Black
is King is a visual follow up of Beyonce’s previous album The Lion King: The
Gift. Her last album symbolized newborn Simba – a young boy who went on a journey
of life and discovered himself along the way meanwhile Beyonce acted as his
muse and midwifed him through this expedition.

Her
new album – currently dominating all the charts, holds both monetary as well as a cultural value. It represents the black audience that is often overshadowed or
neglected by the community itself. The album is visually bewitching and compels
us to give attention to the diverse experiences of the multifaceted black
people in history.

Source: YouTube

The
question “who are you?” is repeated
throughout the album making it clear that this album is about the black
community and what they think of one another whereas the folks outside this
community are welcome to observe. It’s evident that this album is made for the
blacks as the white people are warned that they’re not the centre of attention here.

This
is the beauty of Beyonce – she has the ability to capture the essence of a movement
before it even floods the mainstream channels. Her art becomes popular and
redefines public imagery. It is evident from her latest album release – she
wants her viewers to embrace modern Blackness.

The
album titled Black is King premiered on 31^st July and has forever
imprinted in our minds what it means to be black in the modern era. This
Blackness was constructed on an ancient but multifaceted history that isn’t limited
to or begins with the transatlantic slave trade.

Source: TechRadar

Have
you heard about the ancient philosophies originated from the Akan, Congolese
and Dogon tribes of western Africa? They’ve recently been renamed as
Afrofuturism and reimagined by the African artists and writers like Octavia
Butler, George Clinton, N.K. Jemisin, etc. This philosophy was also celebrated
in the 2018 Marvel movie Black Panther. Now, what does this mean, the complete
reimagination of a philosophy?

It’s
the way of life, isn’t it? Understanding the past only to understand and
predict the way of being in the future? We imagine ourselves in the future
based on the grounding principles of the past. Hence, this new album touches
upon the similar parameters of the past, present, and future of Black history.

However,
Afrofuturism is more than that for the Blacks as it urges the Black community to
recover from their bloody past and create a future that is beyond anybody’s
imagination. It’s been a long times since the Blacks have been marginalized and
overlooked. It’s time that we take the future in our own hands and make it as
we like.

However,
Black Is King has found itself amidst controversy as people believe that it’s
largely a façade and romanticizes the Africa of yesterday. Harsh criticism has
come its way because people believe it completely disregards the situation and
view of Africa today. This is a commonality between Black Is King the album and
Afrofuturism the renewed philosophy.

Source: Reddit 

The
album is brave, to be honest. It takes on the concrete and factually proven
believe that many African Americans have developed a nostalgic association with
Africa so as to reconnect with their past – a past that they lost during the transatlantic
slave trade. Blacks today find escapism in the cultural products that allow
them to heal the generational trauma instead of accepting the realistic portrayal
of modern day Africa.

With
this album, Beyonce has created a pop culture movement that adds fuel to the
difficult conversations. She urges people to take the initiative and talk about
the actual problems that we have today. This album isn’t simply giving more
content to the critics to debate on.

It
was obviously a conscious decision from Beyonce’s end to make this album
hyper-black. However, by following her intuition, she also suggested that she
no longer aims for a mass appeal by pandering to the White
gaze.

Beyonce has worked immensely hard and has gradually paved a successful road for herself
– a journey that is only hers and hers alone. From her days working in Destiny’s
Child to becoming her own with the 2016 release “Lemonade”, today Beyonce can afford to make expensive audiovisuals
that are focused on her individual identity and other explorations of the Black
culture.

Despite
the decrease in the overall album sales, her influence as a pop culture icon has
never been questioned. She is an example of how you don’t need to cater to the
White audience to be empowered and affluent.

Source: MyJoyOnline 

Through
Black Is King, Beyonce makes a statement by imparting support to the cultural
development of the black community all over the world. This album truly
solidifies her Queen B title and the status of superstar with no full stop.