Kenyan Artists Accuse Beyonce of Dismissing them in Her New Lion King Album "The Gift"
American singer and songwriter is being accused by a Kenyan artist of dismissing Kenyan musicians in her Lion King album 'The Gift'.
John Katana of the legendary band Them Mushrooms, the band behind Lion King’s Hakuna Matata song, says Beyonce included sounds from various American and African artists, but those from Kenya were excluded.
"No, no one called us. We just read about it in the media, just like everyone else. There's been a big debate on social media about that: Kenya missing out on The Lion King,” Katana told TMZ.
"The creatives in the country are complaining that Kenyan acts, if not Them Mushrooms, should have been on Beyoncé's recording, you know? Because [hakuna matata] was made popular from Kenya by our band".
"The creatives in the country are complaining that Kenyan acts, if not Them Mushrooms, should have been on Beyoncé's recording, you know? Because [hakuna matata] was made popular from Kenya by our band.. So, everybody feels that Kenya should have had a piece of the pie, but that's not the case,” adds Katana.
The Gift features African artists such as Nigeria’s WizKid, Yemi Alade, Burma Boy, and Tiwa Savage. Also featured are Salatiel from Cameroon, Shatta Wale of Ghana, and Busiswa of South Africa.
Comments (5)
Why can't Kenyans create their own movie & have all the cast made up of their own? We can have Nonini & Juacali as musicians & animations can be done by Passaris, Kiunjuri,Waititu,Ngang'a(neno) e.t.c instead of complaining all the time.
The only way to get a head or be less dependent on someone else is to make or do your own thing.To me if someone chooses to use Hakuna Matata, is an honor to the creator of that piece.Sure if tha piece helps generate cash,then the originator certainly deserves something. Lets not ride on someone's gravy train...But you cannot demand your creation to be used in some setup,movie,or documentary Its upto the script writer to see how it fits in his or her script.
In my opinion, we have milked HAKUNA MATATA enough.We did not popularize it.And its not all that original.
Kenyans like complaining all the time. It is not for Beyonce to decide what sounds to include. She follows the feedback from her audience. If they don't like Katana's sounds, he cannot force himself on them.
@Andrew, you have spoken. It's time for Kenyan's, to have their own. Kenyan's, stop looking from without for solutions. Solutions to all your problems are within.
I still love the original Lion King Better😏