Brown Skin Girl
by Beyoncé (featuring Wizkid)

Album: The Lion King: The Gift (2019)
Charted: 42 76
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Beyoncé recorded this celebration of "pretty dark skin" for The Lion King: The Gift. Produced and curated by the Texan songstress, the record features a collection of songs inspired by The Lion King movie.
  • This song finds Beyoncé sending a message of encouragement to young and insecure brown-skinned girls.

    Brown skin girl
    Your skin just like pearls
    The best thing in the world
    Never trade you for anybody else


    The Leader of the Pride is saying that brown-skinned girls should be proud of their skin and embrace it.
  • Beyoncé is joined on the song by:

    Her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who has linked up with her mom on several of her previous songs. Beyoncé first managed to get a guest performance from her little girl on "Blue," where the toddler's giggles can be heard. Blue Ivy also cameos at the end of "Daddy Lessons" and appears in the music video for her mom's song "Formation." In addition, she has featured on several tracks recorded by her father, Jay-Z, as well as The Carters' cut "Boss."

    Saint Jhn (birth name: Carlos St. John) is a rapper and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. Jhn has writing credits on songs for Kiesza ("Bad Thing," "Sound Of A Woman") and Usher ("Crash" and "Rivals").

    Nigerian Afrobeats singer-songwriter Wizkid, who is best known for his vocal contribution to Drake's "One Dance."
  • Blue Ivy Carter got her first writing credit for her contribution to this track.
  • The song inspired the #BrownSkinGirlChallenge, challenging women of color to embrace their dark skin by sharing images of themselves online. Following the track's release, thousands of users shared their own pictures of empowerment from their skin color and heritage.
  • "Brown Skin Girl" won The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award at the 2019 BET Soul Train Awards. As one of the credited writers, the 7-year-old Blue Ivy Carter picked up at her first songwriting gong.
  • "Brown Skin Girl" was the most-streamed female song of 2019 on Apple Music in Sub-Saharan Africa. (In case you're wondering, Burna Boy's "On The Low" was the most-streamed song overall).
  • Beyoncé dropped a video for "Brown Skin Girl" following the release of Black Is King, a film made using the songs from The Lion King: The Gift. The visual features Kelly Rowland, Naomi Campbell, Blue Ivy and actress Lupita Nyong'o. "It was so important to me in 'Brown Skin Girl' that we represented all different shades of brown," Beyoncé said on Good Morning America regarding the clip. "We wanted every character to be shot in a regal light... It was important that we are all in this together and we're all celebrating each other."

    Bey directed the video with Jenn Nkiru, who also worked on the "Apes--t" video for The Carters.
  • This won for Best Music Video at the Grammy Awards in 2021. Beyoncé collected three more awards that night, including Best R&B Performance for "Black Parade," to push her career total to 28, surpassing Alison Krauss for most wins by a female.
  • Beyoncé performed "Brown Skin Girl" for the first time at a private concert celebrating the grand opening of a luxury hotel in Dubai, for which she was reportedly paid $24 million. Blue Ivy, 11 years old at the time, joined her on the song.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Colbie Caillat

Colbie CaillatSongwriter Interviews

Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.

Janet Jackson

Janet JacksonFact or Fiction

Was Janet secretly married at 18? Did she gain 60 pounds for a movie role that went to Mariah Carey? See what you know about Ms. Jackson.

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."

Women Who Rock

Women Who RockSong Writing

Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.