Dissect - BLACK IS KING by Beyonce (Part 3)

Episode Date: March 16, 2021

Our special mini-series on Beyonce’s BLACK IS KING continues with an examination of “MOOD 4 EVA,” “Ja Ara E,” and “Already.” After fleeing the Pride Lands, Simba is rudely awakened from his fantasy of the American Dream by the nightmare of his past. His ancestral guides encourage Simba to remember his true royal identity and reclaim his throne. Shop our limited merch for this series at shop.dissectpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @dissectpodcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify, this is Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short, digestible episodes. I'm Cole Kushna. And I'm T.T. Shodia. Today we continue our six-part examination of Blackest King by Beyonce. On our last episode, we followed Simba as he was led astray by his jealous Uncle Scar. When Simba's father, Mufasa came to protect Zimba, Scar's henchman murdered Mufasa. We last left off dissecting the song and video for Nile, where we were transported to the spiritual realm and saw Mufasa's casket being carried by his ancestors.

Meanwhile, the song's lyrics used the Nile River as an extended metaphor highlighting Simba's upcoming choice on how to live after losing his father. Like the Nile River that leads to the ocean, Simba can trust his ancestors to be the life-giving, cleansing, and replenishing source of guidance on his journey to kingship, or he can drown himself in denial, and use vices like alcohol and sex to avoid confronting his trauma and deny his responsibilities.

Now, we heard a spoken word poem highlighting how Simba's experience of being separated from his royal identity by his Uncle Scar mirrors how Africans in America have been separated from their royal identity by Uncle Sam. I can't think myself. And if I can't think myself, I can't be myself. But if I can't be myself, I will never know me. So Uncle Sam tell me this. If I will never know me, how can you?

After the spoken word poem concludes, the film, cuts to a shot looking directly up at the sun. We then see vultures fly into the frame as if circling over a carcass. Mirroring the same shot in the Lion King film, we next see Simba lying unconscious beneath the tree. He's wearing his royal leopard pelt outfit, which seems to indicate that we've transitioned back to the physical world after watching Mufasa's funeral in the spiritual world. A close-up shot of Simba reveals that he has a slight grin on his face as if he's having a pleasant dream. The close-up shot on Simba then cross-dissolves into a shot of a car driving on a dirt road that runs through a beautiful African landscape. As the shot of Simba sleeping slowly dissolves

away, we get the sense that this new shot is depicting Simba's dream. In this dream, we see that one of the spiritual guides and a Dogon mask is driving a Rolls-Royce convertible, which has a custom leopard-print paint job. The roof of the convertible is down, allowing us to see Simba reclining in the back seat with his feet up. Simba is wearing a black suit and the same red shoes he was wearing when gambling and imitating Lord Afrikanah's character in Don't Jealous Me. As the Rolls Royce continues to drive down the road, we hear another clip of dialogue from the Lion King film. Look at bad things happen and you can't do anything about it, right? Right. When the world turns it's back on you, you turn your back on the world.

What? Only embrace what's next and turn the what into so what? Well, that's not what I was taught. Well, then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me, kid. Hakuna Matata. This dialogue is taken from the scene in which Timon and Pumba rescue Simba from the vultures.

When Simba wakes up, he talks about how he wishes he could change what he did in the past. Timoan and Pumba tell him that he should forget about the past and embrace a carefree lifestyle or Hakuna Matata, which means there is no trouble in Swahili. This pattern of coping with a troubled past by denying the existence of troubles is the very definition of living in denial we heard in the outro of the previous song, Nile. When we looked at the symbolic use of the Nile River, we discussed how living in denial is a common way for black people to cope with the generational troubles

caused by slavery and colonialism. Here in Simba's dream, colonialism seems to be symbolized by a chauffeur wearing an African mask while driving a Rolls-Royce, which is one of the most iconic symbols of British wealth and power. Rather than address the systemic injustice caused by British colonialism, Simba dreams of simply using an African aesthetic to cover over the symbol of colonialism. This symbolic use of the leopard print Rolls-Royce was highlighted by the scenes director, Blitz Bazaulay. In an interview with Now magazine,

Bazaulay said, quote, The Rolls-Royce was one of our best ideas I feel. We're talking about a kid living his Akuna Matata moment. If we peel off that leopard, it's still that oppression that wreaked havoc on the world, unquote. As Bazaulay points out, embracing the Hakuna Matata philosophy implies that one must be willing to ignore the havoc caused by oppressive rulers, much like how Simba is now ignoring the havoc caused by Scar's oppressive rule of Pride lands. However, as Simba dreams of relinquishing all responsibility, his role. Rolls-Royce drives past Beyonce and the Blue Man who are watching Simba as they stand by the side of the road.

Their presence outside the Rolls Royce seems to indicate that Simba subconsciously knows that he should hold on to the ancient lessons passed down by his ancestors, rather than embracing the Hakuna Matata philosophy. Nevertheless, Simba rides past Beyonce and the Blue Man without looking back. The film cuts to a shot of a vintage Rolls-Royce convertible pulling into a paved drive- Unlike the leopard print Rolls Royce in the previous scene, this one is all black. The tile driveway marble statues and lush green trees suggest that we're entering the grounds of a mansion in America, far from the African landscape of the previous scene.

As the Rose Royce drives past the camera, we see that Beyonce's husband Jay Z is sitting in the back seat. Like Simba in the previous scene, Jay is wearing a black suit and is reclining with his feet up. This mirroring seems to indicate that Simba is dreaming of imitating. the public persona of Jay-Z. This isn't the first time we've seen Simba imitate the style of a wealthy person. On Don't Jealous Me, Simba wore a white suit that mirrored the wardrobe of Lord Africana. In contrast to the negative influence Lord Afrikanah's character had over Simba, the real-life Jay-Z clearly intends to have a more positive influence on those growing up in his community.

As one of the greatest rappers of all time, and one of only 13 black billionaires in the world at the time of the film's release, JZ is widely seen as someone who young black boys and girls can look up to as an example of black excellence. The contrast between Lord Africana and Jay-Z, thus seems to represent a duality of good and bad role models in the black community. This duality seems to be hinted at by the contrast between Lord Africana's white suit and Jay-Z's black suit. Indeed, as we'll soon see, this duality of black and white will be used as a central motif in the film's next section, particularly as it relates to the interplay between black African culture and white American culture

and the white and black pieces of a chessboard. The influence of white American culture is immediately on display as the following shot shows Jay-Z's Rolls Royce parking in front of a Beverly Hills mansion. This shot seems to have been inspired by a similar shot in the 1972 film The Godfather, which also shows a black car parking in front of what is later called A Place for a King. This regal, European-style mansion is officially known as the Beverly House, located in Hollywood. The sprawling estate contains 29 bedrooms, three swimming pools, a private movie theater, and a nightclub. In 2016, the current owners offered to sell the mansion for $195 million, making it the most expensive private home in America at that time.

The Beverly House is famous for being owned by a house. old Hollywood actress Marion Davies, who was the longtime mistress of newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hurst. Hurst's life and love affair with Davies became the main inspiration for the 1941 film Citizen Kane, which along with The Godfather is considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. This storied history makes the Beverly House one of the most iconic symbols of the Hollywood lifestyle that dominates portrayals of fame, wealth, and power in American culture. Within the context of Black as King, the Beverly House is a clear indication that Simba is quite literally experiencing the American dream, the same dream that Uncle Sam has been using to tear

African immigrants away from their identity. However, much like the Rolls-Royce covered with the leopard print, Simba dreams of covering over the European-style mansion with an African aesthetic. Or in the words of Black as King's creative director, Quasi Forger, Simba's dream aims to, quote, reface the whole old Hollywood glamour and make it black as fuck, unquote. This aim is immediately evident as we cut to the Beverly House's interior, where we see glimpses of various black men and women, sitting or standing completely still in various pieces of African-inspired fashion.

