Black Is King

Black Is King (2020) is Beyoncé's visual album, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Forget a standard movie — this is 85 minutes of interwoven music videos built around her record The Gift, shot by eight directors with Beyoncé herself leading them.

Across the songs runs the tale of a young African prince who loses his home, wanders, strays, and slowly finds his way back to himself and his lineage. The arc borrows its bones from The Lion King but reshapes them into a statement about Black identity and what passes from one generation to the next. On screen you'll spot Lupita Nyong'o, Naomi Campbell, Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé's daughter Blue Ivy, Jay-Z, and a host of African artists like Yemi Alade and Shatta Wale.

What carries it is the imagery: lavish costumes, painted bodies, deserts and skylines, choreography that fuses African tradition with pop spectacle. The project took home a Grammy for Best Music Film. It's for anyone who likes a music video that argues a point instead of just filling the frame. Stream Black Is King (2020) online on iFILM.