Beyonce delights with new album
The Bey Hive was feeling the love Friday over Beyonce's release of the album 'The Lion King: The Gift,' which the pop queen dropped as a sister piece to her new film, a remake of the Disney classic.
Beyonce dubbed the 27-track album she curated and produced 'a love letter to Africa,' enlisting several African artists as well as a host of stars including her husband Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, her co-star Donald Glover (who also performs as Childish Gambino) and Pharrell Williams -- along with none other than Jay and Bey's seven-year-old daughter Blue Ivy Carter -- as collaborators.
'I wanted to be authentic to what is beautiful about music in Africa,' Beyonce, who voices Nala in 'The Lion King,' told ABC's 'Good Morning America.''The Gift' is separate from the film's official soundtrack which includes a rendition of Elton's John's iconic 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight?' by Beyonce and Glover, who plays Simba in the film.
John himself also graced the film's soundtrack, released 25 years after the original, with a new song entitled 'Never Too Late.'Both albums include Beyonce's latest single 'Spirit.'But it's Beyonce's 'Gift' that has her legions of fans abuzz.
The album features Afrobeat-heavy songs interspersed with dialogue from the highly-anticipated film, which also was released on Friday and stars Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar.
Beyonce also released a sprawling, richly pigmented video to accompany 'Spirit,' which features the star and Blue Ivy in matching ruffled pink dresses, their long curls blowing in the desert wind.'Your destiny is comin' close / Stand up and fight,' she sings. 'So, go into a far-off land / And be one with the great I Am.'