We see a man in a leopard print suit, a group of female bodyguards wearing a mix of zebra and draft print, and a woman wearing traditional West African clothing with a decorative headwrap known as a gale. Interspersed between these posed shots of men and women in African-inspired fashion. We see that the hallways and walls at the Beverly House are adorned with sculptures and paintings by contemporary black artists. This selection of artwork was curated by Beyonce's mother, Tina Noles Lawson, who is a longtime collector of African and African-American art. Most noticeably, we see a vibrant teal and orge life-sized human sculpture of African figures

by the Ohio artist Woodrow Nash. In keeping with the theme of African aesthetic applied over European forms, Nash's sculptures combine a 15th century Benin aesthetic with 18th century French Nouveau style. The juxtaposition of life-sized human sculptures with actual people posing in African fashion seems to be training us to see that each black individual is a work of art. This artistic treatment of black people leads directly to the central piece of the collection, a wall-length portrait of Beyoncé in the Western European Madonna style, a style normally used to depict Mary, the mother of Jesus. Rather than holding Jesus, Beyonce holds her newborn twins Rumi and Sir Carter,

as her eldest daughter Blue Ivy stands beside her. Black infant cherubs float around Beyonce holding Grammy trophies in place of the typical heralding horns. similar to the anointing scene in Bigger, where a painting blended a Western depiction of Mary with an African depiction of the Orisha Yomoja. The painting in the Beverly House shows Beyonce and her children with halos around their heads. This iconographic symbol implies that Beyonce and her children are all holy individuals. The painting thus subverts Western versions of Christianity, which historically exalted white Europeans in order to justify the enslavement and colonization of black Africans.

As these art pieces immerse us into a world where racial hierarchy has been turned upside down, the film cuts to a shot of Simba sleeping under the tree with a wide grin on his face. We're reminded that everything we see in the Beverly House is just a dream, one that Simba will eventually need to wake up from if he wants to see such a world become a reality. At the same time, the shot of Simba sleeping brings our attention to the song that has been playing in the background since we saw J.Z in the Rolls-Royce. This is Mboube, a song written and recorded by South African singer Solomon Linda in the 1920s. Solomon wrote the song using lyrics in the Zulu language. Most notably, the chorus repeats the

Zulu expression, Aimbube, which means you are a lion. Inbube became a hit in the 1940s as the record sold more than 100,000 copies throughout the African continent and led to the development of the entire genre of South African vocal music. However, outside of Africa, most people never heard the original version of the song. Instead, most people only know the English version,

The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which is the version sung by Timoan and Pumba in The Lion King. Based on the English version, the inclusion of Inbube at this point in Black is King seems to be a clever way to remind us that Simba, the Lion King, is still sleeping. But Beyonce's choice to use Solomon Linda's original version seems to be a part of a much larger strategy to expose how white Europeans have repeatedly exploited and appropriated African art without properly crediting or compensating African artists. In the case of Inbube, Solomon Linda sold the copyrights for the song to a white-owned South African record company for what is now the equivalent of 87 cents. Despite his song selling 100,000 records, Solomon could only get a job sweeping floors at the record company. In the early 1950s, an ethnic music collector at the American record company gave Solomon Linda's original Inbube recording to American folk musician Pete Seeger. Seeger's group, The Weavers, then recorded their own mispronounced and misspelled version of the song,

which also included an introduction to the song's origins. The following song, we learned off a phonograph record from South Africa. Sat up in bed and deciphered it. We wrote out the parts, and at the end of it, we found it was all in one word. That word is in the Zulu language, and a missionary tells us it means a lion, whatever that means. However, hey up, O'O weim away, O'Weem away.

Seeger here tells his story about hearing Solomon and Linda's original recording, but fails to mention Linda's name. In the official credits for their new recording, Seeger and the Weavers erroneously claimed that the song was a quote-unquote traditional song to avoid paying royalties to anyone. But they actually took it a step further.

Seeger credited the arrangement of the song to a made-up pseudonym so he could claim the royalties for. himself. Then in 1961, producers of an American record company hired songwriter George Weiss to remake the Weaver's versions of Mumbumbay into a pop song. Weiss kept the mispronounced chorus and added verses with English lyrics, including the well-known In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle, The Lion Sleeps Tonight. This rendition was then performed by a teen group named the Tokens and became a worldwide hit in the early 60s. Once again, Solomon Linda was given no credit.

as another pseudonym was used to credit a business partner Pete Seeger's music publisher. Despite the existence of over 150 versions of The Lion Sleeps Tonight and his role in 13 movies, Solomon Linda and his family lived in poverty. With little money to buy food, one of Solomon's children died of malnutrition. When Solomon died in 1962, he had the equivalent of $22 to his name. Solomon's surviving descendants would spend decades in legal battles for proper compensation, Even as the song's use and the Lion King generated an estimated $15 million for the copyright holders. Given how white Europeans and Americans systematically exploited Solomon Linda

and used English lyrics to cover up Inbube's African origins, we understand why Beyonce wants us to listen to Solomon Linda's recording while looking at the black art in the Beverly House. In fact, learning about Solomon's history is what inspired Beyonce to create Black as King in the first place. In an interview with The Washington Post, Beyonce's mother, Miss Tina Nose Lawson, talked about Beyonce's reaction to Linda's story saying, quote, it just really angered her because it's the same old story. And I remember that day leaving the studio and her saying, I'm going to create a film that's going to be, you know, a collection of my videos, but I'm going to tell the real story of what

happened and show Africa and its regalness and its beauty because we weren't always slaves. The music for Mumbumbay abruptly cuts off as the man in a leopard print suit claps his hands. The man then steps aside to reveal Beyonce sleeping on a king-sized bed with pink linens. Next, a woman begins playing a violin, which triggers Beyonce to suddenly sit up in bed. This use of a violin as an alarm clock was likely inspired by a similar scene in the 1988 film Coming to America. In the film, Eddie Murphy plays Akeem Jofar, the crown prince of a fictional African country, Zimunda. Fittingly, Coming to America begins with the title sequence that features a rendition of Mumbumbe, sung by Lady Smith Black Mumbazo, a black South African choir that properly credited Solomon Linda as the songwriter.

Following this version of Mbumbu B, coming to America continues with a scene of Prince Akeem, sitting up in bed with pink linens after being awakened by an orchestra, just as we see Bionzé do in Black as King. Later, both Prince Akeem and Beyonce will have their teethbrush by a butler, solidifying the reference. When Beyonce jumps up in bed, she's wearing the now iconic eye mask emblazen with the word mood and shiny all-capped lettering. This eye mask signals the film's next song, Mood Forever. But at the same time, the visual display of the word Mood over this image of Beyonce waking up in the Royal Mansion is a perfect illustration of how the word Mood is used as slang. Beginning in 2016, a trend developed on Twitter in which users posted absurd, ironic, or extravagant images attached to a

tweet that read Big Mood. The implied meaning was that the attached image perfectly illustrated a feeling that the user could relate to based on a past experience or the desire to have a certain experience in the future. In Black is King, the word mood on Beyonce's eye mask seems to imply that the proud experience of waking up in an extravagant space where black people are universally recognized for their regalness and beauty evokes a feeling that Simba and countless other black individuals dream of experiencing in real life. The film cuts to see that. The film cuts to Simba in his royal leopard pelt running through the Beverly House mansion among the various black men and women in animal print and traditional African clothing.

In the background, we hear the voice of Umu Sangare, a Grammy-winning folk singer and songwriter from the Wasulu region of West Africa. Umu sings her 1989 song, Diyabi Nini. Nibi translates to the shivers of love. As the title would indicate, the song is about the chills that lovers experience when engaged in sexual intimacy. Later on in the song, Umu sings the following refrain. The lyrics here roughly translate to, Thinking Isn't Good, Baby See You in the Morning.

