By: Youeal Abera

The album begins with the title track of the project, “Black Panther,” a song written and performed by Kendrick Lamar. On the record, curated by Lamar, he emphasizes the concept of being a king. This both works to reference the fact that the main character in Black Panther (T’Challa) is the newfound king of Wakanda — the fictional African country in which the film takes place — but it also seems to assert Lamar’s dominance within modern day hip hop.

     As the album progresses, we begin to hear an array of beautiful and unique sounds and audio flavours from SZA’s enchanting and captivating voice on her duet with Lamar, “All The Stars”; to Khalid and Swae Lee’s summertime serenade “The Ways”; to Zacari and Babes Wudomo’s infectious, Afrocentric banger “Redemption.”

     The most impressive component of Lamar’s Black Panther: The Album is that it offered fans who were anticipating the movie an opportunity to escape into Wakanda before the film’s release. Lamar’s extravagant selection and mixture of live instruments and synthesized resonance provided fans with a prelude that helped familiarize them with what was to come. It is as though, through the music, they were able to experience the emotions and sentiments of the film, but with their eyes closed.

     About an hour after its release in the late evening of February 8, the soundtrack was already trending worldwide on Twitter. On February 11, Lamar Tweeted, “Respect to all the artists/producers that allowed me to execute a sound for the soundtrack. The concept of producing and composing a project other than my own has always been ideal . . .”

     If the movie proves to be as good as its own soundtrack (and according to critics and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, it most certainly is), then Black Panther will truly be remembered as one of the most prominent and profound superhero films of all time.