Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Dissect' Podcast Explores the Reclamation of Black Culture in Beyonc's Black is King'

27/01/2021

In April 2020, Cole Cuchna and Dr. Titi Shodiya (Dope Labs) came together to examine Beyonc 's 2016 masterpiece Lemonade as the hosts of the Spotify Exclusive podcast Dissect. This week, the pair returns to the podcast for a surprise seven-episode miniseries that celebrates Beyonc and commemorates her prolific summer 2020 project, Black Is King.

In this series, Cole and Titi dive into an in-depth academic exploration of the lyrical metaphors, historical anecdotes, and nods to African spirituality embedded all throughout the project-as well as the verbal and visual commentary on the reclamation of Black culture in Black Is King. For the Record spoke to Dissect host Cole Cuchna on the creation and impact of the surprise series.

Why did you want to dissect Black Is King? Having learned so much from our analysis of Beyonc 's Lemonade for Season 6, I think we were all very eager to unpack Black Is King for that same reason: education. Through the many symbols, themes, and lyrics of the film, you really get a substantial history lesson paired with a practical life philosophy. We originally planned to do just one bonus episode, but it ended up being seven episodes, just because there was SO much to discover in the film. It really is a work of art.

Given the landscape of 2020, can you elaborate on Black Is King's impact? For me, it provides important historical context to issues still affecting the world today and puts them into a narrative form that has incredible emotional impact. Stories and music are two of the most transformative forms to communicate and to inspire human beings to act. In an ugly time in our history, Black Is King was a refreshing presentation of the beauty, glory, and rich history of Africa-the place every human being can trace their lineage back to. It's that sense of global and humanitarian unity that is desperately needed right now.

How long did it take to create this season, from listening to dissecting the lyrics to writing the script and recording? We began working on the series the moment Black Is King was released on July 31, 2020, and we worked on it all the way up until the week of releasing our series. So almost six months. We had a great team on this, including writers Maggie Lacy and Femi Olutade. We were also able to speak directly to the film's creatives, including co-director Kwasi Fordjour, stylist Zerina Akers, and music director Derek Dixie. That's a first for Dissect, and they were able to lend incredible insight to the themes and process behind making the film.

What were some of the images, scenes, or songs that resonated with you most that you were excited to dissect? For me, it's the entire last act of the film, because that's when many of the symbols and images from the beginning of the film show up again, creating this full-circle effect and tying directly into the circle of life theme that centers the film. Just the thought and execution of that kind of structuring shows how much attention to detail was given to this project, where seemingly everything we see and hear has an intended meaning, message, or purpose.

What was something you learned through dissecting Black Is King that surprised you or gave you an ah-ha! moment? I think the biggest ah-ha moment comes when we see the basket floating down the Nile river in the song Otherside. It falls down a waterfall, and then the film cuts to adult Simba falling underwater. It's there, underwater, that we see Simba grab the king chess piece that he lost earlier in the film as a child-symbolizing that he has rediscovered the kingship inside him from birth. That fact that this occurs underwater implies that this is a kind of baptism, a rebirth, which is the first thing that we saw in the film's opening scene. So it comes full circle. It's also during this moment that Beyonc says the word Bigger, which is the first song we heard in the film, too. The layers! The connections! Ah!!

Black Is King is similar to Lemonade with the visual component. Did this have an impact on breaking down the music? Yeah, I would say we actually spend more time dissecting the visuals in this series than the music. It's really brilliant the way the music and visuals interact to tell the story. That's what we tried to focus on most: how Beyonc and her team were really creating a new storytelling medium where we see this unique interaction between not only the music and visuals, but also the ensembles, dances, set pieces, and colors. Everything contributes to the storytelling and theme. It's really spectacular.

Stream the Dissect special series Black Is King below.
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2021-01-27/dissect-podcast-explores-the-r...
See more stories from spotify

Europe Stories

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

28/04/2024

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...

28/03/2024

The 4K cameras giving audiences an astronaut's view of Earth

TVBEurope meets Charles Black, founder and CEO of Sen, which has sent a payload of 4K cameras to the ISS to livestream images of Earth to audiences around the w...

28/03/2024

Thales speeds up its development of AI for defence

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales, Europe's leading high-tech company in the civil and defence fields, has announced the creation of cortAIx, which bri...

27/03/2024

UKTV sets up second series of Dream Car Fixers for Yesterday and UKTV Play

Wednesday 27 March 2024 - UKTV has commissioned a second series of Dream Car Fixers (6x60) for leading factual channel Yesterday and free streaming service UKTV...

