Beyoncé’s most recent album The Lion King: The Gift was inspired by her voice role as Nala in Disney’s reboot The Lion King, which hit theaters on July 19. With little notice in advance, ABC released a trailer for Beyoncé Presents: Making the Gift on Sept 15. On Sept 16, the special aired, which is a behind-the-scenes look of the making of the album, which Beyoncé calls “her love letter to Africa.”
Resembling her Netflix special Homecoming, this film takes the viewers on an exclusive journey in her creative process of the album. It shows her trip to Africa, filming music videos, and recording the music and intimate family moments. Making this a family affair, the singer’s daughter Blue Ivy has a writing credit on “Brown Skin Girl” and even gave the audience a glimpse at Blue recording the track.
“Visiting countries in Africa is always an emotional experience for me,” Beyoncé announced. “It feels like I’m making peace with a part of me that’s yearning for my ancestral connection. I was blessed to be able to relive some of the experiences that I’ve been very fortunate to have over the years with my entire family.”
Courtesy: Ghanamma.com
Accompanying themes from the Lion King, this special explores family, ancestry, pain, love and life. “I did not want to take away the grit or the reality because there are very adult underlining life lessons in Lion King”, the singer explained.
The documentary goes in chronological order of the setlist, beginning with Bigger and ending with Spirit. It shows the background of the songs and takes time to highlight key people who helped put the project together. Burna Boy, a Nigerian singer, received high praise from the 22-time Grammy award winner. Bey says, “he sings about the struggle and the dreams of everyone making it.” The special also highlights women living in Kenya.
Courtesy: Beyoncé on Twitter
The Gift includes a mixture of multiple genres, such as R&B, pop, hip-hop and Afrobeats. Beyoncé says, “authenticity and heart were important,” so the album features and is produced by African artists.
Bankulli, a Nigerian singer and songwriter, describes originality as the core of African music by saying, “We put music out there based on the surroundings, based on what we go through every day.”
After intensive research and creating a team of African musicians, Beyoncé was dedicated to paying homage to Africa respectfully.
“We wanted to make sure we really captured the essence of the dance culture in Africa, there’s a freedom to the way you dance when you hear Don’t Jealous Me.” Beyoncé’s sit-down interview plays intermittently throughout the film, where she describes her love for music and the album. “It’s more than just the music, it’s a soundscape, it’s a sonic cinema and it leaves space for you to put yourself in the film, and I think that’s very powerful.”
Making a Gift was written, co-directed and produced by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, who considers this a full-circle moment, recounting The Lion King as her favorite childhood movie.
“The [Lion King] has an incredible spirit. It takes you on so many emotional rides,” Beyoncé adds. “I wanted that to be represented in the melody. I wanted to produce a piece of music that gave you those same feelings of tension, and struggle and doubt and realizing who you are in your strength and going for and fighting for it.”