Beyoncé Accused of Capitalism and Appropriating African Culture Following ‘Black Is King’ Announcement

Beyoncé’s ‘Black Is King’ was filmed as a companion piece to her ‘The Gift’ album for Disney’s ‘The Lion King,’ but some people feel that the star is appropriating “African culture.”

via Ace Showbiz:

“She needs to read the room,” one person, who objects to the video, reacted in an online forum. “Focus on the s**t that’s going on in the country she was born in, romanticizing Africa isn’t what we need right now girl.” Another agreed, “Seriously, I’m glad people have caught on to this because it has always bothered me how people appropriate ‘African cultures’.”

Believing that the 38-year-old singer is wrong, a third person commented, “I’ve been saying all this will eventually backfire on her. It’s clear she’s out here pandering and riding a wave. People would eventually catch on. Its becoming performative at this point.” Another echoed the sentiment, “It’s a bad look, especially when you want to bite off the culture.”

Someone else doubted that Beyonce’s support of African people and African culture is genuine, noting, “Claim to love Africa but they stay spending the summer in Europe etc… From Senegal to the Seychelles plenty of beautiful places to visit. But since white people prefer the Hamptons, the South of France and Capri that’s where you will mostly find the Carters.”

There were a few, however, who still defended Bey. “People are so sensitive,” one person said of the critics. “This is one of the rare moments where africa is being shown in a positive light that’s not just egypt or morocco. Beyonce was clearly showing the variety of african cultures not homogenizing them! They shouldn’t accuse her of being ignorant just because they cant tell the difference.”

Another doesn’t see anything wrong with using African culture to sell music. “Honestly, I do not know why people are writing think pieces about this. Beyonce is just trying to sell her music that’s it,” the said person argued. “I see it for what it is a promotional and marketing tactic to push her music, just like Childish Gambino [a.k.a. Donald Glover] did with Guava Island.”

We’ve seen valid points on both sides of this argument — what do you think?