A week before the critically acclaimed Black Panther movie hits theaters everywhere, the highly anticipated Kendrick Lamar & Top Dawg-curated soundtrack has arrived for our listening pleasure.
Laced with 14 tracks in total, the soundtrack features new music from and inspired by the movie, including 5 tracks with Kendrick Lamar and others from SZA, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, Future, James Blake, 2 Chainz, Vince Staples, Swae Lee & more. Meanwhile production is handled by Al Shux, Sounwave, Mike Will Made It, Frank Dukes, and more.
“Marvel Studios’ Black Panther is amazing, from its cast to its director,” Kendrick Lamar said. “The magnitude of this film showcases a great marriage of art and culture. I’m truly honored to contribute my knowledge of producing sound and writing music alongside Ryan and Marvel’s vision.” Top Dawg commented, “Working on such a powerful movie is a great opportunity. We’re always working on new goals at TDE, so teaming up with Disney, Marvel Studios and the Black Panther film makes perfect sense.”
TDE’s in-house producer Sounwave also explained that they recorded the bulk of the soundtrack on tour in the Summer. "[During] The DAMN. Tour, we probably came up with 50 percent of it — the production, the hooks and ideas," in-house producer Sounwave tells NPR. "When we got back from the tour in September, that's when we were able to execute our ideas and reach out to people we respect and whatnot ... kind of just put the stamp on it. So, I want to say those two months was the most vital on that tour, in terms of creative process.”
Available now on iTunes, fans can stream the star-studded soundtrack in its entirety via Apple Music. Hit play and let us know what you think.