Singare seems to be telling her lover to come back to her in the morning after she's had an intimate evening. She seems to suggest that her lover should follow his desire. back to her rather than stopping to think about any other worries. This interpretation would seem to fit well within the context of Black as King. The idea of following one's desires mirrors the previous song now, which talked about being carried along by sexual desire. The suggestion that thinking is not good also seems to be consistent with the Hakuna Matata

lifestyle of no worries. Fittingly, the precise passage from Dera B. Ninny is one sampled and chopped to form the basis of the beat for mood forever. Beyonce begins the song sitting on a top of the leopard print Rolls Royce that Simba previously dreamed of riding in. Beyonce matches the car by wearing a leopard print, hand-sown, custom couture Valentino one-piece jumpsuit, which took over 300 hours to complete. As she fully embodies the spirit of a fierce animal, Beyonce sings, I know my enemy pray on me, so pray for me. Tick, tick, wait on me. I'm

keeping down my body count. I'm finessein like a trap bounce. Here Beyonce plays on the homophones prey, as in an animal hunting for food and prey, as in a person making a request to God. Beyonce doesn't directly state who our enemy is, but given the references and symbolism throughout Simba's dream, it seems most likely that My Enemy refers to the white supremacist, who have routinely preyed upon black people by means of slavery, colonization, appropriation, and other forms of economic exploitation. Later in the verse, Beyonce says, I'm about to flood on him, flood on a sinner, the rain and thunder are going to pour. This seems to reference the biblical story of Noah's Ark, where God sent an epic rainstorm

to flood the land and wash away everyone who is ruining the world through oppression and injustice. We should also note that within social political discourse, slavery is often referred to as America's original sin. Hence by saying that she will flood on a sinner, Beyonce seems to be saying that she'll eliminate any white supremacist who continues to uphold the legacy of slavery. At the same time, within the context of hip-hop, the word flood typically refers to wearing jewelry covered in diamonds. And so the phrase flood on a sinner, also implies that Beyonce plans to flaunt her excessive wealth in the face of her white supremacist enemy.

The image of Beyonce flaunting a diamond ring in the face of her foes is further supported by the line, Go Motumbo No No Center. Here, Beyonce is referring to the Congolese basketball player, Dikembe Motumbo, who was a prolific defender and shot blocker in the NBA. Whenever Matumbo blocked a shot, he wagged his finger in the face of his opponent and said, no, no, no, not in my house. Similarly, here in the Beverly House, Beyonce intends to humiliate any enemy who takes shots at her squad. I got my cup up to the heavens. Another night I won't remember.

Promise this my move forever. Beyonce performs the hook singing, I got my cup up to the heavens. Another night I won't remember. Promise this my mood forever. Later she sings, Treasers dancing on a bezel. kind of feeling unforgettable. Promise this my mood forever. On the surface, these lines appear to be a celebration of the success that Beyonce and Jay-Z have achieved despite the odds being stacked against black people. Beyonce depicts herself toasting to the good life every night before drinking enough alcohol to blackout. As Beyonce raises her cup to the heavens, she stares

proudly at the light bouncing off her watch, which has been flooded with diamonds. While she won't remember the events of the night, she will always remember the feeling that she had when looking at this watch. The line, This Mahmood Forever, suggests that the imagery in this hook perfectly conveys the mood that Simba wants to experience in his own life. Simba likely thinks that getting the shiny watch he dreams about will be a good way to make his enemies jealous. However, light coming from jewelry on his raised hand will inevitably distract him from seeing the guiding light of the stars. Even if he did look at the stars long enough to remember his true royal identity, he would not remember seeing the stars after he blacks out from diving into rivers of liquor.

Thus, Simba will remain unable to grow as he plans to live deep in denial forever and ever. Forever and ever, ever at the Saxon, Mediba suite, like Mandela, bumping fella on the plummetatette, like we from Lagos, Mansamusa reincarnated. We on our levels, that's a billion, a thousand Millie, first want to see a bee out of these housing buildings, I'll be feeling like Prince in 84, Mike and 79, Biggie, and 97, 94 Nause Ali, Bumbaillet, no kumbaya, just give me the Somali. The idea of being forever caught up in the same feeling is further explored as Jay-Z raps, Forever, Forever, Ever, Forever. Here he recycles a classic line from Andre 3000's verse on Outcast's 1998 hit single, Miss Jackson.

Forever, forever, ever, forever, ever, Forever never seems that long until you're grown And notice that the day-by-day ruler can't be too home On Miss Jackson, my intentions were good On Miss Jackson, Andre 3000 rapped about the typical experience of a young king and queen who get caught up in an immature form of puppy love and dream of enjoying that feeling forever and ever.

But when the king and queen grow up, they find that those early feelings have vanished, leaning to the dissolution of their relationship. Jay-Z's reference to Ms. Jackson and thus serves as an implicit warning that no mood could last forever. JZ notes that even the greatest artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, the notorious BIG, and Nas all experienced a peak in their careers in the years that they released breakthrough albums.

Similarly, the Hall of Fame boxer Muhammad Ali, who routinely referred to himself as the greatest, eventually reached his peak when he beat George Foreman in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was here that the crowd chanted Bumai, which meant kill him in the local language of Lengala. Hence we get Jay's line, Ali Bumba'e, no kumbaya.

Despite the fact that all of these great figures are past their peak, Jay feels like he's still experiencing his own peak, as his net worth climbs past a billion dollars on the Forbes list. This wealth inspires Jay to follow in the footsteps of Mansa Musa as he claims himself, Mansa Moussa reincarnated, we honor levels. As we noted in our discussion of African leaders referenced in Don't Jealous Me, Manza Musa was a 13th century king of the Mali Empire,

who amassed the modern equivalent of $400 billion of gold, making him the wealthiest person who ever lived. Since Mansa Musa represents the highest economic success that black men and women have achieved, Jay explains his own success by claiming to be the reincarnation of Musa. This claim is consistent with many forms of traditional African spirituality, where the spirits of ancestors are thought to return to earth in order to empower their descendants. As Jay-Z concludes his first, he continues to reflect on the power he's received from his African ancestors. He raps, Oh my God, without God in the XY. I'm afraid the whole game will be colonized. Here, XY refers to X and Y chromosomes encoded in a person's DNA that determine whether a person's body

will develop male or female traits. X and Y chromosomes are passed down from human ancestors through parents to children. So by saying that he has God in the XY, Jay seems to to be saying that he is a son of God, which might simultaneously reference the Christian idea of Jesus as the firstborn son of God and the Ifah idea that ancestors can become Orisha. Without this divine power in the DNA of African people, Jay suspects the whole game would be colonized. He seems to be saying that black people demonstrate their divine ancestry when they achieve success in spite of the white supremacists who seek to exploit black people for their own economic gain. This idea then leads to his final lines. The marathon will be televised for

NIP, because true kings don't die. We multiply. Here JZ adapts the 1960s black power slogan, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. This slogan was brought into mainstream awareness through a spoken word poem by Gil Scott Heron. As the poem indicates, the phrase, the revolution will not be televised. As the poem indicates, the phrase, the revolution will not be televised, implied that the commercialized mainstream American media outlets would never show the real truth behind the black community struggle for justice, as those media outlets are owned by white people who would prefer to keep their supremacy. By saying the marathon will be televised, Jay seems to be pointing out that he and other black

billionaires are now in a position to run their own media companies, like Oprah Winfrey Network and Jay Z's title. This ownership gives them the ability to televise. the truth about their community's struggle for justice. For Jay, this struggle is epitomized by the murder of rapper Nipsey Hustle, who Jay refers to by the letters, NIPC. Nipsey became known for his mixtapes, including one titled The Marathon. Nipsey's travels in East Africa inspired him to pursue entrepreneurship, and he subsequently founded a co-working space and business incubator called Vector 90,

which provides training to black people who want to become entrepreneurs in the tech industry. At the same time, Nipsey also opened a store and launched a clothing brand named Marathon Clothing. Tragically, in 2019, Nipsey was shot to death in front of his own Marathon Clothing store. Despite the tragic end of Nipsey's life on earth, Jay Z recognizes Nipsey as a true king, echoing Beyonce's line, No True King Ever Really Dies from Nile. As Jay mentioned with a line about being the reincarnation of Mansamusa, true kings are able to multiply themselves when the spirit empowers the next generation. This pattern of multiplication is exactly what Nipsey achieved when his growth as a black entrepreneur led numerous other black men and women to also become entrepreneurs.

