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The vivid West African country of Ghana, which was historically used as a prominent port in the British trade of enslaved peoples, is increasingly on the map as a tourist and cultural destination, especially for Black Americans and entertainment industry stars including Kendrick Lamar, Gabrielle Union, Sza, Meek Mill and Chance the Rapper.
This winter season is destined to be especially busy thanks to a pair of festivals, one returning, one new, that focus on using the power of entertainment to reunite the global African diaspora. “People are discovering [Ghana], which is part of the process of reconnecting because it’s in our blood,” says Ghanian American Queen Sugar actor Kofi Siriboe, who has been visiting his ancestral land regularly since 2016.
On Dec. 28 and 29, the annual Afrochella music fest, now in its sixth year, kicked off. This year’s lineup included an all-star roster of musical talent,...
The vivid West African country of Ghana, which was historically used as a prominent port in the British trade of enslaved peoples, is increasingly on the map as a tourist and cultural destination, especially for Black Americans and entertainment industry stars including Kendrick Lamar, Gabrielle Union, Sza, Meek Mill and Chance the Rapper.
This winter season is destined to be especially busy thanks to a pair of festivals, one returning, one new, that focus on using the power of entertainment to reunite the global African diaspora. “People are discovering [Ghana], which is part of the process of reconnecting because it’s in our blood,” says Ghanian American Queen Sugar actor Kofi Siriboe, who has been visiting his ancestral land regularly since 2016.
On Dec. 28 and 29, the annual Afrochella music fest, now in its sixth year, kicked off. This year’s lineup included an all-star roster of musical talent,...
- 12/29/2022
- by Evan Nicole Brown
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
H.E.R. looks to be the VIP at BET’s annual Soul Train Awards, racking up a leading eight nominations going into the ceremony, which will be telecast at the close of Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 29, at 8 p.m. Et.
Chris Brown is the runner-up among nominees, with seven, followed by Beyoncé and Young Thug with six, and Chloe x Halle, Summer Walker and Usher with five apiece. Yg landed four nominations, and Brandy and Pj Morton came up with three each in Wednesday’s announcement.
Actor-singers Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold return as third-time co-hosts for the show, which will air live on on BET, BET Her, VH1 and MTV2.
DJ Cassidy’s popular Twitch series, “Pass the Mic,” which has R&b and hip-hop stars of the past and present participating in epic medleys, will have its broadcast premiere as part of the evening, immediately following the awards program.
The...
Chris Brown is the runner-up among nominees, with seven, followed by Beyoncé and Young Thug with six, and Chloe x Halle, Summer Walker and Usher with five apiece. Yg landed four nominations, and Brandy and Pj Morton came up with three each in Wednesday’s announcement.
Actor-singers Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold return as third-time co-hosts for the show, which will air live on on BET, BET Her, VH1 and MTV2.
DJ Cassidy’s popular Twitch series, “Pass the Mic,” which has R&b and hip-hop stars of the past and present participating in epic medleys, will have its broadcast premiere as part of the evening, immediately following the awards program.
The...
- 11/11/2020
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
On the heels of her visual album Black Is King, Beyoncé has shared the stunning video for “Brown Skin Girl.”
The track features her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, WizKid and Saint Jhn. For the video — directed by Jenn Nkiru — they’re joined by Naomi Campbell, actress Lupita Nyong’o and Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé’s fellow Destiny’s Child.
The striking visual clocks in at just over six minutes, featuring debutantes in elegant gowns. “Pose like a trophy when they Naomi walking/She need an Oscar for that pretty dark skin,” Beyoncé sings.
The track features her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, WizKid and Saint Jhn. For the video — directed by Jenn Nkiru — they’re joined by Naomi Campbell, actress Lupita Nyong’o and Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé’s fellow Destiny’s Child.
The striking visual clocks in at just over six minutes, featuring debutantes in elegant gowns. “Pose like a trophy when they Naomi walking/She need an Oscar for that pretty dark skin,” Beyoncé sings.
