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All tracks written and produced by Alex "Rex Orange County" O'Connor, except where noted.

Black Panther: The Album

Black Panther: The Album is the soundtrack album to 2018 American superhero film Black Panther, curated by Kendrick Lamar. It was by Interscope Records on February 9, 2018, to large sales, including the top position on the Billboard 200 chart. It was praised by many as a milestone for film soundtracks due to its ideas and lyrics, but it was considered by some to be not as strong as his solo work.

Lamar and Coogler had previously discussed collaborating and the musician agreed to produce several songs for the film after seeing an early version of it. Wanting to match the film in terms of addressing important themes, Lamar decided to produce a full curated soundtrack album rather than just the few songs requested by Coogler. Because of the film's set release schedule, Lamar had less time to work on the album than he usually would. He began work with producer Sounwave while on tour, before completing the individual songs in collaboration with many different artists. One of these collaborators was Göransson, who worked on one of the songs and included elements from the album in the score. Coogler felt the album became its own piece of art rather than just a tie-in to the film.

Background

Ryan Coogler signed on to direct the film Black Panther for Marvel Studios in January 2016.^[2] He had previously met with musician Kendrick Lamar and Anthony Tiffith of Top Dawg Entertainment to discuss each other's work and the potential for them to collaborate on a project. Coogler wanted Black Panther to include some original songs from Lamar, an idea that Marvel supported, and approached the musician with footage from the film after Lamar had completed work on his album DAMN.^[3] Lamar and producer Sounwave were "drawn in by the opening scene and the deep message this movie told". They wanted to match the film's "energy and raw emotions", but felt this would be difficult with the few songs Coogler requested and instead decided to create a full album.^[4] The soundtrack features songs that are heard in the film as well as others that are inspired by it.^[3]

Development

Coogler's thoughts on the soundtrack album were inspired by those created as tie-ins for 1990s films, where "artists would take themes [from the film] and make music inspired by the themes". Coogler's goal for the film was to explore "what it means to be African",^[5] and he felt that Lamar's artistic themes aligned with this goal.^[6] Sounwave praised Marvel for giving Top Dawg Entertainment creative control over the album and for Coogler's initial decision to combine the Black Panther character with Lamar's music. He said that the film is set in the modern day rather than the time the character was first introduced to comics, and "we want the whole soundtrack to sound like that too. I think it was a perfect marriage".^[3] Some of the specific moments where the final songs on the album crossover with the film include the album's eponymous track, which includes African drums and Lamar singing about the weight of being king; and the song "I Am", which features verses sung in the Zulu language.^[5]

Sounwave explained that the album was different from the work he and Lamar usually did given they were following the story line of the film rather than creating their own. He said this allowed them to "tap into elements we normally wouldn't do". There was also a strict time limit to how long they could work on the album given the film's set release schedule,^[4] and so they began work while Lamar was on The Damn Tour in August 2017. During their time on the studio bus moving between performances, the pair would come up with "the production, the hooks and ideas" for the album.^[4][3] Sounwave estimated that around 80 percent of the album was completed at the end of the tour. Work on finishing the songs began the following month, with individual artists selected to collaborate on specific songs. Sounwave described these two months as the most vital during the making of the album.^[7][3] Some songs planned during the tour, including several that were intended to feature "big-name" artists, were ultimately not produced because they either did not fit with the overall concept of the album or could not be completed in time.^[4]

Lamar teased his involvement with the album in an easter egg in the music video for his single "Love" in late December, with a clapperboard reading "B.Panther soundtrack coming soon".^[8] After completing work on the album, Lamar praised the producers and artists who worked with him on it for allowing him to "execute a sound for the soundtrack". He added, "The concept of producing and composing a project other than my own has always been ideal", stating that he appreciated the experience.^[9] Coogler felt the album still related to the film, but had also become "more than that" and was its own piece of art that can be enjoyed separately. He noted that a lot of the artists who collaborated on the soundtrack did so without knowing what the film was, agreeing to work with Lamar rather than on a tie-in to Black Panther.^[10]

Collaborations

Coogler discussed with Lamar who he wanted to be involved with the album, with many of the names Coogler brought up being artists that Lamar had worked with or heard of before.^[5] The artists ultimately involved in the songs were chosen for their match to the different "aesthetic and vibe" that was wanted for each song,^[7] and included the majority of "top-billing names" under Top Dawg Entertainment.^[3] Coogler described the roster as "mind-blowing". A particularly important group for Coogler was SOB x RBE, who come from the San Francisco Bay Area where Coogler grew up.^[5] SOB x RBE had been approached by Lamar's manager Dave Free, and found that Lamar had extensively researched the group. Lamar had already written an introduction for their song, leaving the members of the group to write their own verses and perform them.^[11] Lamar contacted singer Khalid while he was performing with Lorde in Norway, and asked if he wanted to work on the project. The song that Khalid was chosen for, "The Ways", was written by Lamar and Swae Lee as an ode to the strong female characters in the film. Khalid called it "an acknowledgment and appreciation of how many strong women across the board—women of color, especially—are the backbone of everything ... I'm so blessed to have my own personal superhero mom who inspired me".^[12] After first meeting with Lamar, Jorja Smith was left to sing over a beat that Lamar had written with Sounwave until Lamar felt "that's it". He then worked with Smith to write "I Am" over a four-hour session.^[13]