Visually throughout Jay Z's verse, we see Simba continuing to imitate Jay. Simba wears a smaller version of Jay's tan suit and necklace and wraps along to every word of Jay's verse, further illustrating how Simba is learning to be a king by imitating one of hip-hop's greatest kings. Also seen throughout the visuals for Mood Forever is several shots of Jays, Jay playing chess. When he gets out of the Rolls Royce, he moves a black knight chess piece on a board held by a white butler. Then during the chorus, we see a shot of Jay contemplating his next move standing in front of a chess board. Finally, as Jay ends his verse rapping, True Kings don't die, we multiply. We see him move a black pawn forward one space to challenge a white bishop that was

threatening to attack his black knight. These exact chess moves will be replayed more elaborately at the end of the song, which seems to suggest that the moves have a lot. larger thematic significance. Within the context of Jay's line about multiplying royal figures, the pawn move seems to be especially significant. Despite being the smallest and weakest of all pieces, pawns are the only pieces that can transform into the most powerful piece, the queen. The fact that queens are the most powerful chess piece seems to be illustrated by the female guards surrounding Simba and Jay-Z and by Beyonce's subsequent verse. Inns of empires, y'all make me chuckle, to stay in your struggle, crystal blue water,

Bena Kalada in, you stay Ramada in, my baby father, bloodline Rwanda, why would you try me? Why would you bother? I am Beyonce, Giselle Noscara. I am the Nala. In the first half of this verse, Beyonce sings rhymes and half rhymes such as Ramada, Rwanda, and Nose Carter. All of these words and phrases rhyme with Hakuna Matata, without ever directly saying it. Instead, Beyonce exemplifies the no-worry's lifestyle without specifically naming it through her lyrics

by singing about her ability to shrug off haters and focus on her true calling, raising the future kings and queens she gave birth to. Throughout the verse, Beyonce highlights not only her own feminine power, but also the power of all the women around her, starting with the two rows of women in animal print designs that flank her as she moves through the house. Zarina Acres referred to them as the all-female security detail to the Queen, as their looks were inspired by the Mino, a 19th century band of female warriors from the fond ethnic group of present-day Benin. European writers referred to these warriors as the Dahomi Amazons, as they were a formidable group of female fighters who resembled the Amazons of ancient Greek mythology. on my go chain, ice on my whole chain, I'll be like so full. I am a whole mood. Beyonce continues to proclaim her identity by naming the African females who inspired her. Beyonce specifically mentions Nala, who Beyonce voiced in the Lion King film,

and Oshun, who Beyonce embodied in Lemonade. She also references the Queen of Sheba, who visited the biblical King Solomon, and according to the Ethiopian tradition, gave birth to Solomon's son, who would go on to become the first emperor. of Ethiopia. As Beyonce declares herself to be a whole mood, we see one of the aforementioned extravagant moments when the film shows a group of black women and girls having an English tea party in a lush garden. At the center of the table, we see Beyonce's mother, Tina Noleslauson, wearing a regal European-style pink dress sitting in a high-back chair. Next to her is Beyonce's Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowland and several other girls and women in traditional West African

clothing. Combined with the shots of female bodyguards, this garden shows that black women in Africa and in the diaspora can exude strength and beauty, regardless of whether they adopt roles that have been traditionally masculine or traditionally feminine. No shade, no shade, I got that long light. No trade, no trade, I won't give up my pride. Focus, don't focus, to get you on my right. After a repetition of the hook, the film version of Mood Forever transitions into an additional bridge, where we see a line of black female swimmers wearing sparkly pink swimsuits, swim caps,

and drool-encrusted goggles. The line of swimmers stand next to a pool, holding their hands above their heads to make the diamond symbol of Jay-Z's Rockefeller brand. As Beyonce sings about staying focused while being in the limelight, the swimmers dive into the pool one after another, until they reveal Beyonce standing at the end of the line, wearing a more elaborate swimsuit with a flowery sash, European-style elbow-length gloves, and an African-style head wrap. In the following shots, we see Beyonce in the pool with the swimmers

as they perform a synchronized swimming routine. All of these synchronized swimming and diving shots recreate similar scenes from the old Hollywood musical film, Baving Beauty. Bathing Beauty became a box office hit and launched a series of so-called aqua musicals, starring actress and competitive swimmer Esther Williams. Baving Beauty was released in July of 1944, just a month after D-Day, when British and American forces invaded Nazi-occupied France during the height of World War II. In a time when the Western world seemed to be on the brink of

destruction, bathing beauty provided an escapist fantasy, particularly for white Americans who longed to gaze upon a woman who perfectly embodied the white European standard of beauty. Here in Black is King, the white European standard of beauty is replaced with Beyonce and the black female members of Jamaica's only synchronized swimming club. Given that black people are significantly underrepresented in aquatic sports, the inclusion of a black synchronized swimming team further elevates black girls into roles that are typically occupied by white girls. At the same time, the synchronized swimming scene is briefly interrupted when it cuts to a shot of Simba sleeping under the tree. now with jewel-encrusted swim goggles over his eyes. This shot again reminds us that Simba is in the midst of his own escapist fantasy, distracting him from the war that must be fought for the pride lands

that are currently occupied by Scar and the hyenas. After Beyonce's bridge, we hear another bridge section sung by Childish Gambino, a.k.a. Donald Glover, who voiced the role of Simba in the 2019 Lion King film. Just as Glover begins his verse, we see the Blue Men's, man take the screen, watching the action from within the house. The pairing of Glover's words as an adult Simba and the image of Simba's subconscious indicate that these words come from Simba's higher self. He sings, cannot lose, because I bet on myself, I'm dancing, ancestors and my steps. This is the part of Simba who has not truly forgotten his past, who deep down knows that he has

ancestors in his steps, holding him from within his own body. But at the same time, Glover says that he's in a more money, more problem season, referencing the notorious BIG's 1997 hit single. Mo Money Mo Problems is a deeply ironic song in that it celebrates acquiring wealth while simultaneously lamenting the fact that more wealth brings more problems. This is the same irony that runs throughout mood forever, as Simba dreams that imitating a black billionaire will allow him to live a life with no worries. This idea is reinforced as the film cuts to a shot of a room with a portrait of Donald Glover hanging on the wall. As the camera pans down, we see Simba in his royal African leopard pelt,

sitting at a long table across from a black girl wearing a European princess-style pink dress with pink strands braided into her hair. This girl of Simba's dreams appears to be Nala, Simba's childhood friend, adult love interest, and future queen. The two children raised their cups up to the heavens as if they're enjoying a fancy dinner. However, subsequent shots revealed that the table is spread with pastries, fruit, candy, and other childhood sweets. This scene perfectly captures Simba's childish fantasy of adulthood, kingship, and love. Later we see Simba and Nala hold hands as they stand on the long

table and look at the portrait of Simba's adult self in the form of Donald Glover. That shot is soon followed by a similar shot of Jay-Z and Beyonce holding hands as they look up at the portrait of adult Nala in the form of Beyonce's Black Madonna. The contrast between young Simba looking at a portrait of himself and an older Jay-Z looking at a portrait of his queen seems to show how young Simba's self-centered childish fantasy of love needs to mature into a love that focuses on a significant other, his queen. As mood forever fades out, we see Jay and B sitting on a couch eating off TV tray tables and watching an antique TV set. On the TV screen, we see Simba wearing his royal leopard pelt sitting by a body of water. He's holding the gold crowned king chest

piece that his father gave to him prior to the song, Find Your Way Back. We then see Scar sneak up behind Simba with the redhorn drum that he played after Simba was anointed king. Scar clanks his rings together and then plays the drum. As Simba looks back to see where the sound is coming from, Simba accidentally drops the chest piece, which sinks into the body of water. This imagined TV scene seems to be a metaphor for his loss of kingship, as Scar exploited Simba's weaknesses and cause Simba's true identity to sink into denial. At the same time, we also recognize that this entire sequence of Jay-Z and Beyonce watching the TV contain strong similarities to the 2017 horror film, Get Out.

In Get Out, the protagonist Chris Washington meets his white girlfriend's family, only to discover they have been kidnapping and hypnotizing black men so aging white people could steal their bodies. In order to hypnotize Chris, his girlfriend's mother exploits his weaknesses and unearths his guilt over his mother's death. Although the incident was not his fault, like Scar to Simba, she plants seeds of doubt in him and exploits this to send him to the sunken place. Similar to Scar's hypnotic drums and clinking rings, the mother rhythmically scrapes her spoon to a teacup and places him under a hypnotic spell, only to send his consciousness to the sun. sunk in place. You're paralyzed. Just like that date when you did nothing.

