8 Things You May Have Missed in Beyoncé’s ‘Black Is King’
By: Gina Cherelus
Tags: Beyonce, Black Is King, Culture, Race, Music

8 Things You May Have Missed in Beyoncé’s ‘Black Is King’

The visual album is robust with cross-cultural depictions of Black people, art, religion, and fashion

Beyoncé from “Black Is King.” Photo: Travis Matthews

Beyoncé gave us a new version of Nala in last year’s reboot of The Lion King, a reimagining of the original 1994 movie. She curated the accompanying soundtrack, The Lion King: The Gift. And now, the superstar elevates the iconic story through a seamless stream of music videos in her latest visual album, Black Is King, released last week on Disney+.

Drenched in cross-cultural depictions of Black people, art, symbols, religion, and fashion across the Diaspora, Black is King is the story of Simba’s journey through tumultuous formative years before accepting his rightful place in the circle of life. There are too many significant moments to name, but we’ve got you covered on key details you may have missed while experiencing the stunning project.

Simba’s journey

Black is King follows Simba’s journey not as a lion cub but as a human, through the eyes of a young boy, played by Folajomi Akinmurele. In the video for “Don’t Jealous Me,” by Tekno, Lord Afrixana, and Yemi Alade, Tekno boasts, “I can’t talk for too long / got too much gold to try on.” This is reminiscent of the impatience found in Simba during the “I Can’t Wait To Be King” scene from the original story. In Black Is King, the young boy is overcome with confidence too big for him, as he explores forbidden territory before getting entangled with the reimagined Scar.

Signs of African affluence

Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s display of wealth in their work has become a mainstay at this point, and at times their flaunting can come off heavy-handed and shallow. But in Black Is King, the singer emphasizes the use of affluent symbols found in traditional African cultures (unlike renting out the Louvre) to seemingly push the message that Black people were noble and rich beings and always will be. Goats, chessboards, cowrie shells, and cattle horns have historically represented power and wealth across the continent. For example, the cowrie shell was used as currency across West Africa and is still worn as an ornament of protection.

Nods to Coming to America

The visual album makes many references to Eddie Murphy’s iconic 1988 film during the music video for “Mood 4 Eva.” Beyoncé is awakened by a violinist inside a giant mansion and aided by White servants who serve her breakfast and brush her diamond-encrusted teeth. This scene, which also includes Black people draped in animal-print clothes and stunning jewelry, is almost an exact replica of the opening scene in Coming To America. When we first meet Prince Akeem of the fictional African kingdom Zamunda, he is awakened by a string ensemble, has his teeth brushed, and is given similar royal treatment.

Afrofuturism

The video for “Find Your Way Back” is dripping with afrofuturistic themes, with Bey and her performers presented as celestial beings, covered in crystallized costumes. In one scene, the desert sand below her feet opens to reveal a galaxy. In another, a meteorite falls from the sky and slams into the beach sand as she sways her body back and forth. Other features, like the heavy use of stars and circle shapes to represent the moon and life’s cycle, all emphasize this cultural aesthetic where Black identity and African traditions are centered in the advancement of arts and sciences.

Mask, costumes, and a Donald Glover painting

This visual album showcases a wide range of traditional African works, contemporary art pieces, and hidden references to notable figures. In “Find Your Way Back,” dancers are wearing kanaga masks, which are traditionally worn by the Dogon people of Mali. Masks worn by the Yoruba people of Nigeria are featured in other moments. Raffia costumes appear in the videos for “Power” and “Ja Ara E,” which seem to be inspired by Mende masquerades. In the “Mood 4 Eva” video, Beyoncé is seen reading a rare book titled, Black Gods and Kings, a 1976 catalog known as “a close iconographic reading of the art history of the 40 million Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria.” In “Already,” Beyoncé is coated in body paint by Nigerian artist Michela Wariebi and in another scene, the singer contorts her body with other dancers to create the face of a lion, similar to Salvador Dalí’s surrealist human body skull in Voluptas Mors. Despite not appearing in the film, if you look closely at the 30:45 minute mark, you will see rapper Childish Gambino in a full-sized painting. Gambino has a verse on the album.

Real-life ancestors

In the visual album, the story centers ancestrialism and the importance of those that came before us. Among the contributors to Black Is King, two passed away ahead of the film’s release, becoming forebears in their own right. Popular Nigerian dancer Picture Kodak, whose real name is Love Divine-Ike, tragically died on April 29 in Lagos, Nigeria. Ike appears dancing at the 56:15 minute mark in the music video for “Keys To The Kingdom,” where she’s dressed in a Nigerian NYSC uniform, performing her signature afrobeats moves. Legendary South African actress Mary Twala, who plays Rafiki, died just weeks before the visual album was released. She appears during a turning point in the film (01:40:42), providing Simba with guidance and strength before he reunites with his father.

The writers room

One of the most impressive things about Black Is King is how the narration blends evocative poetry to amplify the global Black experience. To bring this reimagined story to life, Beyonce enlisted the help of journalist Clover Hope, British poet Yrsa Daley-Ward, and Andrew Morrow, who worked on Bey’s last visual album, Lemonade, and Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé. The film also features poetry by Warsan Shire, who also wrote for Lemonade.

“Mababu katika mawingu”

Toward the end of the film, Beyoncé chants this Swahili line which means “ancestors in the clouds,” Njambi Morgan, a 30-year-old Kenyan spoken-word artist, tells ZORA. “Babu literally translated means grandfather as well. And so Mababu is grandfathers, plural. It could also mean grandfathers in the clouds.” This suggests another way for Beyoncé to acknowledge ancestral influence. While The Gift was heavily influenced by West and South African cultures, leaving out artists who come from other parts of the continent, Morgan sees Beyoncé’s decision to speak in a Kenyan language as a small sign of inclusion. “I think it’s definitely a good start,” Morgan says.