Queen Bey first announced the project last week revealing numerous African pop and rap stars on the album scheduled for release on Friday, July 19.
Nigerian pop stars Tiwa Savage, Mr Eazi, Tekno, Yemi Alade, Burna Boy and Wizkid appear on the album as well as other African artists including Ghana’s Shatta Wale, Cameroonian artist Salatiel and South Africa’s Busiswa and Moonchild Sanelly.
But Kenya, which served as a foundation for the Lion King remake, was conspicuously denied representation on the album as no artiste from East Africa was featured.
Kenyan star Victoria Kimani, who is not happy about the development, described the blatant sidelining as “depressing” on social media despite the much-talked-about album celebrating Africa.
Victoria Kimani tweeted: “As much as we celebrate with our fellow Africans …. The obvious exclusion of Kenyans / East Africans on this Soundtrack is Depressing…. The movie was based on KENYA”.
Her comment has sparked a huge conversation on social media as many disagreed with Victoria while a small sect described her complaint “baseless”.