You did nothing. Now sink into the floor. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Sink. Eventually, Chris wakes up to a room where he watches an eerie message from his white captors on a vintage television, looking strikingly similar to the one Beyonce and Jay-Z watch here in Black as King. As we see Simba's king chess piece fall to the bottom of the water, we understand that like

Chris and Get Out, Simba has lost a picture. peace of himself to a kind of sunken place, as he forgets his past, his ancestors, and his true calling as king. Get Out uses a surprising horror movie premise to vividly convey the evil that white supremacists perpetrated through slavery, colonialism, cultural appropriation, and other forms of exploitation. This premise of white people, quite literally praying upon black people, perfectly illustrates the opening line of mood forever, where Beyonce said, I know my enemy pray on me, so pray for me. This frank assessment of the horror caused by white people might lead us to the conclusion that all white people are bad and all black people are good.

But the fact that Simba's identity sinks due to the black uncle's exploitation seems to invalidate any such overly simplistic definition of good and evil. This need for a more nuanced understanding of black and white leads to the final section of Simba's dream. It's here that we see a group of Africans dressed as white and black human chess pieces. Beyonce is positioned as the white queen piece, while Stephen Ojo, the actor who portrays the Blue Man, is depicted as the Black King piece. As we've previously noted, chess is a major motif that has showed up in several scenes, including Jay Z playing chess throughout mood forever. Here in this culminating iteration of the chess motif, we see the human chess pieces replayed

the same moves that Jay made earlier, including the Black Knight moving from its starting position followed by a white bishop threatening to attack the night. As we watch the pieces move, we hear several spoken passages that reflect on the significance of chess. Dark and light, duality, the balancing of good and evil. All of this is what you need to make a move. Understand that good and evil often appear together. Nothing is complete on his own. It is ongoing exchange between dark and light. you know what we call good or what we call evil. We first hear an anonymous man introduced the theme of duality between dark and light as a metaphor for the balance between good and evil.

We then hear Jay-Z imply that good and evil are not inherently distinct categories. Rather, what we call good and what we call evil exists in a fluid exchange. These ideas about the duality of dark and light can be found in numerous ancient cultures. Most famously, ancient Chinese philosophy developed the concept of, Yin Yang, where Yin is the root character for shade, and Yang is the character for sun. The Yin Yang philosophy was derived from the observation that opposing forces are often complementary, interconnected, independent, and in constant exchange that is held together by the supreme ultimate god.

This idea is often symbolized by a drawing of a circle divided by a curved line which forms two teardrop-shaped halves, one black and the other white. Here it's important to note that the Black is king's symbol that appeared above Mufasa's throne is a circle made of two lions whose bodies are curved towards each other. One lion appears to be Mufasa and the other appears to be Scar. This lion symbol thus mirrors the Yin Yang symbol and suggests that Simba has within himself influences that can lead him to imitate Mufasa or to imitate Scar. Here's co-director Quasi Forjora.

What I was going to say is our album cover. Album cover represents the duality. It's kind of like this, our interpretation of yin and yang. and new lions represent the good and the evil and they're battling, right? They're tussling. Those two archetypes for us represented the necessary things in life that you need to become wise, to grow, to evolve. As humans, we need a balance of good and evil in order to evolve. It's like how we persevere through those situations and how we persevere in those moments is how we, you know,

persevere in those moments is how we become wise, right? The Yin Yang philosophy also has a parallel in the Ifah's spiritual traditions concept of E.Rae and E.B. This ancient African philosophy teaches that nothing is completely good or evil. Rather, each Orishah has good and evil characteristics, and likewise, each person has within his or her soul both good and evil tendencies. According to the Eiff'sha, tradition, life is all about learning to rule over those tendencies. You know, what we call good or what we call evil. The king is representative for you as representative of a soul.

It's not always a battle. It's a conversation. The king is, the king is you. I don't know if that sounds right. Anyway, you are the king. As the man states that the king represents a person's soul, we see someone. and his royal leopard pelt walking through a garden at night with Mufasa. Mufasa holds a white king chess piece while giving advice to Simba.

In a later shot, we see Simba and Mufasa sitting down to play chess. In between these two shots, the film cuts to a shot of the human chess board where we see the black pawn take one step forward to challenge the white bishop that threatened the black knight. As we noted earlier, this pawn move is the exact same move that Jay-Z played at the end of his verse. We detailed how the pawn is significant because it's the only piece that can control. transform into royalty. At the same time, the threat of the white bishop also seems to be

symbolically significant. Within historic Christian traditions, the word bishop refers to the man who has authority over a local church where he helps to settle questions about the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. A white bishop threatening a black knight seems to represent the ways that white Europeans used Western versions of Christianity to colonize African societies and make them pawns in Europe's economic game. But after the black pond moves forward in the chess game, it's almost certain that the white bishop will have to retreat. This symbolic chess move then suggests that in order to reclaim their royal identity, black people will need to confront both the economic and spiritual origins of oppression. Fittingly, the final shot of the

dream sequence shows Simba standing on Jay's home office table with a black king chess piece in his hand and the white body paint of the spiritual world on his face and upper body. Instead of the white pants that Simba normally wears in the spiritual world, Simba is now wearing red suit pants, matching the red suit that Jay wore when playing chess on that table. But Simba's pants also match the red suits that Scars hyena henchmen wore when they killed Mufasa. And so this final shot perfectly encapsulates the duality that exists within Mood Forever and the duality that exists within Simba. We then witness another abrupt transition as the nighttime shot of Simba waking up in a sparse and natural African landscape of the Zulu region of South Africa

cuts to a nighttime shot of the dense urban cityscape of Johannesburg, South Africa. We'll explore this new setting right after the break. Welcome back to dissect. Before the break, we transition from Simba's dream in an African landscape to a nighttime shot of the streets of Johannesburg. This new urban cityscape is a case. accompanied by a new soundscape. Our brothers and sisters are walking around with crowds in their back pockets because of an environment of repression. As we see a group of African men talking on the dark streets, an anonymous African voice discusses how the oppressive environment caused by European colonization and westernization is causing black men and women to take their crowns off their heads and hide their royal identities.

While this audio clip is playing, we also hear a chopped and softened. slowed down version of the upcoming song. This chopped up section ends with the repetition of the phrase, watch out. As we hear the first iteration of this cautionary warning, the film cuts to a shot of a shirtless black young adult looking out his apartment window at the city below. He puts on a button-down shirt while leaving his chest exposed to show gold necklaces hanging from his neck. The last time we saw anyone wearing gold jewelry over a bare chest was Simba when he was

imitating Lord Afrikanis character in the dark warehouse of Don't Jealous Me. This subtle wardrobe hint seems to be confirmed when the man looks into a mirror. The reflection briefly shows an image of childhood Simba, before switching back to the reflection of who we now realize is the adult Simba. After getting dressed to go out, adult Simba says goodbye to his roommate, then greets a friend at his door who's there to pick him up. The roommate is wearing a black hat and the friend is wearing a red fez hat. Both hats are very similar to the one.

worn by two boys in the dark warehouse alley back in the Don't Jealous Me video. The red hat also recalls the red clothing and motorcycles that Scar's hyena henchmen wore enticing Simba away from his home to kill Mufasa. These hats, as well as Simba's own outfit, seem to establish that adult Simba is now living in the physical world equivalent of the spiritual world's dark warehouse, and that Scar and Lord Afrikanah's manipulation has worked. The scene then cuts to the friend in the red hat driving a red funeral hearse with red LED lights lighting up the interior. It's here that we hear Black is King's next song.

