The Issue of Authenticity and Representation

Despite the overwhelmingly positive response to The Gift and Black is King, there are still spectators who criticize the works for reasons concerning the authenticity and representation of African cultures. Even Beyoncé has found herself the subject of this ridicule for the same reason amongst others. It should be stated that in all documentation of Beyoncé’s thought process approaching The Gift, shows that there was a clear decision to center African musicians. In her own words, Beyoncé says “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…I wanted it to be authentic to what is beautiful about the music in Africa.” (Giorgis)

In order to do that, she enlisted big names in Afrobeats including the mentioned artists Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Tiwa Savage, all of whom are Nigerian. She also has enlisted smaller acts, reaffirming her desire to have an authentic sound, one of whom is Lord Afrixana who Elijah interviewed. In his interview, Lord Afrixana states “I wish there was a little more influence from Eastern Africa, and I think that was the only criticism that I could actually give that project.”(Afrixcana 2022) This statement by Lord Afrixana affirms others who also find the lack of East African voices fundamentally concerning. For context, Kornhaber notes that “The Gift bafflingly omits East African voices, despite The Lion King’s deep debt to that region.” (Kornhaber). The geographic landscape both in the original and the retelling  The Lion King, depict East Africa’s serengeti, namely Tanzania. It should not go unnoticed that when it came to the visuals, authenticity was kept in 1994 and 2019, but when it came to the soundtrack, both versions did not have a leading East African influence. 

In this way, Afrobeats is being misrepresented here as the sound of all of Africa. Ivy Awino, featured in “The Blind Spot of Beyoncé’s Lion King Soundtrack” article, states “The thing that stings the most is when the blanket term Africa is thrown over an entire body of work but the representation doesn’t match. I don’t by any means think it was intentional, and I think that the gesture [of making this soundtrack] was extremely needed and very welcome in the sense that this opportunity has now opened the door for these artists and the places that they’re from and the people who look up to them,” Awino said. “But it also has been a very eye-opening moment in seeing how the rest of the world views what’s going on musically at home.” Ultimately, it feels like Beyoncé missed an opportunity to further the authenticity of African people in The Lion King. Given Disney’s resources, Beyoncé’s resources, and her keenness for thorough research as Lord Afrixana recalls, it seems the choice to lead with Afrobeats, a West African tradition, was partly due its marketability and profit.

The Marketability of Afrobeats in a Capitalist Society

Contextualized within plight of African Americans post-slavery, includes struggles concerning identity. As W.E.B Dubois puts it, “One feels his two-ness, — an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” This speaks to Dubois’ double consciousness, a term coined to express the feeling of otherness as an American and as a person of African descent. The African-American diaspora is not a monolith, and as such, have different ways of answering “What is Africa to me?”. Some members of the group answer this question by engaging and/or identifying with African cultures as a way to reclaim their stolen heritage. 

One method of doing so is through music. Beyoncé has in many ways become known for doing so as her “art has grown outwardly political and pro-black throughout the decade.” (Kim) Through the medium of Afrobeats, which has a similar range in sound as hip-hop, Beyoncé was able to clearly convey “celebrating the beauty and value of Black lives along two interrelated trajectories, one rooted in the specificities of African American life in the US South and the other along explicitly global lines.”(McGee & Baade). At a time when representation and diversity and inclusion has become increasingly important, yet monetized, The Gift satisfies both the commercial need as well as the “need” for representation for African Americans. As Shwartz puts it, “Ultimately, The Gift is a deft balancing act that weighs personal songwriting flourishes and meaning with Disneycore tropes, as well as a sincere desire to celebrate the music of the African diaspora with its fundamentally commercial obligations.”