27/03/2024

Paving the Way' for Spotify's NextGen Scholarship Recipients

Spotify is committed to amplifying the voices of underrepresented groups, and that starts with empowering the creators who will shape our industry's future....

27/03/2024

I knew there were cameras, lighting, some buttons and microphones involved': How Crew Room Academy is inspiring the next generation

TVBEurope hears from some of the students who took part in Crew Room Academys Sc...

27/03/2024

Adobe reveals Gen AI solutions for content supply chain

Elsewhere, Adobe revealed a new feature in Adobe Firefly, which uses the companys generative AI to easily apply the structure of an existing image to newly gene...

27/03/2024

Best of Show Awards for 2024 NAB Show entries close soon

The awards, from industry-leading brands of Future plc, provide a great opportunity for companies to stand out at one the most attended shows in the industry B...

27/03/2024

Meet the director of IT and operations

By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 27, 2024 Updated: March 28, 2024 CueScript's director of IT and operations, Meghan Tyler, tells TVBEurope about h...

27/03/2024

2023 Annual Report Publication

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, and Phoenix (AZ), USA, March 27 2024 - The Kudelski Group has published its 2023...

27/03/2024

Publication of Annual Report 2023

Annual Report 2023...

27/03/2024

ALOFT AeroArchitects equips private Boeing Business Jet aircraft with Eutelsat OneWeb's LEO satellite connectivity service

Photo credit: ALOFT AeroArchitects Press release - 27 March 2024 12:27 ALOFT...

27/03/2024

Dalet Showcases AI-Enabled Production, Automation and Monetization at NAB 2024

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced its 2024 NAB showcase (booth #W1713). Attendees can experience fi...

27/03/2024

Cinegy Multiviewer 24.2 - Scales of Efficiency

SL6031, NAB Show, Las Vegas, 14-17 April 2024: Cinegy, the premier provider of software defined television technology for digital video capture, processing, ass...

27/03/2024

PERCEVAL: Thales and partners reshape the future of airline pilot training

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales has formed a consortium with ENAC, lENS Paris-Saclay, Simaero, AviaSim and Corsair to develop a tooled methodology for ev...

27/03/2024

Advocacy in Action: Creating a future where public service media thrive

Advocacy in Action: Creating a future where public service media thrive...

27/03/2024

EBU calls on MEP candidates to Do the next right thing for media and democracy!'

EBU calls on MEP candidates to Do the next right thing for media and democracy!...

27/03/2024

The media industry gave away the keys to the kingdom once - that shouldn't happen again

The media industry gave away the keys to the kingdom once - that shouldn't h...

26/03/2024

Sube la temperatura con las canciones del verano 2024 en Argentina y Brasil

De diciembre a marzo, cuando los ciudadanos del hemisferio sur disfrutan del verano, la m sica se convierte en una poderosa representaci n de las culturas y cos...

26/03/2024

Aumente o Som com as Msicas do Vero de 2024 da Argentina e do Brasil

De dezembro a mar o, medida que as pessoas em todo o Hemisf rio Sul aproveitam o ver o, a m sica surge frequentemente como uma representa o poderosa das cult...

26/03/2024

Turn Up the Heat With Argentina's and Brazil's 2024 Songs of Summer

From December to March, as people across the Southern Hemisphere soak up the summer, music often emerges as a powerful representation of a region's cultures...

26/03/2024

A Collaboration With Panavision: Pedro Luque, SCU

Cinematographer Pedro Luque, SCU's credits include the features Body Cam, Antebellum and director J.A. Bayona's Best International Feature Oscar-nominat...

26/03/2024

China's Leading Mobile Operators First To Commercially Launch New Fraud Reducing Password Service, After Receiving GSMA Open Gateway Certification

GSMA welcomes CITIC Telecom, Huawei and ZTE as Channel Partners 26 March 2024, Beijing: China's three leading mobile operators - China Mobile, China Telec...

26/03/2024

China's 5G market is set to add almost $260 billion to the Chinese economy in 2030 with connections set to top 1 billion this year

At the Post-MWC Sharing Event in Beijing, leaders from the GSMA contextualised t...

26/03/2024

Crown Works Studios moves forward following council approval

The studios are expected to be one of the largest in Europe, with 20 premium sound stages suitable for major feature film and high-end TV (HETV) productions By...

