Beyonce’s new visual album celebrating Black culture, “Black is king” landed with a bang and took twitter platform by storm last weekend. It’s arrival last Friday was greeted with rapturous reviews especially at this time of a cultural reckoning about race and social justice.
The #BlackIsKing hashtag was among the top three trending items on Twitter from Friday all through the weekend. “We’re grateful to Beyoncé for this celebration of the Black experience,” tweeted Black culture website, Essence.com.
Many Pay-TV stations including DStv in Africa created space to showcase and celebrate this masterpiece that some describe as a “colourful reminder of the power and glory of Black, in America but even more so in Africa.”
“Black is King,” which reimagines the story of the “The Lion King” movie with humans, is intended to “shift the global perception of the word Black,” the R&B singer said in a message marking its release.
According to Reuters, Work on the album, which features lush music videos celebrating the search for identity and Black beauty in contemporary and historical times, began a year ago but was finally released last Friday. “Black is King” was released on the Disney+ streaming platform.
The Guardian in its review calls it “Beyonce’s love song to the Black diaspora” and praised the involvement of African artists like Yemi Alade, Lord Afrixana and Shatta Wale. Actress Lupita Nyong’o, musician Pharrell Williams and supermodel Naomi Campbell are among other celebrities making cameo appearances.
Beyonce wrote in an Instagram posting that the recent calls for social change had made the album even more relevant than she had hoped when she began working on it.
“I believe that when Black people tell our own stories, we can shift the axis of the world and tell our REAL history of generational wealth and richness of soul that are not told in our history books,” she wrote.
