Beyoncé greets family and Africa in "The lion king: the gift" – Variety



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Before addressing what Beyoncé called her "love letter for Africa", it is important to see what may have brought her to the mother of humanity, with her vast perspectives and plans. sound, for "The Gift" – beyond, of course, by expressing Nala in the film and all future commercial links with international marketing. Despite Disney's "The Lion King" trajectory, from animation film to a near-live travel narrative, Bey's journey is one of his own designs, with a little bit of help from his family.

"Lemonade" was the statement of frustration and love inspired by Beyoncé's South facing a deceitful man; "Homecoming", a nod to his Houston roots, his hymns on the move and his healing; "Tout est amour", a free continental breakfast offered by Jay-Z dedicated to reunions and crazy spending. After all this, "The Lion King: The Gift" is one for his children, namely Blue Ivy Carter, who appears alongside Mom in the video "Spirit", as well as in the movie "Brown Skin Girl", very soul and joyfully festive. . "

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But this dedication to youth – her children and our universal – does not make her the companion of the elegant soundtrack and film of Hans Zimmer's film, Elton John and Tim Rice, a "children's" album. Far from it, when you let the dust fall on tracks such as Bey, Jay and Childish Gambino, "Mood 4 Eva", and you realize how much the self-centered humor of the trio was evoked by the surprising producer DJ Khaled at the bar.

"The Lion King: The Gift" is Beyoncé's offer to bring together those who have never realized it, preserving the legacy of aborted and abbreviated stories. The softer solo tour of Bey in "Bigger" makes his DNA connection known to pride even through the plastic soul of AutoTune. "If you feel insignificant, you'd better think again / Wake up better because you're part of something much bigger / You're part of something much bigger / Not just a spot in the world. Universe / Not just a few words in a biblical verse, "she sings.

The warm melodies and the anthemic musicality of the album may not have the same avant-garde empire or a strange rhythmic rhythm of its immediate predecessors, but what "The lion king: the gift" lacks in disorder, it is compensated by the flavor, size without molbades. Well no as well a lot of molbades; Anything that starts with James Earl Jones's narrative will have its own mix of gravitas and sentimentality.

In addition, he has Afrobeat's restless soul – his liquid highlife guitars, his mesmerizing impulses – and a handful of Nigerian rappers and singers from the new school bringing their temporary modernism and open traditionalism to this Africa tribute. -Disney.

What raises another important point: in 2009, Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were the first two co-producers of Broadway's musical "Fela!" Based on the life of the legend of Afrobeat, Fela Anikulapo- Kuti. A beautiful and hypnotic blend of jazz, funk and Africana is surely part of the Carter family ever since.

Diplo, always ethnocentric, plays on this mesmerism with his intermittent Kenyan production meeting the Venusian, mixed and mixed on "Already" (his major Lazer is also featured on the track). Bey's sound support on "Find Your Own Way" is a hasty and sensual samba that gives her a shocking sound, like Sade. "NILE", the collaboration between Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé, features a production of Sounwave (Kendrick's collaborator in "DAMN" and his "Black Panther" film project), and together they project the black tone of the film. backcountry without respite in the cool of the night. . Their voices, alone or tangled, are comparable to the narrators of "The Sheltering Sky", if they were much more wild and decidedly Afrocentric. Beyonce's other sympathetic side, which begins with a cool, floating piano melody from Satie's chamber concert, gives way to the soft whispering of Swahili towards the end of the piece, surely evoking the pbadage of the Eurocentric to the Afrocentric.

Beyonce is not the only artist to enjoy the fruits of Africa here. His Nigerian guests are also exalted by their cinematographic situation. Yemi Alade and Mr. Eazi talk about monkeys and lions, use Swahili and have the warm breeze of the Sahara on their backs, a breath as dense and tactile as any dangerous Santa Ana wind. The melodic baritone of Burna Boy sings and speaks loudly, clearly and self-regulating on the Ja Ara E. snap. The Cameroonian singer Salatiel stands next to Beyonce and Pharrell, with a strange lyric that says, "I'm not much of a talker / can I drink your water? "And he does not speak of the Nile.

For all her distinguished guests and her complicated rattling rhythms, it is the arid lightness of free spiritual figures such as "Otherside" and her growing sister, "Spirit", that define Beyoncé's "Gift", two ballads on the ascent. me in the name of something greater – whether it be the family, God or success.

It's not a perfect album. "SCAR" by 070 Shake and Jessie Reyez is a shocking mess. The interludes of the characters of the film should have remained on the soundtrack of Elton. And Khaled? Really? Beyond these few missteps, "The lion king: the gift" manages to be a wild and wonderful offer dedicated to the sounds and soul of the motherland, while respecting the scenario: Beyonce, of course.

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