Leave it to Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter to overshadow The Lion King soundtrack with her own, separate companion album to the new Disney film!
Like the animals bowing down to Simba in the prideland ceremony, the Beyhive is humbled and honored to receive a gift from their Queen in the form of her freshly-released LP, The Lion King: The Gift!
Fans were already buzzing about the album after the release of Bey’s latest single, Spirit. Now, listeners are feeling the love, pride, and a stampede of other emotions from this fierce new project.
Related: Beyoncé Was Nervous To Meet Meghan Markle At ‘The Lion King’ Premiere!
The superstar, who voices Nala in the photo-realistic remake, enlisted a slew of talent to be featured on the LP; including JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams, Tierra Whack, and Simba himself, Donald Glover (as Childish Gambino, of course).
If that wasn’t enough, Beyhive Twitter really lost it after realizing that the singer’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter sings AND has a writing credit on one of the tracks, BROWN SKIN GIRL, which also features her momma, SAINt JHN, and Wizkid.
Take a listen (below)!
Yasss, Blue!
The prodigal 7-year-old is the only one who even comes close to outshining Beyoncé on the album. Jay, Kendrick, and Gambino make valiant efforts, but The Gift is truly Nala’s kingdom and her throne is untouchable.
This was evident in the album’s biggest highlight, MOOD 4 EVA, the DJ Khalad and Bey-produced jam that contains some of the artist’s best poetry (poetreyoncé?).
Some of the lyrics are as follows:
“I am Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter/I am the Nala, sister of Yoruba / Oshun, Queen Sheba, I am the mother.”
Get in your best groveling pose and listen to MOOD 4 EVA (below)!
Wow!
The 37-year-old songstress previously described the album as “a love letter to Africa” in an interview with ABC News, explaining:
“This soundtrack is a love letter to Africa, and I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa, and not just use some of the sounds and did my interpretation of it….We’ve kind of created our own genre, and I feel like the soundtrack, it becomes visual in your mind. It’s a soundscape. It’s more than just the music, because each song tells the story of the film.”
That’s no understatement. The LP kicks off with a powerful narration from James Earl Jones (who voices Mufasa) and the songs are scattered with interludes from some of the characters in the film.
Take a listen to more songs from The Gift (below) and see The Lion King in theaters TODAY!
[Image via WENN]
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