We are feeling all the love tonight, thanks to Queen Bey!
We are feeling all the love tonight, thanks to Beyoncé!
During ABC's The Lion King: Can You Feel The Love Tonight primetime special with Robin Roberts on Tuesday, the singer exclusively dropped the music video for her new song, "Spirit," which is featured in Jon Favreau's upcoming remake of the classic Disney tale.
In the video, Beyoncé (who voices Nala in the film) sits in a flowing gown in the middle of the desert with daughter Blue Ivy, stuns in a blue dress next to a crystal-clear waterfall and performs breathtaking choreography alongside African dancers.
"The concept of the video is to show how God is the painter, and natural beauty in nature needs no art direction," Queen Bey explained during the primetime special. "It's the beauty of color, the beauty of melanin, the beauty of tradition."
"Spirit" is the first track off the compilation album Beyoncé produced and curated as a musical ode to the film. Titled The Lion King: The Gift, it features artists like Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino and Pharrell, as well as her husband, JAY-Z, and their 7-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy. It's scheduled for release on July 19 (the same day the film hits theaters) and is separate from the original motion picture soundtrack for the movie that dropped earlier this month.
"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," Beyoncé, 37, explained to ABC News. "I wanted it to be authentic to what is beautiful about the music in Africa."
"A lot of the drums, the chants, all of these incredible new sounds, mixed with some of the producers from America, we've kind of created our genre," she continued. "And I feel like the soundtrack, it becomes visual in your mind, it’s a soundscape, it’s more than just the music because each song tells the story of the film."
The music video dropped just a few hours after it was revealed that the pop star's Netflix special, Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, scored six Emmy nominations. The live concert film was nominated for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special, Outstanding Costumes for a Variety (Non-Fiction or Reality Programming), Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special and Outstanding Music Direction.
ET recently caught up with some of Beyoncé's Lion King co-stars, who revealed what Blue Ivy thought of the film. "Blue was, like, narrating the movie," Donald Glover, who voices Simba, shared. "She was like, 'Scar, he's lying.' And my son [2-year-old Legend] was like, 'What? Who is that?' She knew the movie already, it was awesome."
Seth Rogen, who voices the lovable Pumbaa, backed Glover's story about Blue, telling ET, "She was! I heard her the whole time."
"And very early in the movie I heard her just go, 'Are they talking?'" he added. "I think she thought they were real animals… She thought it was real. 'Oh my god, they got these animals to talk!' Disney is a powerful company."
Hear more from the cast in the video below.
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