The Lion King: The Gift

The Lion King: The Gift—soundtrack to Disney’s live-action remake of The Lion King, full of African pop stars (Tiwa Savage on “Keys to the Kingdom,” Oumou Sangaré on “Mood 4 Eva”)—had even more to gift 12 months later: the Beyoncé-directed visual album, Black Is King, featuring the same music. Her pan-Africanist, Afrobeat-infused collection of musical vignettes featured many Afrofuturistic images: an African youth streaking through space like a meteor; Beyoncé herself standing regally in desert sands with a lunar backdrop, like Rey Skywalker on the planet Tatooine. The Gift scales its highest Afrofuturism moment on “My Power,” with heavy assist from Tierra Whack, Busiswa and Yemi Alade, but it’s the album’s accompanying visuals that go black to the future.