Beyonce Under Fire for Fela Tribute Photos in L’Officiel Paris

Pop diva Beyonce graces the pages of French publication L’Officiel Paris’ March issue, and the star is under fire for a photo paying tribute to the Nigerian pioneer of Afrobeat music—and subject of recent Broadway musical Fela!—Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. In the controversial photo, Beyonce wears an African-inspired dress designed by her mother, with the singer's skin artificially darkened and painted with a tribal design.

Beyonce’s connection to the story of Fela Kuti began well before this photo shoot: Her husband, rap mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, was a co-producer of Fela! on Broadway, along with Hollywood couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. The show shuttered at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in January 2011 and went on to a sold out run at London’s National Theatre with original star Sahr Nguajah reprising the title role. The show uses Kuti’s pioneering music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), in a hybrid of concert, dance and musical theater, to explore his controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician.

The photo tribute has raised the hackles of some media world personalities, including Jezebel.com blogger Dodai Stewart. "It's one thing to feel moved by Fela Kuti,” Stewart writes, “and quite another to treat blackness as a fashion accessory, like a pair of glittery heels you put on because it looks cool."  In a statement, the publication described the photo as "a return to [Beyonce’s] African roots, as you can see on the picture, on which her face was voluntarily darkened,” according New York's Daily News.

While her choice to don blackface in tribute to this legend of African music continues to stir up controversy, Beyonce herself has so far remained mum on the subject.