Jaya Re. Jaya is performed by Nigerian Yorba singer-songwriter Burnaboy. Burnaboy describes his music as Afrofusion, blending Afrobeat, dance hall, reggae, hip-hop, and R&B. Like our discussion of Find Your Way Back and Don't Jealous Me, Jha Ares makes use of a steady four-on-the-floor kick drum. And like both, find your way back and don't jealous me, this steady pulse is paired with a syncopated rhythm on top of it. This particular syncopated rhythm, which consists of two dotted eighth notes followed by a standard eighth note, is commonly referred to as the Denbo rhythm, which honors the song that made this rhythm popular, Jamaican dancehall artist Shaba Ranks' 1990 song,

Denbo. J'A. Ara takes this now standard rhythm and embell It publishes it with a number of percussion instruments, creating a complex rhythmic tapestry. Lyrically, the track begins with Burnaboy chanting Kojuba. This is a Yoraba phrase meaning greet with respect, and is derived from a term for how one would greet a king. The repetition of this phrase at the beginning of the song seems to imply that we are about to hear from a king. Here in the first verse, Bernaboy sings in Nigerian Pigeon English,

a blend of standard English in various local languages with simplified unconventional grammar. For instance, the word will in the standard English is typically replaced with the word go in pigeon English. And so the lyrics we just heard in Jaya Ray can be understood as your body will rest, your tongue will confess, your head will correct, you will not forget, you get the concept. These encouraging words seem to be a reflection of Mufasa's words to Simba, an interpretation, reinforced by the line, Papa Tell Peking, which roughly translates to Papa told his child. As Jarre continues, we hear Burnaboy channeling more advice from Mufasa. Burner Boy continues singing in Pigeon, which roughly translates to, they don't have to tell you twice, you will learn your own lesson, everybody keep on searching

for miraculous blessings. These lines seem to imply that here in the urban metropolis, everyone is desperate to get rich and find pleasure without having to work too hard for it. This idea extends into the next passage. You will bow for Lagos too. If you don't know yourself, you will get lost too. If you get money, you will be a bros. Here, Burnaboy speaks to a young Nigerian who plans to get rich by moving to Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and main economic hub, just as Johannesburg is for South Africa.

Burnaboy warns the young man that he'll have to fully submit to the will of the conforming forces of the city, in order to get rich. And even if the young man does get rich, his loss of identity will cause him to become a bros, which is Nigerian slang used as a title that a desperate person would use to suck up to a wealthier person when seeking money or other favors. Each line of the chorus ends with an interjection

of Burnaboy singing the Yoraba phrase, Jare, which is slang used for telling someone to think carefully about what they're about to do. It's similar to the phrases, use your head or wise up in English. In standard Yurba, ja is a verb describing the action of forcefully separating something,

while Aere means yourself. And so Jara most directly translates to separate yourself, especially from the grasp of manipulative people or systems. By combining standard and slang meanings of Jarae, we find that Simba will need to enact the wisdom of his father to separate himself from oppressive systems that benefit from his entrapment.

Simba will need to recognize the duality within him and learn to balance between good and evil, keeping the evil at bay through an ongoing series of chess moves. Simba's current inability to contain the evil within him is displayed throughout the main visual we see during Ja'are. Simba rides in the passenger seat of the glamorous hearse driven by his friend in the red cap. The hearse, a vehicle meant to carry the caskets of the deceased,

is disguised by flashy rims and bright LED light. lights. It's a partymobile, a joy ride, and Simba dances, yells, hangs out the window, cat-calling women on the street, and generally exudes a carefree, indulgent attitude. Now in his 20s, it's clear Simba has decided to follow the Hakuna Matata lifestyle, pursuing a life of pleasure and living in denial of the past. But despite his exterior flashiness, the hearse is still a hearse, just as the Rolls-Royce was a symbol of oppression even after covering it in animal print. Likewise, despite Simba's exterior projection of happiness and a life of self-indulgence, the hearse suggests that he's spiritually dead, or perhaps driving on the road to his death.

As the film continues, we see Simba recklessly get out of the red hearse and walk to a group of women sitting on the hood of a stretch limousine. The limo has doors that open up instead of out, a feature ominously referred to as suicide doors, a clever pairing with Simba's hearse. The women are wearing two-piece outfits covered with strands of metallic material. Their identities are hidden by face masks with the same metallic strands. Simba begins to flirt with these women and quickly finds himself in their laps as they seductively rub his chest and face.

As Jare continues, we hear the refrain, watch out when you go, watch out on the road, watch out for them hyenas. These lyrics seem to click. clarify that Simba is facing a deadly threat from hyenas who are looking for dead and dying prey. This refrain confirms that the friend driving the funeral hearse is really a hyena looking to scavenge Simba's money and status after he drives Simba to his death. This so-called friend is exactly the kind of creature that Mufasa warned young Simba about after he saved young Nala and Simba from a hyena attack in the land beyond the shadows. Mufasa's warning to watch out on the road seems to imply that the seductive women masked with metal strands are another type of hyena.

The fact that Simba doesn't even wear a seatbelt while riding in the hearse makes us doubt his willingness to use protection during sex. The anonymity of the faceless mass women seems to be symbolic of Simba's current view of women as vehicles for his own selfish gratification. This threat of irresponsible sexual pursuits continues to present itself. as the hearse stops beside two women without mask who are waving at Simba. Strangely enough, one of the women has pink hair just like Nala. Simba is clearly enticed and sticks his head out the window to flirt with the two women. After Simba sticks his head out the window to flirt, he begins seeing flashbacks to the women and metallic ribbons

as the sonic landscape of Jaare begins to sound like we're now sinking underwater. We then see a worried look on Simba's face as we hear the sounds of rings clanking behind him. Similar to the antique TV scene where Simba's gold-crowned king chess piece sunk into the water at the end of Mood Forever. When Simba turns around, he sees that his friend wearing the red fez cap has been replaced with Scar wearing the red fez cap. After Scar shows up, we hear a slow-down version of the Kojuba refrain at the beginning of Ja'are. The film then cuts to a shot of the Hurses' hood, where we see an ominous figure wearing a full-body costume made out of long strands of dry Rafia palm leaves. Throughout West Africa, a person who wears this style of costume is known as a masquerade. In traditional West African spirituality, a person in masquerade is called upon to channel various

spirits in order to manifest the spiritual realities that have influence over a particular society. Here in Black is King, we see the masquerade climb onto the hood of the red hearse and crawl towards Simba. This shot reminds us of the scene after Scar killed Mufasa. It was there a scar climbed on top of a table, crawled. towards Simba and told Simba to run away before roaring like a lion. Here at the end of Jaare, the masquerade climbing on top of a car that typically carries the deceased seems to imply that the masquerade man is channeling the scavenging hyena's spirit that influences the actions of every person in the city. As the masquerade reaches the hearse's windshield, the film cuts back to a shot

of Simba looking at Scar, who is now holding the gold crowned king chesspiece that Simba previous lost when it sank into the water. Scar's possession of the moment. of the piece, along with his red hyena henchman hat, confirms that Scar is a scavenger who has taken advantage of Mufasa's death and ordered to steal Simba's royal identity. Rather than take back the king chess, Simba opens the door of the hearse and runs away in fear. The film then cuts to a shot of Simba suddenly sitting up in his bed, startled. It appears this was all a dream, or more specifically, a nightmare. Combined with the daydream that was moot forever, the nightmare that was Jaare is another example of the duality that exists within Simba's mind and soul,

a duality that Simba has yet to reflect on when he's fully conscious. The fact that Simba has not taken the time to examine the duality inside himself is reinforced by Beyonce's subsequent voiceover. To live without reflection for so long might make you wonder if you even truly exist. Here the word reflection refers to the self-examination that Simba has avoided since choosing to live in denial. We also heard the word reflection in a voiceover during Mufasa's funeral procession when Beyoncé said that our ancestors are guiding us through our reflections.

As we noted during the previous episode, the use of the word reflection seems to reference the scene in the Lion King where Rafiki told Simba to look at his reflection in the water to see that Mufasa lives inside him. That's not my father. It's just my reflection. No. Ha.

You see, he lives in you. This reference to reflections foreshadows the entire next scene of Black is King, including the dialogue that begins the scene. Who are you? I know exactly who I am. The question is, who are you? I'm nobody, so leave me alone, all right? Everybody is somebody, even a nobody.

