances. To understand how Beyonce is telling The Lion King story, read "Beyonce Remixed the Lion King Meaning by Spencer Kornhaber. That article is about the album The Gift (which is where all the songs for Black is KIng come from), it helps explain which songs are about which Lion King scenes.
I didn't really know what Black is King was about. When I heard Beyonce made a visual album, I thought it was just going to be some sort of self indulgent, superficial way to enrich herself. Then, I read an article about this movie from the perspective of 7 African artists (you can find it on CBC.ca). As I became more informed, I realized how wrong my perception, my judgement, was and enticed me to watch it, without having seen a preview.
This piece definitely requires you to educate yourself. It requires you to learn about the references made throughout the entire movie and get to know a little more about African cultures. You have to seek out what people who are from Africa are saying about it, their explanation of all the references that people who aren't from their culture don't know is insightful and helpful.
Doing some reading, before or after watching it (I suggest before, so you're an educated viewer), it allows you to appreciate Black is King SO MUCH MORE. I found myself LOOKING for specific people, more aware of the story and what was happening.
From the articles I read, I learned many of the dances included in the choreography are African. I learned of certain moves and dances and was able to recognize them as I watched. I learned most of the dancers and directors are African. The blue dancer? He's Nigerian and one of the choreographers! I learned who the directors are, what their style is, and what part they directed. I learned the wardrobe, from the colours, to the animal print and patterns, and jewelry, represent various African tribes and have symbolic meaning. The scene where women are putting what looks like red clay on their dreads/locks and skin? This is what I learned of them: "the Himba people work vigorously to ensure that their beliefs and cultures aren't contaminated in any way by outside influences, and as a result they have mostly avoided contact with modern society to keep the culture alive. So the fact that Reginaldo Mar, a Namibian creative who works closely with the Himba women, was able to get special permission from the OvaHimba leaders to let the women leave the Kunene Region and get on a plane to fly to Durban was insane to me. In order to do so, they had to get these women birth certificates and passports on very short notice. The Beyoncé team maintained integrity in how the tribes and people are represented, and for that I applaud them." -Muginga António How interesting is THAT?! It's unfortunate that, had someone I follow on social media, who I trust, not shared a link to that article, I would not have known any of this. Not knowing of the Himba people, I feel I would have missed out. That scene would just have gone under the radar. Instead, I LOOKED for it, I waited for it.
I decided to watch with subtitles and I found it made it easier to understand how it follows The Lion King story line. This is a musical interpretation of The Lion King. It's not straightforward. I feel it's like an Opera, or reading Shakespeare, you need to learn about it, to sort of translate it, in order to understand the story, and when you make the effort to learn about it, it makes sense and you appreciate it. This makes me think of my 5th grade school trip to see The Phantom of the Opera. Weeks prior, in music class and as part of our English class, we learned the meaning of every song (I can still hear my teacher saying "read between the lines"), every lyric, what the story was about, the hows, wheres and whys. Because of this, we were equipped to understand and better appreciate what we were seeing. Viewers of Black Is King need something like that. Even those who loved it, like myself, may have missed a lot of the symbolism, which is unfortunate.
I actually prefer this re-telling of The Lion King than the one from 2019 which, while visually beautiful, it just fell flat. Here, there's a certain passion and excitement to it that was missing from the 2019 version. The visuals, the music, the beauty, the story, the journey, it has it all! It's layered and emotional. If we're going to follow The Lion King story, everyone gathered as Beyonce walks to the water holding a baby boy, is the birth of Simba when all the animals gather to celebrate. The song Bigger is talking to Simba about his potential, to embrace who he is, etc. But it's also about insecurity and self love "If you feel insignificant, you better think again Better wake up because you're part of something way bigger You're part of something way bigger Not just a speck in the universe Not just some words in a bible verse You are the living word Ahh, you're part of something way bigger Bigger than you, bigger than we"
I do feel it requires more than 1 viewing to fully grasp everything because there's SO MUCH going on and it's so layered. I feel there should be an accompanying video that explains and delves into all the symbolism, the references, the cultures, etc. I mean, had I not stumbled onto that 1 article (and then searched for others) and had I not watched it with subtitles, all the work that went into incorporating various African cultures, and how the music and lyrics tell The Lion King story, would have all gone over my head and I would be writing a negative review resembling the others.
Whether or not you've watched it, I highly recommend doing some reading in order to have a better understanding of the movie. I suggest/recommend reading: "7 African artists share their feelings on the glory - and missteps - of Beyoncé's Black is King" by Amanda Parris on CBC.ca We Are Africans. Here's Our View Of Beyoncé's 'Black Is King' by Ifeanyi Nsofor and Esther Ngumbi Buzzfeed has an interview with Stephen "Papi" Ojo, the blue man in the movie. He choreographed many of the dances. To understand how Beyonce is telling The Lion King story, read "Beyonce Remixed the Lion King Meaning by Spencer Kornhaber. That article is about the album The Gift (which is where all the songs for Black is KIng come from), it helps explain which songs are about which Lion King scenes.