FALSE! Beyoncé has not endorsed Ibrahim Traoré in her song
By: Karen Dodoo Antwi
Claim: A music video posted on TikTok claims multi-Grammy Award winner Beyoncé has endorsed Burkina Faso’s military leader, Ibrahim Traoré.
Verdict: False! DUBAWA’s investigation reveals that the video is a manipulated mashup of old Beyoncé footage and pre-existing clips of Traoré. The audio was also confirmed to be AI-generated.
Full Text
In recent weeks, social media platforms have been flooded with alleged music videos by popular American artists promoting Burkina Faso’s military leader, Ibrahim Traoré. These videos typically portray the artists as glorifying Traoré’s leadership and presenting him as a pan-African hero, following his 2022 coup.
Clips featuring artists such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Akon, Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, and Chris Brown have gone viral on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter).
One such video was shared on TikTok by a user named fisco119. The 3-minute, 27-second clip features a mashup of Beyoncé’s performance merged with footage of Ibrahim Traoré. The alleged music video, attributed to the multi-Grammy award-winning singer, appears to offer a prayer for Traoré, with lyrics such as:
“Through the valley, through the storm.
Raise him strong, keep him warm.
He’s a voice for the weak and a shield for the land.
Hold him, Lord, in your mighty hand.”
As of May 18, 2025, the post, originally made on May 10, had garnered 12,400 likes, 850 comments, and 1,440 shares.
Various social media accounts, including verified ones and others tied to coordinated disinformation networks, have promoted pro-Traoré content. They often use AI-generated clips, repurposed videos, and music mashups to spread their message and increase reach.
A recent fact-check by DUBAWA also debunked a similar claim, suggesting that popular Nigerian singer Rema composed a song for Traoré, which was proven false.
Given the likelihood that fisco119’s post was one such repurposed video with the potential to mislead, DUBAWA launched an investigation.
Verification
DUBAWA extracted keyframes from the video using CapCut and conducted a reverse image search with Google Lens.
The search using the first keyframe led to a Facebook post by MTV EMA. The post was an excerpt from Beyoncé’s live performance of “If I Were a Boy” at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Although the video posted by fisco119 was confirmed to be a repurposed clip, DUBAWA conducted additional checks to identify the source of the audio.
If Beyoncé had indeed released a song in support of Ibrahim Traoré, it would likely have been announced on her official website or by credible news outlets, as is customary with her releases.
DUBAWA searched using keywords such as “Beyoncé song for Ibrahim Traoré.” This led to several results, with a dominant one being a similar post on YouTube by a channel named Ai Starrz, published on May 5.
The bio of Ai Starrz reads:
“We specialise in creating unique, AI-generated music across a variety of genres, including hip-hop, pop, and electronic beats.”
DUBAWA also discovered similar tracks by artists such as Justin Bieber, R. Kelly, and P. Diddy—all AI-generated by Ai Starrz and promoting Ibrahim Traoré.
Conclusion
The TikTok video claiming that Beyoncé released a song endorsing Ibrahim Traoré is false. DUBAWA’s investigation reveals the video is a manipulated mashup of Beyoncé’s 2008 live performance and pre-existing footage of Traoré. The audio was confirmed to be AI-generated by Ai Starrz, a YouTube channel known for producing synthetic music and videos.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2025 Fellowship partnership with Bullet TV .