Yeah, I think you're confused. This dialogue is taken from the 2019 Lion King scene in which Rafiki finds Simba after he's lived a Hakuna Matata lifestyle into adulthood. Simba doesn't recognize Rafiki, which leads Simba to ask Rafiki who he is. Rafiki then turns the question on Simba, who is unable to say who he is due to his feelings of insignificance. This mentality of feeling insignificant seems to be the very thing that Beyonce was addressing on bigger. Recall that when she held baby Simba on the shores of the,

the spiritual world. She's saying, if you feel insignificant, you better think again, better wake up because you're a part of something way bigger. We should also recall that when Simba was in the dark warehouse, Lord Africana's character asked Simba, who are you? Establishing Simba's crisis of identity that triggers his journey of self-discovery. Based on these earlier scenes and recent dialogue with Rafiki, we would expect to see some representation of Simba on screen. We do see a man in haint blue body paint covering his face to hide his identity. identity. But this man isn't the same person as the blue man who has played the role of Simba's subconscious throughout the film. It seems likely that this new blue man represents the

subconscious of some other young black male who also feels insignificant. This new blue man is wearing a headdress made out of cowrie shells, a type of white shell that comes from a common type of sea snail. Cowhery shells have been used by cultures all around the world for various purposes. Throughout West Africa, cowrie shells were used as a form of currency for over a thousand years. The shells are also used in various religious rituals, including divination practices in the Iva tradition. Most notably, the cowrie shell headdress that we see on this new blue man seems to be inspired by similar headdresses worn by priests and priestesses of the Orisha Yamoja. The presence of cowrie shells over the head of this new blue man seems to be inspired by

a subconscious reminder that his corresponding young black male has inherent value and access to spiritual insight. The camera then zooms out to reveal that the new blue man is sitting in a tree with several other men also painted in blue wearing cowrie shells and covering their faces. When Rafiki says, everybody is somebody. The film cuts to close-ups of black men without body paint who are wearing purple suits and covering their faces. This juxtaposition between the blue men and the men in the purple suits seems to confirm that the blue men represent the subconscious of various young black males. The purple suits also convey additional significance because historically, the color purple was also worn by royalty. The use of the color to designate royalty

goes back to ancient times when purple dye was made from a rare type of sea snail. Given how many of these rare sea snails were needed to make a small amount of purple dye, purple clothes were extremely expensive and thus only purchased by royalty. However, even with the cowrie shells and the purple suits, the men and their subconscious selves continue to hide their identities by covering their faces, prompting Beyonce and Rafiki to address the confusion these men are experiencing. I am confused. You don't even know who you are. Oh, and I suppose you do.

Follow me. I will show you. Simba here assumes that Rafiki does not know who he is, and Rafiki responds by telling Simba to follow him. We then see Simba's blue subconscious walking out of an overgrown forest, followed by a shot of Beyonce in a tree, much like Rafiki was, during the corresponding scene for the Lion King. It's at this point that we hear the beginning of Black is King's next song, Already. Lonely the king, you know it.

King already, already, you know it. Stop everything, everything you know it. King already. Here the phrase, long live the king, is a shortened form of the phrase, The king is dead, long live the king. The longer form of the phrase has traditionally been used in European countries to simultaneously announce the death of the previous king and the inauguration of a new king.

Scar actually used the shortened form of the phrase when he caused the death of the previous king, Mufasa. Brother, help me! Scar's jealousy and murder are largely motivated by a belief that Mufasa had to die so that he could become king. But if Beyonce is right in saying that no true king ever dies, then there's no reason to wait for the previous king to die. Simba and the other young black males simply need to recognize that they are kings already.

The words, king already and you know wait, thus seem to be a perfect response to the Lion King song, I just can't wait to be king. It's here that young Simba expressed his childish misconception that being a king meant being able to do whatever you want, all the time. But after growing into adulthood and seeing how doing whatever he wants could lead to a loss of his royal identity, Simba now seems ready to take his crown out of his back pocket and place it on his head.

Biondi's whole got a king body. Buddy going to shine bling-bling body. Pulling on a shots, ring body. Crown on your head got a king body. Beyonce here reminds Simba that his whole body shines like blinged out diamonds. This idea that black bodies are as brilliant and valuable as diamonds, is further illustrated by several candid shots of African boys and men going about their daily lives. Meanwhile, we see the blue man dancing in a bright white warehouse surrounded by a group of women in matching crescent moon bodysuits by French designer Marine Serre. The presence of these women surrounding Simba's subconscious reminds us of the women who represented ancestral lights and find your way back, as well as the

women who filled the role of the powerful black queens protecting Simba and Jay-Z in mood forever. Beyonce and these women contort their bodies together to form an abstract shape some have compared to a lion's face. But Blackist King's stylist Zarina Acres referred to this formation as depicting a lotus flower. The lotus flower has a life cycle unlike any other plant, as its roots latch and mud, and it submerges every night into river water and re-blooms the next morning, pristine and clean. In many cultures, this process associates the flower with rebirth and spiritual enlightenment. Specifically in ancient Egypt, the lotus was sought to have magical properties that could resurrect the dead. Seeing that Simba was riding in a hearse and

hanging out with girls next to suicide doors, the lotus flower here seems to be symbolic of Simba's spirit guide attempting to resurrect or separate him from the destructive influences looking to kill him. The film then cuts to a series of shots that shows Beyonce wearing a custom brown and white Burberry cowhide ensemble while standing in a room covered with brown and white cowhides. Her hair is braided into large circular disc shapes that sits between cattle horns on top of her head. In ancient Egypt, cows were a symbol of fertility while bulls were a symbol of protection. In line with the source of protection, the Zulu people of Southern Africa use cowhides to make ceremonial shields. Beyond the symbolic, cattle are central to the lives and diverse cultures

throughout the African continent. Cattle are treasured assets for some 800 million livestock keepers there, and are a critical resource for food, income, and nitrogen-rich manure. Beyonce's circular braided headpiece with cattle horns seem to allude to a number of African cultures that fashioned horns in a similar manner, specifically the Dinka people of South Sudan and the Mercy people of Ethiopia. According to the Blackest King's stylist Zarina Acres, the look also calls to an ancient Egyptian primeval goddess, Hathor. Hathor is most often depicted as a beautiful woman wearing a

solar disc between cowhorns, which is strikingly similar to what Beyonce wears here. Hathor's name means domain of Horace, which is said to be the part of the sky where a king or a dead king could be rejuvenated and continue to rule or live again. An idea that ties in perfectly with Beyonce's current attempt to rejuvenate the king already within Simba. And one of the more iconic shots of the film, Beyonce in the same cowhide and horn ensemble sits on a horse with a long pipe extending from her mouth as she looks directly into the camera.

This is a nod to the Exosa people of South Africa, who used tobacco pipes to communicate with ancestors and ask for protection from bad spirits. This particular shot was actually shown earlier in the film during Simba's anointing ceremony in the physical world, as Beyonce said, one day you will meet yourself back where you started, but stronger. This cowhide scene then seems to be another confirmation that Simba is now strong enough to return back home and confront the past and justices.

Alongside Beyoncé in the cowhide room, we also see Chautiwale, who proceeds to sing the song's first verse. Like Beyonce, Chatea Wale tells Simba and the other young black males to shine like diamonds. He says that they're the remedy, suggesting they're the ones who can bring healing to the ills that plague society. He points out that being a king will require them to be brave and show an even greater amount of love to the people they're leading. Most importantly, Shata Waleh implores Simba and the young black males with the words, Remember who you are. During this verse, we see Shata Wale sitting on the same horse against the cowhide backdrop, just as we saw Beyonce do earlier. If you look closely at the scene, you'll see a woman holding a tall umbrella made of cowhides next to Shata.

