Two observations:
1) If this wasn't a 'black' remake before, it most definitely is now.
2) I'm sure Disney just drove off ≥20% of its potential fan base for this particular movie with this casting consideration.
I have no real qualms with this, though I'm far from being an actual Beyoncé fan and I'd have gone with someone else as my first choice, if only because this feels a little like a random grab for star power more than anything else. On the other hand, having her and Childish Gambino playing alongside each other does make sense if this means that we'll get them dueting on "Can You Feel the love Tonight".
I'm actually kinda glad they didn't pick Lupita Nyong'o, only because she's kinda been typecast as Hollywood's go-to African female lead. I'd actually carry over Gabrielle Union from
The Lion Guard's version of Nala, or have Laura Williams and/or Niketa Calame come back to reprise their roles from the original movie now that they're both adults. (They were cub Nala's singing and speaking voices, respectively.) It would've been a nice homage to the original casting and a little fan service/easter egg to anyone familiar with the 1994 cast.