| "Bigger" | |
|---|---|
| Song byBeyoncé | |
| from the albumThe Lion King: The Gift | |
| Released | July 19, 2019 |
| Studio | NRG Recording Studios (Los Angeles, CA)[1] |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:46 |
| Label | |
| Songwriters | |
| Producers |
|
"Bigger" (stylized in uppercase)[2] is a song by American singerBeyoncé from the 2019 albumThe Lion King: The Gift[3] and featured in the 2020 filmBlack Is King.
The song was penned at a writing camp at Beyoncé's studio and was created due to a bond with British singer-songwriterRaye and US songwriterStacy Barthe. Raye toldBBC Newsbeat: "I remember we were both in a really dark, sad place and we wanted to create something to empower ourselves. We spent maybe two or three hours on it. It was 3 a.m. and I remember Beyoncé's team coming in and hearing what we'd created so far and just completely freaked out. It was incredible."[4] Raye also toldOfficial Charts: "I wrote a lot of songs - I put a shift in. But [Beyoncé] fell in love with Bigger."[5] Beyoncé informed Raye that "Bigger" would be the first song on the album at the 2019The Lion King European premiere, and her reaction, as caught on video, went viral.[6] Raye tweeted "Beyoncé told me I’ve written Track 1 on the new album ... it’s called Bigger . I can’t I can’t."[7]
"Bigger" is preceded by "Balance", aMufasa interlude voiced byJames Earl Jones, which samples his "Circle of Life" speech from the 2019 film. The two trackssegue into each other.Dazed described this shift as "tying in nicely with the track’s lyrics."[8] According toThe Atlantic, "Bigger" has an overarching theme of "royal succession" as well as an undercurrent exploration of the "ecological andexistential" aspects of the "Circle of Life."[9] Matzav Review described "Bigger" as an "ode to the natural riches of theAfrican continent" whilst also serving as a tribute to Beyoncé's children, showing them the paraphrased "power of collective knowledge."[10]
A music video was released on July 19, 2019, as the second part of an extended edition of the music video from "Spirit", the lead single from the album.
A second music video was released inBlack Is King. It features snippets of the original video with new footage filmed specifically for the movie.
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USHot R&B Songs (Billboard)[11] | 19 |
| USR&B Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[12] | 22 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[13] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Films |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theatre | |||||||||||
| Television series | |||||||||||
| Characters | |||||||||||
| Music |
| ||||||||||
| Video games |
| ||||||||||
| Attractions | |||||||||||
| Other media | |||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||
