This archive report was first published on 17 July 2019.
On July 19, 2019, Disney's The Lion King will hit theaters, accompanied by a new soundtrack curated by Beyoncé. The album, titled The Lion King: The Gift, is a love letter to Africa, according to Beyoncé.
She told ABC News, '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.'
She added that she wanted the soundtrack to be authentic to what is beautiful about the music in Africa, incorporating 'a lot' of drums and 'incredible new sounds mixed with some of the producers from America.'
She also stated that they've created their own genre, where the soundtrack becomes visual in your mind, with each song telling the story of the film.
The Lion King: The Gift will be released on the same day as the film, featuring Beyoncé as the voice of Nala, the childhood best friend and future wife of Simba.
The film, directed by Jon Favreau, is a journey to the African savanna where a future king is born, and Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny.
However, not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub's arrival, and the battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy, ultimately resulting in Simba's exile.
The cast includes Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, and Billy Eichner as Timon.
