In her signature surprise-drop style, Beyoncé aired an unexpected television special documenting the making of her newest soundtrack to Disney’s remake of The Lion King.
Beyoncé has been opening up about her personal life and fans have loved the new side of her.
The ABC film was released on Sept. 16, 2019 and starts by taking viewers on a road trip through the continent of Africa where the record was created.
“Visiting countries in Africa, it’s always an emotional experience for me, it feels like I’m making peace with a part of me that’s yearning for my ancestral connection,” said Beyonce in the scene.
Beyoncé expresses the spiritual connection she feels whenever she and her family goes to Africa.
“Knowing where you come from, that’s what I want for my children,”said Beyonce.Throughout the film, Beyoncé displays her work-ethic through showcase of her raw vocals, which range from scatting to opera. She also presents her ability to constantly complete long singing runs.
The documentary not only focuses on Queen Bey, but it also chimes in on her husband Jay-Z, their two-year-old twins Sir and Rumi and seven-year-old daughter Blue Ivy.
Beyoncé was the voice of Nala in the 2019 reboot of The Lion King, performing alongside Donald Glover, who voiced Simba.
In conjunction to her role as Nala, Disney also permitted Beyoncé to recreate the soundtrack for the movie.
In the film, Beyoncé reveals she was overwhelmed by the offer from Disney to co-star as the voice of Nala, and claimed The Lion King as her favorite movie as a child.
“I didn’t want to take away the grit and reality, because there are very real life lessons on The Lion King,” Beyoncé said. “I did not want to water it down or lose the authenticity of Africa and it all starts with the drum beat and the groove.”
Beyonce was determined to recreate the Lion King soundtrack as she understood how influential the movie is to many childhoods and culture.
“It was also really important to me that the music was not the typical soundtrack but something that kids felt safe and excited about sharing with their parents, as well as their parents wanting to share with their kids,” said Beyonce.
Beyoncé called the album a “love letter to Africa” and featured several guest artists including Pharrell, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino.
Numerous African artists appear on the album. Nigerian pop stars Tiwa Savage and Mr Eazi perform the song “Keys to the Kingdom” and Burna Boy has his own track, “Ja Ara E.” Nigerian producer and songwriter also collaborated for the album.
Other African artists include Wizkid from Nigeria, Shatta Wale from Ghana and Moonchild Sanelly from South Africa.
Beyoncé revealed the lack of time she was given to create the project. However, many of the artist flew in from Africa and were eager to work.
“When I saw all these people, then it was real, it felt like home,” said Shizzi.
The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and the special drew in 2.49 million viewers when it debuted on ABC.