Several artists from South Africa worked on the album, including Babes Wodumo, Sjava, Yugen Blakrok, and Saudi.^[14] Sounwave explained that he and Lamar had spent months listening to a playlist of South African music in preparation for producing the album because they wanted to "go inside their world to get an organic sound, sonically and emotionally". The pair subsequently became fans of the music.^[4] Sjava agreed to join the album because he personally wanted to work with Lamar, but also because "this is going to help inspire the nation [and] the whole continent." Saudi said that in his art, he "chose to stand for and fully represent my ethnicity and my origin", and was proud to continue that for "a song from the track list of the first and most anticipated black superhero movie."^[14] With the success that his song would find through the Black Panther album release, Saudi added that "it wasn't supposed to happen like this; I was told that that I wouldn't appeal to an international audience but here I am. I'm so grateful".^[15] Additionally, Göransson worked with Lamar and Sounwave during the filmmaking process, spending time with them in their studio to create "collaborative excerpts" for throughout the film.^[16] He contributed to the song "Opps" that is played during a car chase in the film.^[17] Coogler praised this collaboration, especially how Göransson was able to weave elements from Lamar's songs "in and out of the orchestral stuff that he was already doing."^[3] Sounwave noted that it was a challenge to balance all of the different styles of artists on the album, like the "kerosene beats" of SOB x RBE with "Afrofuturist rapper" Vince Staples, while remaining consistent with Lamar's previous work and also being accessible to all potential filmgoers.^[7]

Release

Artwork

The album features artwork by Nikolas A. Draper-Ivey, an artist known online for his fan art based on

Andy Kellman gave the soundtrack four stars out of five for AllMusic, calling it an "unprecedented convergence of the mainstream film industry with an uncompromising musician thriving commercially and artistically." He noted that "the majority of the guests evidently approached this as a Kendrick Lamar album, not as a soundtrack. Black Panther: The Album serves both purposes well."^[27] Larry Bartleet also gave the album four stars in his review for NME. Bartleet called it the new gold standard for Marvel soundtracks, and said it was difficult to pick a standout moment. He highlighted how Lamar's lyrics at times reflect the viewpoint of T'Challa and other times side with Killmonger, matching the film's "empathetic understanding of both characters' perspectives".^[28] Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Sheldon Pearce said it "is finely-tuned, aware of its audience, its objectives, and the stakes", feeling that it was at times convoluted or even generic but ultimately "delivers on its promise, much like the larger comic world it now occupies."^[29] Kathleen Johnston at GQ described the album as worth celebrating, stating that what it lacks "in pure aural aestheticism, it more than makes up for in intent." She felt the South African artists included made the soundtrack "a fully fledged celebration of pan-continental black talent [echoing] the film's wider message of true, diverse representation as opposed to mere tokenism." Johnston praised the album, alongside the film, as "the ultimate celebration of black excellence. [It] will go down as a historic landmark in the diversification of popular culture."^[30]

At Rolling Stone, Jody Rosen felt the album was a fascinating entry to Lamar's discography. Rosen felt that the elements from the Black Panther mythology that were included in the soundtrack were "goofy", but that they aligned with the themes of Lamar's other work, and also praised the female artists featured such as SZA, Jorja Smith, and Yugen Blakrok.^[31] Jon Parelis at The New York Times stated that all of the symbolic weight attached to the film extended itself to the album as well, and felt that the product was almost as densely packed with ideas as any of Lamar's solo works. Parelis praised Sounwave's efforts as producer on the album, but noted that a majority of the guest artists treated their songs like music for California rather than the African setting of the film.^[32] For Thrillist, Dan Jackson said the album is not "an exercise in auteur-driven control like Prince's brilliantly odd Batman soundtrack, but it's not purely a cynical cash-in either." Jackson praised the rap-heavy moments and the segments dedicated to Killmonger's perspective, but felt that it may be too similar to previous albums released by Top Daw Entertainment in terms of aesthetic and concluded that there are "limits to the album and the film's audacity."^[33] Alex Petridis of The Guardian called the soundtrack "an enjoyable interstitial release rather than an essential one" but noted that this could be due to the high standards set by Lamar's previous work. He was positive of Lamar not letting the MCU "reign in" his style, but did think the album was less consistent than some of Lamar's other work.^[34]

Also writing for Vice, Lawrence Burney criticized the number of non-American artists featured on the album, lamenting that it could have been "so much more" if it had represented more global black communities. He concluded that "there is room to wonder what the outcome would have been if Kendrick and the rest of TDE swapped out James Blake and a few American rappers for artists like Jamaica's