Beyoncé’s “Black Is King” Made Its Debut On Disney+

July 31, 2020 / Posted by:

I signed up for a free Disney+ trial exclusively so I could watch Baby Yoda. But that lapsed, and as far as I know, Baby Yoda is not featured in Beyoncé’s Black is King so I haven’t had the chance to watch it yet. As previously reported, BIK features songs from Beyoncé’s 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift and as such, much like WuTang, BIK is for the children. And what did the children get for pre-Christmas (that’s something wealthy children get with their Disney+ Unlimited subscription)? According to Billboard they got “an army of talented dancers, actors and famous guest stars,” and “a crystal-clear illumination of the importance of Black pride and excellence.” I’m sure they’ll appreciate the context when they get older. Right now they’re probably just looking for Baby Yoda to pop out from behind every Baobab tree.

According to Billboard:

Early Friday morning (July 31), fans joyously unwrapped Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King on Disney+.

Designed to be a re-imagination of the 2019 film The Lion King, Queen Bey looks to recreate the Black experience, mainly for young African American boys and girls on the project.

Trekking through various countries to shoot the film, Bey nimbly revisits her 2019 soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift to help explore the richness and depth of the Black community. “My hope for this movie is that it shifts the global perception about the word ‘black’. It’s always meant inspiration, love, strength, and beauty to me,” she explained on Thursday (July 30) in an interview with Good Morning America.

Beyoncé gave all us cheap bastards with free Hulu accounts a taste of what they’re missing by releasing a music video for Already featuring Major Lazer and Shatta Wale. Other famous names that appear elsewhere in the project include Jay-Z and Blue Ivy (natch) but also Sir and Rumi Carter, Tina Knowles-Lawson, Kelly Rowland, Pharrell Williams, Lupita Nyong’o, and Naomi Campbell. Here’s the Already video which features teal body paint, dozens of well-moisturized highly melanated men, and women in floral gimpsuits. Also, I think Beyoncé is a vampire zebra?

Given how deep Disney’s pockets are, no expense has been spared in the promotion of BIK. They even paid Twitter for a special effect on the “like” button for every post with the #BlackIsKing hashtag.

While the Beyhive and legions of other less venomous fans are reveling in the positive Black representation and visual spectacle of it all, BIK has also brought the haters/deep state trolls out in full force.

Et tu, Kris Jenner? Personally, I’m curious to see which beloved property Disney hands over to Beyoncé next as part of her $100 million package. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see The Aristocats: Pussy is Queen.

Pic: YouTube

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