- 8/24/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
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Leave it to Beyoncé Knowles-Carter to coordinate the release of “Black Is King” — a visual album produced across three continents and inspired by a $1.6 billion-grossing blockbuster — during a global pandemic. The multi-hyphenate star’s latest visual album is based on her soundtrack “The Lion King: The Gift,” which was released last year alongside the film.
Unlike some of the star’s past work, audiences had a month to prepare for its release on Disney+, and the “celebratory memoir” about the Black experience is now available to stream for subscribers around the world.
Artists from “The Gift” — including Jay-Z, Childish Gambino, Pharrell Williams, and African stars Wizkid, Shatta Wale, Burna Boy, Mr Eazi, Tiwa Savage, Tekno, Yemi Alade, and more — all appear in the film, and so do stars including Lupita Nyong’o,...
Leave it to Beyoncé Knowles-Carter to coordinate the release of “Black Is King” — a visual album produced across three continents and inspired by a $1.6 billion-grossing blockbuster — during a global pandemic. The multi-hyphenate star’s latest visual album is based on her soundtrack “The Lion King: The Gift,” which was released last year alongside the film.
Unlike some of the star’s past work, audiences had a month to prepare for its release on Disney+, and the “celebratory memoir” about the Black experience is now available to stream for subscribers around the world.
Artists from “The Gift” — including Jay-Z, Childish Gambino, Pharrell Williams, and African stars Wizkid, Shatta Wale, Burna Boy, Mr Eazi, Tiwa Savage, Tekno, Yemi Alade, and more — all appear in the film, and so do stars including Lupita Nyong’o,...
- 8/4/2020
- by Jean Bentley
- Indiewire
Throughout her illustrious career, Beyoncé Knowles Carter has been shaping popular culture from within an industry dominated by whiteness, as all Black artists have been forced to do. Having conquered the music industry, she has now set her sights on the ultimate symbol of lily-white America: Disney. That she has done so from within the system, collaborating and making bank off a studio known for its smash hit spin on Hamlet set in an undefined idea of Africa voiced mostly by white actors, is a particularly genius sleight of hand only she could pull off.
“Black Is King” is not simply another visual album by Beyoncé, it is a bold re-imagining of “The Lion King” from a Black American perspective, and in constant conversation and collaboration with African artists and traditions. Overflowing with stunning visuals, “Black Is King” blends imagery from the Pan-African movement, African art and Western portraiture of African bodies,...
“Black Is King” is not simply another visual album by Beyoncé, it is a bold re-imagining of “The Lion King” from a Black American perspective, and in constant conversation and collaboration with African artists and traditions. Overflowing with stunning visuals, “Black Is King” blends imagery from the Pan-African movement, African art and Western portraiture of African bodies,...
- 7/31/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Spoiler Alert: This review contains details of Beyoncé’s Black Is King film.
Mere hours after the near presidential funeral for Rep. John Lewis and days after the debut of an in-depth podcast series from Michelle Obama, Beyoncé leap into the arena of Black excellence again tonight with Black Is King.
Draped in mystery and expectations since the Disney+ project was announced last month, the Queen Bey orchestrated visual album is …well, rather excellent and exciting on various fronts. Designed to create debate, discourse and aesthetic iconography, the self-described reimagining of the ethos of 2019’s Beyoncé voiced live action Lion King serves as a poignant and ardent mixtape and a further evolution of an American artist.
Intentionally or not melding the inspirations of Cauleen Smith, Kara Walker, Octavia Butler, Fela Kuti, funk legend Betty Davis, and the 2018 published The BreakBeat Poets Volume 2: Black Girl Magic, among others, Black Is King...
Mere hours after the near presidential funeral for Rep. John Lewis and days after the debut of an in-depth podcast series from Michelle Obama, Beyoncé leap into the arena of Black excellence again tonight with Black Is King.
