Review: Is "Black Panther: The Album" Just As Monumental As the Movie?
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Marvel’s Black Panther has been the most hyped and successful film of 2018 thus far! With this much hype coming from the fans who couldn't wait to see how incredible the film is, it’s only right that a soundtrack that is just as awesome has been released alongside it. This is the intended result of "Black Panther: The Album". Just knowing that Kendrick Lamar is the main curator of the album inspired by the film is enough to make fans salivate. However, does the album effectively represent the film while still being a hot album?
Let’s be honest, do you really think that the album would be anything less than fire with Kendrick Lamar at the helm? If you do, then you’ll instantly change your mind after first two tracks! "Black Panther: The Album" starts off with a strong introduction that combines a simple yet soulful beat while Kendrick Lamar poetically sets the tone for the rest of the album. This is immediately followed by “All The Stars”, a catchy collaboration with new R&B sensation SZA that is reminiscent of some of Kanye West’s classics when it comes to the production and flow. From that point, the album becomes an intoxicating mixture of RnB hits and banging rap songs that all feature top notch production!
As far as who else is featured on the album, listeners will get to hear a lot of freshness from new blood on the album. New artists featured on the album include SZA, Zacari, Sob X RBE, and hot artists. Artists who frequently collaborate with Kendrick Lamar and other veterans, including 2 Chainz, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul, also make strong impressions with their features.
The album perfectly mixes West Coast Hip-Hop and RnB sentiments with strong production and style that not only takes inspiration from, but also compliments the upcoming Black Panther film. The songs that take the most inspiration from the film as far as style and sound goes are “Redemption” by Zacari and Babes Wodumo, and “Seasons” by Mozzy, Sjava and Reason. Both tracks offer a smooth sound to the album, with the former being an jazzy, uptempo RnB smash that takes inspiration from African song and dance in its production. While the whole album is good, it’s these songs, along with a few others, that truly stand out. The album ends strongly with “Pray For Me” by The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar, where Kendrick’s poetic energy combined with The Weeknd’s soulful voice perfectly ends a great album.
In most cases, soundtracks are usually just decent pieces of work released to build hype for an upcoming film, but "Black Panther: The Album" exceeds expectations by not only be an exceptional body of work, but also being an excellent collection of original Hip Hop and RnB!