Kendrick Lamar to Produce Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ Soundtrack
Marvel is taking another big step to expand their Cinematic Universe in 2018 with Black Panther. Not only is the film the studio’s first with a black superhero lead, and not only do black actors make up the majority of the ensemble, but it’s also their first film to enlist the efforts of a popular musician to produce the soundtrack. That’s right: Gone are the days of the generic, unremarkable Marvel film score, as Black Panther (hopefully) sets a new precedent for the MCU’s soundtracks.
Of course, it’s not the first time that a Marvel film has had a curated soundtrack (both Guardians of the Galaxy movies featured awesome “mix tapes” of classic rock and pop songs courtesy of James Gunn), but it is the first time that one of the studio’s movies will feature a soundtrack made up of entirely new, original tracks — including music from and inspired by Black Panther.
Seven-time Grammy award-winning artist Kendrick Lamar will produce the album alongside Billboard magazine’s executive of the year, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. And to give you a little taste of the tracks to come, Marvel has released the first single from the Black Panther soundtrack: “All the Stars,” by Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA.
Lamar, whom Rolling Stone named “the greatest rapper alive,” will write, produce and perform every track on the album, and will work alongside Top Dawg and director Ryan Coogler to curate the soundtrack.
Music has become more integral to the MCU in recent years, thanks in large part to James Gunn’s work on both Guardians of the Galaxy films. And it looks like the studio is aiming to continue the trend with Black Panther, which will be the first Marvel title to incorporate multiple original songs created specifically for the movie.
Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis, and hits theaters on February 16.