‘Making The Gift’ airs Monday
Beyoncé has announced Making The Gift, a television special that takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the Lion King-inspired album she released in July.
The hour-long documentary, set to air on ABC on Monday (September 16), will take a look at “Beyoncé’s creative process” as she curated ‘The Lion King: The Gift’, the network said in a press statement. It will include footage of the recording sessions, interview clips and more.
Beyoncé wrote, produced and co-directed the documentary with frequent collaborator Ed Burke, who also worked on the singer’s Netflix film Homecoming. Check out the trailer for Making The Gift below:
‘The Lion King: The Gift’ was executive-produced by Beyoncé and arrived alongside the release of Disney’s photorealistic remake of the 1994 animated classic, The Lion King. The singer described the 27-track album as “a love letter to Africa”. It features contributions from Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Tierra Whack, Childish Gambino, Shatta Wale and Major Lazer, among others.
“I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa, and not just use some of the sounds and did my interpretation of it,” Beyoncé explained in an earlier interview with ABC. The pop star also called the album an “authentic” showcase of the continent’s sounds mixed with “some of the producers from America”.
In a three-star review of the record, NME’s Dhruva Balram called Beyoncé’s ‘The Gift’ “a demonstration of her taste and star-studded power”. “In giving the spotlight to lesser-known artists, ceding space, she’s introduced a slew of emerging talent to her global audience while making an album worthy of repeated listens,” Balram added.
Following the release of the album, Bey released an extended music video for the songs ‘Spirit’ and ‘Bigger’. Both visuals featured a special appearance from her daughter Blue Ivy Carter.