Draped in mystery and expectations since the Disney+ project was announced last month, the Queen Bey orchestrated visual album is …well, rather excellent and exciting on various fronts. Designed to create debate, discourse and aesthetic iconography, the self-described reimagining of the ethos of 2019’s Beyoncé voiced live action Lion King serves as a poignant and ardent mixtape and a further evolution of an American artist.
Intentionally or not melding the inspirations of Cauleen Smith, Kara Walker, Octavia Butler, Fela Kuti, funk legend Betty Davis, and the 2018 published The BreakBeat Poets Volume 2: Black Girl Magic, among others, Black Is King...
- 7/31/2020
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Beyoncé has dropped the vibrant video for her song “Already” featuring Major Lazer and Shatta Wale, which is also a part of her Black Is King visual album. Black Is King is based on tracks from The Lion King: the Gift, the soundtrack from the 2019 film remake of The Lion King.
Related: 5 Takeaways From Beyonce’s Elaborate New Visual Album ‘Black Is King’
In the visually arresting new clip, Beyoncé is seen in a number of locations, moving from outdoor nature scenes where she appears adorned in body paint in a tree,...
Related: 5 Takeaways From Beyonce’s Elaborate New Visual Album ‘Black Is King’
In the visually arresting new clip, Beyoncé is seen in a number of locations, moving from outdoor nature scenes where she appears adorned in body paint in a tree,...
- 7/31/2020
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Just hours before the release of her new visual album, Black Is King, on Disney+, Beyoncé dropped a little surprise on YouTube: the music video for her The Lion King: The Gift track “Already” with Shatta Wale and Major Lazer. Beyoncé first announced Black Is King in late June, though at the time it was not clear…...
- 7/31/2020
- by Patrick Gomez on News, shared by Patrick Gomez to The A.V. Club
- avclub.com
In a surprise, Disney Plus announced a new visual album from Beyoncé — “Black Is King,” inspired by “The Lion King” — is coming to the streaming service next month.
“Black Is King,” written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé, will premiere globally on Disney Plus on July 31, 2020. That’s just after the one-year anniversary of the theatrical release of Disney’s “The Lion King” remake, for which Queen Bey voiced Nala (and which launched on Disney Plus in January).
A one-minute teaser trailer for “Black Is King” dropped Saturday night on beyonce.com. [Watch the trailer below or on YouTube at this link.]
The film is based on the music of “The Lion King: The Gift,” released last year in conjunction with the Disney pic, and stars the album’s featured artists and some special guest appearances. The Beyoncé-produced album features Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, 070 Shake, Tierra Whack, Jay-Z, Blue Ivy Carter and Jessie Reyez,...
“Black Is King,” written, directed and executive produced by Beyoncé, will premiere globally on Disney Plus on July 31, 2020. That’s just after the one-year anniversary of the theatrical release of Disney’s “The Lion King” remake, for which Queen Bey voiced Nala (and which launched on Disney Plus in January).
A one-minute teaser trailer for “Black Is King” dropped Saturday night on beyonce.com. [Watch the trailer below or on YouTube at this link.]
The film is based on the music of “The Lion King: The Gift,” released last year in conjunction with the Disney pic, and stars the album’s featured artists and some special guest appearances. The Beyoncé-produced album features Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, 070 Shake, Tierra Whack, Jay-Z, Blue Ivy Carter and Jessie Reyez,...
- 6/28/2020
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
ABC has announced a new behind-the-scenes look into the making of Beyoncé’s “The Lion King: The Gift” LP, which is set to air September 16 on ABC at 10 p.m. Est.
Titled “Beyoncé Presents: Making the Gift,” the new hour-long special will allow viewers to “experience the process” behind the “Lion King” companion album, according to a new teaser released by ABC.
The teaser also depicts a number of clips from the recording studio intermixed with choreography shots and scenes from the Disney film itself. Another teaser from the special will air early Monday morning on Good Morning America.
ABeyC activated. @Beyonce Presents: #MakingTheGift. Tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/suKar1CcQ4
— ABeyC (@ABCNetwork) September 15, 2019
“The Lion King: The Gift” comes from Parkwood Entertainment/Colombia Records and was released on July 19 alongside Disney’s remake of the classic animated film (read Variety‘s review here). Beyoncé, who also stars as Nala in the film,...