26/03/2024

The Slovak democracy must not be dismantled in silence

The Slovak democracy must not be dismantled in silence...

26/03/2024

VEON announces sale of stake in Beeline Kyrgyzstan, increasing the focus on its large markets

26 Mar 2024 VEON announces sale of stake in Beeline Kyrgyzstan, increasing the ...

26/03/2024

embedded world 2024: Rohde & Schwarz presents its cutting-edge test solutions for embedded systems

embedded world 2024: Rohde & Schwarz presents its cutting-edge test solutions fo...

26/03/2024

Riedel and TSL Provide Cost-Effective, High-Quality Video Routing and Control for Leading Financial Corporation

Wuppertal March 26, 2024 Riedel and TSL Provide Cost-Effective, High-Quality V...

26/03/2024

IBM Announces EMEA Geography Winners of the 2024 IBM Partner Plus Awards

London, UK, March 26, 2024 Today, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced the EMEA geography winners of the 2024 IBM Partner Plus Awards, which celebrate IBM partners who a...

26/03/2024

Eutelsat OneWeb services activated for enterprise and maritime in Australia and New Zealand through Sat One partnership

Photo credit: GETTY IMAGES Press release - 26 March 2024 11:29 Eutelsat OneW...

26/03/2024

2024-03-26

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) online from June 10 through 14, 2024. Developers and ...

25/03/2024

Spotify Tests Video-Based Learning Courses in the UK

Today we're launching a test for video-based courses on Spotify in the U.K. We've partnered with educational tech companies including BBC Maestro, PLAYv...

25/03/2024

NEP Australia expands IP and remote production with Calrec Argo

NEP Australia expands its IP and remote production capabilities with first install of Calrec Argo consoles NEP Australia, a division of NEP Group and a prominen...

25/03/2024

NAB 2024 Preview | Why attend NAB 24?

NAB 2024 Preview | April 14 -17 | Booth C6307 | Las Vegas Convention Center We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at the 2024 NAB ...

25/03/2024

Blackbird adds indexing and AI auto sequencing to video editing platform

Twelve Labs AI will enable editors to locate specific storytelling moments within their video content using natural language, said the companies By Jenny Pries...

25/03/2024

Meet the director of strategic marketing

By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 25, 2024 Updated: March 26, 2024 Bruno Fran on, director of strategic marketing at Backlight, talks to TVBEurope abou...

25/03/2024

With the EMFA, the EU has a new toolbox to prevent governments from taking over the media

With the EMFA, the EU has a new toolbox to prevent governments from taking over ...

22/03/2024

SGL Carbon achieves annual targets for 2023 and invests more in growth markets

In fiscal year 2023, SGL Carbon achieved the sales and earnings targets set at the beginning of the year despite the drop in demand from the important wind mark...

22/03/2024

Grass Valley secures $220 million in strategic refinancing

The company said it intends to accelerate innovation across its entire portfolio, most notably in the AMPP ecosystem following the refinancing By Jenny Priestl...

22/03/2024

RT kicks off Guinness Women's Six Nations coverage with France v Ireland

Watch all the games live across RT and Virgin Media Television from Saturday 23rd March All Ireland games live on RT Radio The Guinness Women's Six Nat...

22/03/2024

Telenor releases its Annual report for 2023

1 minute read Share alt=Alternative descriptive text class=lazyload main main-lazyloaded responsive-image data-v-1a5ebb10> Our digital lives are becomi...

21/03/2024

Spotify Celebrates Ramadan With Listening Trends From Around the World

March marks the beginning of Ramadan, a cherished cultural event celebrated by Muslims worldwide. As families and communities come together to observe, contempl...

21/03/2024

Adhoc notification: SGL Carbon: CEO Dr. Torsten Derr will not extend his contract

(10:15 AM) Wiesbaden, March 21, 2024. The CEO of SGL Carbon SE, Dr. Torsten Derr...

21/03/2024

SGL Carbon CEO Dr. Torsten Derr will not extend his contract

The CEO of SGL Carbon SE, Dr. Torsten Derr, informed the Chairman of the Supervisory Board today that he will not extend his contract, which expires on May 31, ...

21/03/2024

Women Making History, Part 4

In Part 4 of Panavision's Women Making History interview series, the conversation turns toward career highlights. Prompted by Panavision President and CEO K...

21/03/2024

Amrica Mvil leads the way to High-Quality Video Streaming in LATAM with Broadpeak

March 21, 2024 -- Am rica M vil leads the way to High-Quality Video Streamin...