“The Lion King: The Gift” album is out now feat Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar & others.
Beyoncé casually stated last week that she had curated and produced an album to accompany Disney’s The Lion King as if it were no great thing. And, well, Beyoncé just did it. The Lion King: The Gift has finally arrived, and it’s the sonic cinema we’ve been waiting for. The Lion King movie is in theaters worldwide now and along with it, the new Beyonce curated ‘The Lion King‘ album is also in stores.
The project which is led by Beyonce’s new single ‘Spirit‘, contains 17 tracks with guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Jay-Z, and more.
The album is as stunning behind the scenes. Diplo, Syd, and Sounwave — all of whom worked on Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN – produced The Gift. On the music “MOOD 4 EVA,” a collaboration between Beyoncé, JAY-Z, and Childish Gambino, DJ Khaled is mentioned as a producer.
“I wanted to put everyone on their own journey to link the storyline,” Beyoncé said in a press release. “Each song was written to reflect the film’s storytelling that gives the listener a chance to imagine their own imagery while listening to a new contemporary interpretation.” The Disc is interwoven with interludes carrying conversation from the characters and maintains a strong link to the Jon Favreau-directed film. The album is opened by Mufasa’s voice actor, James Earl Jones.
The Lion King: The Gift opened at number two on the Billboard 200 in the United States, with 54,000 album-equivalent units, 11,000 of which were pure album sales.
It was Beyoncé’s second top ten debut of 2019 (after Homecoming: The Live Album) and third top ten album of the year (after Lemonade re-entered the Billboard 200 chart following its wide streaming release). It is also Beyoncé’s ninth top ten album of her solo career.
Stream the entire thing below.