This seems to reference the Akhan people of the Guinea Coast. The Akhan developed a variety of umbrellas to provide cover or canopy for their kings and chiefs. Thus, these umbrellas take on a symbolic function signifying kingship. On the horse, which we can think of like a throne, Shata holds up three fingers, as he does throughout the video. This is a symbol of hope and the hand gesture of the Shata movement that has a devoted following in Ghana. Shata described this movement as, quote, something to empower the youth because I believe that even though I'm a musician, I have a whole lot of duties to do in terms of encouraging boys on the street. Some people have a low spirit and I feel

music can empower them. I want to show them more direction in life when it comes to certain things in terms of creating forums, creating workshops, so they understand that it's not only through music that one can make it, unquote. Like Jay-Z and Nipsey Hustle cited in mood forever, Shata is an example of a person who rose from unideal circumstances and now embodies the excellence young black men and women can aspire to emulate. As already continues, we get another iconic scene from the film. Dressed in a boxy, broad-shouldered white jacket with thin, jagged black stripes, Beyonce dances alongside the Blue Man, aka Stephen Poppy Ojo, the 22-year-old Nigerian dancer. Ojo was responsible for teaching Beyonce the assortment of African dance moves we see them

performed together in already, which include the Nigerian Wesi and Zanku Legwork. Ojoto Time magazine, quote, Beyonce was a very good student, paying homage to the originators, paying respect to our culture. Some people might not care, but she was very receptive. She was being respectful the whole time listening, and every move was clean, sharp, crisp, unquote. Beyonce's hair in this scene is done in what are known as Bantu knots, which are small, tightly wound buns. The word Bantu is a blanket term used to describe hundreds of ethnic groups in Southern Africa. According to Naturally Curly Editor Jerylain Hayes, quote,

Bantu knots also are known as Zulu knots because the Zulu people, a Bantu ethnic group, are the originators of the look we love and wear today. This ancestral and cultural tether is striking in its eons old manifestation of togetherness. Bantu knots are a visual reminder of the origins of humanity, which may intrinsically be a key to their charm." Biont. Beyoncé and Blue Man remain in sync in their dance, which seems to confirm that Simba is now fully in sync with his guiding spirits. If you look closely during this dance routine, you'll notice that at one point the

heel of Beyonce's shoe was missing. That's because it broke during filming, but nevertheless, Beyonce, like a queen, continue the routine flawlessly. Come and rest your head, take your crown off Oh, Woke up in the fore and need to take it slow Oh He said I'm moving too fast

Need to take it slow Oh Oh, take it slow Oh, oh Take it slow Oh Trying to take my baby home Oh

Take it slow Oh Beyonce sings Diamonds on my fist Fighting demons Come and rest your head I'll take your crown off Woke up in a foreign

Need to take it slow He said I'm moving too fast Need to take it slow Here, Beyonce seems to be describing a scene that reveals the spiritual battle being fought over Simba's soul. The verse mentions demons who seem to speak to Simba through women like the ones wearing metallic masks in Jaare. These women tempt Simba to remove his crown and the weight of his royal responsibility so that he can lie down with them. After waking up in a foreign car, Simba finally listens to the voice of his father, who had told him to take it slow. Simba thus realizes that his life of fast cars and fast women is taking him away from the people he cares about the most.

As Beyoncé repeatedly sings, take it slow, we see a first-person perspective of someone running through a dark forest. This shot is taken directly from the Lion King scene in which Simba runs after Rafiki on the way to see his reflection and ultimately hear the voice of his father. Beyonce then seems to speak from Simba's perspective as she sings, trying to take my baby home. Here, Beyonce expresses Simba's desire to reunite with Nala and take her back home to the Zulu Village and the Pride lands. Fittingly, as we hear this line, the film cuts to a shot at the blue man standing behind a golden circle along with the woman wearing pink body paint. The blue man and the pink woman hold hands as they bend over backwards to lean on each other. Given that Nala has pink strands of hair during Simba's dream, it seems that this shot represents

how the circle of life is leading Simba and Nala's subconscious selves towards a mature relationship that will require them to go out of their way and carry each other's burdens. By leaning on Nala, Simba displays a subconscious awareness that being king will require him to rely on the strength of black queens. Stop everything, everything you know it. As already transitions into its outro, Chateauale repeatedly sings, Be your own king. Make nobody come rule your world.

These lines seem to establish the idea that, Every young black male is the ruler of his own world, which in this context refers to a person's life, his choices, and actions. The warning, make nobody come rule your world, acknowledges that there will always be people and institutions that want to control the lives and actions of African people and people of African descent. In the narrative of Black is King, Scar is clearly the one who's trying to rule Simba's world. But we've also seen how Scar's underhanded attempts to control.

Simba are a metaphor for both Uncle Sam and European colonizers who have historically tried to control Africans for their own gain. Be Your Own King then is a call for Africans and African Americans to break free from the mental constraints that white European and American culture have placed upon black identity. Fittingly, when shot to Wale sings, Be Your Own King, the film cuts to a shot of black men in royal purple suits. We previously saw these men covering their faces just like their blue subconscious selves. However, now their faces are no longer covered as they jump up and down in slow motion while keeping their bodies straight. This seems to be a reference to the Maasai tribe of Kenya and Tanzania and their traditional jumping dance called Adumu, which are performed

at initiations, rites of passage, and weddings. It's here that the men stand in place and compete to jump the highest while maintaining perfect posture. A former adumu takes place. within a larger 10-day ceremony called Unoto. This rite of passage turns young men into warriors and generally denotes someone's passage from one life stage to another. Seeing the men who once covered their faces now jumping joyfully in a ceremonial dance seems to imply that they've embraced Beyonce and Shata's call

to break free from the mental constraints of white European and American culture and are now embracing their kingship. After the last repetition of the line, Make Nobody Come Rule Your World, the film cuts to a shot of Beyonce wearing a haint blue, Yamoga-inspired dress, and headwrap.

She stands in the middle of a large group of men who are jumping in slow motion while holding African flags that feature a star in the middle, including Ghana, Cameroon, Morocco, and Somalia. The presence of stars on these African flags testify to the idea that Africans are the descendants of kings and queens who live among the stars. within here already's final lines, show them the way you know it.

The use of the way seems to be a reference to the original Lion King's version of the dialogue we heard right before the song already. The way here refers to the path through the dark woods to the water where Simba sees his reflection and ultimately hears the voice of his father, speaking to him from the heavens. fittingly, after already fades out, we hear Mufasa's message to Simba from the 2019 version of the Lion King. As king, I was most proud of one thing. Having you as my son, I never left you. Both in the Lion King and in Black as King,

Mufasa's encouraging message of unconditional acceptance and ongoing support is exactly what Simba needs to hear. At the same time, the visuals for Already have, made it clear that this message is not just for Simba. Rather, it's a message from the African ancestors in the heavens to all black men and boys on the earth, particularly those who have lost their connection to their African forefathers. The pan-African scope of this message is further emphasized by the close-up shot of a flag that resembles the American flag, except the white stars have been replaced with red stars on a black background, and the red and white stripes have been replaced by black, green, and red stripes. These black, green, and red stripes first appeared in the

tri-color pan-African flag that was popularized in the 1920s by the Jamaican-born black nationalist leader, Marcus Garvey, who encouraged African Americans to move back to Africa. Over the years, the black, green, and red color scheme has been applied to the American flag in various combinations. The specific combination that we see in black as king is known as the Islander flag. This flag was designed by Carl Sharif and was meant to highlight the fact that African traditions in the Western Hemisphere are best preserved in the Caribbean Islands in South America. It's here that Cuban Santa Ria, Haitian voodoo, Brazilian chandomble, and other Ifah traditions are still practiced in the diaspora. Already then closes with an iconic portrait of a group of black men looking directly into the camera. Our attention is drawn most to the man in the center who's wearing a gold duress.

a kind of modern-day crown, invoking the idea that kingship, pride, and nobility is not exclusive to those informal positions of power and authority. Simba, and by extension, Beyonce's viewing audience, is encouraged to remember who they are by taking pride in their heritage, history, and identity. But missing from this portrait is the presence of women. And as we noted in our discussion of the women in the Crescent Moon bodysuits and the chest duality motifs in Mood Forever, A king will remain lost and vulnerable unless he surrounds himself with powerful queens

who can shine light into the dark memories of his past. We'll see how black women guides Simba like the sun and moon next time on dissect. Today's episode was written by Maggie Lacey, Titi Shodia, Femi Olutade, and me. Additional research by Gail Acosta, audio editing by Eric Bass and me, song recreations by Andrew Ratwood, theme music by bureaucratic. be sure to follow us on social media at dissect podcast and check out our limited merch for this series on our website dissectpodcast.com. All right, thanks everyone. Talk to you next time.