Titled “Beyoncé Presents: Making the Gift,” the new hour-long special will allow viewers to “experience the process” behind the “Lion King” companion album, according to a new teaser released by ABC.
The teaser also depicts a number of clips from the recording studio intermixed with choreography shots and scenes from the Disney film itself. Another teaser from the special will air early Monday morning on Good Morning America.
ABeyC activated. @Beyonce Presents: #MakingTheGift. Tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/suKar1CcQ4
— ABeyC (@ABCNetwork) September 15, 2019
“The Lion King: The Gift” comes from Parkwood Entertainment/Colombia Records and was released on July 19 alongside Disney’s remake of the classic animated film (read Variety‘s review here). Beyoncé, who also stars as Nala in the film,...
- 9/15/2019
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
You can look at Shatta Wale and think that he’s another celebrity musician but once you learn a little more about him you tend to realize that he’s not just like any other individual since he did manage to come up through one of the most arduous ways. The fact that he’s rich, he’s popular, and he’s on the lips of millions of people when discussing who’s the hottest on the scene right now has a lot to do with the fact that he was one of the most determined and one of the most hardworking individuals around when he
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Shatta Wale...
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Shatta Wale...
- 9/13/2019
- by Tom
- TVovermind.com
Yemi Alade had a cold.
Last month, the Nigerian star, who recently passed the one-million-subscribers mark on YouTube, flew to Los Angeles to work on a project by Beyoncé. But when Alade landed, she discovered she no longer had a singing voice. “I couldn’t understand what had happened to me,” she says. “I could talk, but I couldn’t even hit the lowest key.”
Panicked, she immediately went into full recovery mode. “I went for a steaming so I could get more moisture,” Alade recalls. “I jacked up on vitamin C.
Last month, the Nigerian star, who recently passed the one-million-subscribers mark on YouTube, flew to Los Angeles to work on a project by Beyoncé. But when Alade landed, she discovered she no longer had a singing voice. “I couldn’t understand what had happened to me,” she says. “I could talk, but I couldn’t even hit the lowest key.”
Panicked, she immediately went into full recovery mode. “I went for a steaming so I could get more moisture,” Alade recalls. “I jacked up on vitamin C.
- 7/19/2019
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Beyoncé has unveiled the track listing for her “Lion King” companion album on her website… a whole three days ahead of its release. That might be even sooner than expected, given how much Queen Bey likes surprises and somehow managed to keep the entire project under wraps until the week before the album and movie come out.
Beyoncé herself appears on nine of the 14 tracks, but it’s still a pretty big kingdom represented on “The Lion King: The Gift.” Guests include her voice-acting costar Donald Glover — billed for his musical talents as Childish Gambino, of course — along with her husband and child, Jay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter. Her musical cast is rounded out by Pharrell, Jessie Reyez, Tekno, Yemi Alade, Mr. Eazi, Burna Boy, Slatiel, SAINt Jhn, WizKid, Tiwa Savage, Shatta Wale, Teirra Whack, Busiswa, Moonchild Sanelly and 070 Shake.
The “Gift” album is not to be confused with the primary “Lion King” soundtrack,...
Beyoncé herself appears on nine of the 14 tracks, but it’s still a pretty big kingdom represented on “The Lion King: The Gift.” Guests include her voice-acting costar Donald Glover — billed for his musical talents as Childish Gambino, of course — along with her husband and child, Jay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter. Her musical cast is rounded out by Pharrell, Jessie Reyez, Tekno, Yemi Alade, Mr. Eazi, Burna Boy, Slatiel, SAINt Jhn, WizKid, Tiwa Savage, Shatta Wale, Teirra Whack, Busiswa, Moonchild Sanelly and 070 Shake.
The “Gift” album is not to be confused with the primary “Lion King” soundtrack,...
- 7/16/2019
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
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