Beyoncé wraps her Juneteenth anthem “Black Parade” into a glimpse of the color-splashed kingdom of her creation in the latest preview clip of the singer’s upcoming Black is King visual album.
After dropping two earlier teasers for the Disney+ exclusive, inspired by her work on the Lion King reboot album, Bey gave a further peek into the elaborate world she’s created for the project she wrote, directed and executive produced with a trailer that dropped on Thursday morning (July 30).
Black is King is due out on Friday (July 31), one year after the theatrical release of the beloved film’s reimagining, in which the singer voiced Nala, and which was accompanied by Bey’s 2019 soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift.
“To live with no reflection for so long,” Beyoncé says via voiceover at the beginning of the new trailer, amid images of an animal-print luxury car driving through the desert and a comet streaking across the early morning sky as a group of women in shimmering bodysuits walk across sand dunes. “Might make you wonder if you even truly exist.”
The flood of intriguing images jumps from what looks like a body floating above the Earth to a sea of Black men and women in orange suits and pink dresses arrayed across a lush garden as regal horn blasts rise, revealing Queen Bey in a Busby Berkley-style formation in the water, surrounded by swimmers in pink bodysuits.
That gives way to a snippet of “Parade,” with Bey singing, “We got rhythm/ We got pride/ We birth kings” amid flashes of a fancy dance ball and dancers decked out in a variety of elaborate, flowing costumes in the 90-second clip.
“We birth tribes/ Holy river/ Holy tongue/ Speak the glory/ Feel the love/ Motherland, motherland drip on me (hey, hey, hey)/ I can’t forget my history/ It’s her story/ Motherland drip on me,” she sings as daughter Blue Ivy makes a seriously cute cameo.
A previous trailer also promised cameos from Jay-Z, Kelly Rowland, Lupita Nyong’o, mother Tina Knowles-Lawson, Pharrell Williams, Naomi Campbell and more.
The upcoming film, which has been in production for a year, aims to reimagine lessons from The Lion King for “today’s young kings and queens in search of their own crowns,” according to an earlier announcement from Disney and Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment.
The visual album will highlight “the voyages of Black families, throughout time” and tell the story of “a young king’s transcendent journey through betrayal, love and self-identity,” the release added. “Black Is King is an affirmation of a grand purpose, with lush visuals that celebrate Black resilience and culture.”
The singer opened up about her project in a June 28 Instagram post. Calling it a “labor of love,” she shared that she had been filming, researching and editing for the past year. Beyonce explained: “It was originally filmed as a companion piece to The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack and meant to celebrate the breadth and beauty of Black ancestry.”
Check out the Black is King trailer below.