Disney dug deep into their bag of tricks with the live-action remake of the 1994 classic, “Lion King”, expected to debut in cinemas later this month. Though the original animated film will remain undefeated, now they get a chance to show off their state of the art visual effect and a star-studded voice cast that includes Donald Glover, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Beyonce.

So far, the live-action film hasn’t gotten the most positive reviews from critics, but Beyonce seems geared to rescue to the franchise with her Lion-King-inspired LP, ‘Lion King: The Gift’, set to make a cultural statement with its African focused list of guest features including Tekno, Yemi Alade, Mr Eazi, Burna Boy, Salatiel, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Shatta Wale, Busiswa, and Moonchild Sanelly. They will be joining the line up that also boasts of names like Blue Ivy Carter, Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce, Jay Z, Childish Gambino, Pharrell, St. Jhn, Tierra Whack, 070 Shake, and Jessie Reyez.

African artists have seemed on the verge of crossing over into the American mainstream since Wizkid’s No. 1 feature on the Billboards with “One Dance” in 2017. Beyonce’s ‘Lion King: The Gift’, will provide exposure for the African stars and introduce them to new audiences around the world as Wizkid will feature on a song with Beyonce’s daughter, Blue Ivy Carter and Burna Boy gets the only solo track, “Ja Ara E”, from the 14-track project. Given the calibre of the artists on the project and the anticipated fanfare for the live-action “Lion King” film when it’s released on Thursday, the 18th of July, it’s won’t be too ambitious to predict the album replicating the success of Kendrick’s ‘Black Panther’ soundtrack LP which hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 last year.

‘Lion King: The Gift’ will be released on Friday, the 19th of July, and though we’d like nothing more than to provide a pre-release link or some insight to what sound to expect, Beyonce doesn’t roll like that.

Featured Image Credits: Web/beyonce.com
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You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him @debola_abimbolu

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