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Beyonce is returning with another visual album that celebrates blackness, and this time she's
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taking it all the way back to the motherland. The visual album Black is King is scheduled to
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be released at the end of July. Before you watch the visual album, check out these five moments
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Beyonce took inspiration from African cultures. Welcome to The Five, where we share five interesting
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things in black culture and society in every episode. Don't forget to subscribe and hit that
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bell so you can get notified when we release new videos. Ocean at the 2017 Grammy Awards
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Ocean is a very important deity in the Yoruba religion in West Africa
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She is the deity of the river and freshwater, luxury and pleasure, sexuality and fertility
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and beauty in love. At her 2017 Grammy performance Beyonce paid a tribute to O draped in golden yellow and surrounded by femininity and motherhood Oshun inspiration shows up also in Beyonce Lemonade specifically the video for Hold Up
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Tofu Tofu Dance Group from Run the World The Tofu Tofu Dance Group is known for their quick and mesmerizing footwork
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Beyonce was so intrigued by the Tofu Tofu dancers from Mozambique and their special dance
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her team searched for them for four months and flew them out for her music video for Run the World
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Speaking of why she wanted to work with the amazing dancers Beyonce said there is nothing
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that can stop them from dancing. I love to surround myself with that type of energy
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That's the reason why you perform. African face and body paint in lemonade Beyonce worked with Nigerian artist Laolu Sembanjo extensively for the tribal body art that was used in various videos from lemonade Laolu told Essence that
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Beyonce specifically picked him to work on lemonade. Speaking on his work, Laolu said
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I call it the sacred art of the Ori. I sit down with my knees on the canvas and I try to interpret
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the essence. Your Ori is pretty much your importance. Face and body paint is of course
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practiced all over Africa in various different cultures. Cynicalese movie artwork for On The Run 2 tour announcement
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Gibril Diop Mambate's 1973 film Toki Boki tells the story of Mori and Antha, two lovers who plot
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to escape Dakar for Paris and face a series of setbacks. This movie is considered one of
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the most important films of Senegal and Africa at large and placed at number 52 in Empire
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Magazine 100 Best Films of World Cinema in 2010 Jay Z and Beyonce took inspiration from the movie for their On the Run 2 tour announcement photos back in 2018
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Using African Designers for Various Looks and Projects Beyonce is known for working with designers from different African countries
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Some of the designers she has worked with or have supported include Ivarian fashion designer Loza Ma Limbo, Senegalese designer Sally Rambi Kane, and South African Max Host by La Duma
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On top of that, Beyonce is constantly rocking African-inspired outfits. There is no denying different African cultures have been a huge influence in Beyonce's fashion, music, and general aesthetic
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That's it for this episode of The Five. We'll be back with another episode on Black culture and history
