Research

As with his previous collaborations with Coogler, Göransson began work on the Black Panther score as early as possible, much earlier than any other composer on a Marvel Studios film according to producer Nate Moore.^[5][9] Göransson began discussing the film with Coogler immediately, and the director shared research he did in Africa while preparing for the film;^[10] Göransson read the first draft of the script as soon as Coogler was happy with it,^[5] and read comics from Ta-Nehisi Coates' run on Black Panther, which had just begun.^[10] Göransson acknowledged that he is an unlikely candidate to write African music given he is Swedish,^[11] and decided that he needed to go to Africa himself to do his own research.^[5] He noted that the fictional setting of the film, Wakanda, was never colonized and so the music found there would not have been influenced by Christian music.^[12] Coogler also wanted to use authentic African sounds, a first for a superhero film, and trusted Göransson to balance this with the "anthemic" quality of a traditional superhero score.^[13]

Göransson spent a month in Senegal, first travelling around with musician Baaba Maal for a week while he was on tour,^[5][10] and then spending several weeks working with local musicians to form the "base" of his score.^[14][15] After Senegal, Göransson went to South Africa and spent a week at the International Library of African Music in Grahamstown listening to thousands of recordings of music from different African tribes,^[5][16] and recording music on hundreds of instruments that "don't really exist anymore." He said, "To be able to go there, record the instruments and use them in the movie ... it was an incredible opportunity."^[11] Göransson then returned to Los Angeles where he planned to combine the African music he had discovered with his usual orchestral and modern production techniques to create the final score. He said it would be a challenge to do this while still having the music "feel African,"^[5] and had to approach the score as infusing an orchestra, played in the tradition of African instruments, into actual African music.^[17]

Composition

Senegalese musician Baaba Maal aided composer Ludwig Göransson with his research for the score, and provided his voice for it.

Göransson had initially approached the score with the idea that music in Wakanda could be anything due to its being a fictional country, but discovered that "music from Africa is a language" used for storytelling, with every instrument and different musical rhythm given meaning, and wanted to ensure that this was reflected since the country is still clearly in Africa. He wanted to specifically acknowledge existing African music that applied directly to scenes in the film, such as using rhythms that were created thousands of years prior to represent large battles during the big fight sequences in the film.^[5] Another example of this is the challenge scenes in the film, which include traditional challenge rhythms performed on a sabar drum by soloist Magatte Sow,^[13][17] along with "additional color" from a kora and a vuvuzela (an instrument often heard at sporting events).^[13]

In Senegal, Göransson was particularly drawn to the talking drum as a form of communication in addition to being a musical instrument. This became the first sound he used in the score to represent T'Challa / Black Panther, and he described it as "the first seed of how the instrumentation affected the process."^[5] T'Challa's theme consists of six talking drums being played together,^[13] with a solo talking drum performance by soloist Massamba Diop layered over those. These were combined with the sound of a talking drum mimicking the word "T'Challa" and a beat from a Roland TR-808 drum machine to "beef it up." Göransson used the base talking drum rhythm, 808 rhythm, solo talking drum, and "T'Challa" talking drum motif as the primary rhythm for T'Challa in the score. On top of this rhythm, Coogler and Göransson chose to use horns to make the character's theme sound more royal,^[15] with Göransson writing music for the horns that he felt was more rhythmic than melodic and allowed them to be interpreted as coming from the rhythm of the talking drums rather than a traditional western theme with drums in the background. Göransson did write a specific six-note melody for T'Challa, also played on the brass, which serves as the final piece of the character's main theme and also is used as a main theme for the film during scene transitions and for driving the overall story forward.^[18]

After hearing a musician in Senegal named Amadou Ba playing a tambin, or Fula flute, Göransson told him the backstory of villain Killmonger in the film and Ba played some music in response to the story. Göransson felt this music fit the character well, and it became the first element of Killmonger's theme for the film.^[5][16] Ba's performance revolved around a root note that Göransson gave him, and included singing, screaming, and laughing into the flute as he played it, with one of the words screamed being "Killmonger."^[13][18] Göransson described the performance as "sad but also aggressive, energetic and impulsive."^[13] The composer sent his recordings of the Fula flute to actor Michael B. Jordan to help him prepare for portraying Killmonger in the film.^[11] The Fula flute is used as a sample piece earlier in the film, but transitions to full performances of the flute as Killmonger takes over Wakanda,^[18] and represents the character's Wakandan origin and aspirations. It is paired with a piano melody for Killmonger that is mysterious at first, and accompanied by a harp to represent the character's intelligence. The piano then transitions to strings to show the suffering the character has endured, inspired by the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.^[10] Göransson also chose to use more modern production techniques, such as the 808 beats, for Killmonger's music than the rest of the score, with a "trap beat vibe," because the character is American and represents modernity in the film.^[17] Göransson used his experience with African-American music such as hip hop and rapping—which he gained as a producer for Donald Glover's "Childish Gambino" work—when developing the more modern elements of Killmonger's theme, and noted that these elements were similar in sound to the traditional African drums in the score, allowing him to move between the sounds of Killmonger and Wakanda in the final battle scene without taking the audience out of the film.^[12] The final element of the character's theme is a four-note "punctuation" with brass and choir that adds mystery and drama.^[10]

For the introduction to Wakanda in the film, Göransson was inspired by a "ceremonial outcall" that Maal began each of his shows on tour with. The composer collaborated with Maal on a song in this style which features the latter singing about the death of an elephant in the Fula language, symbolizing the death of T'Challa's father T'Chaka.^[13][15] When T'Challa visits the spirit of his father in the valley of the dead, Göransson felt the dialogue was so emotional that the instrumentation should be changed to reflect that, and so opted to focus on strings rather than percussion.^[11] This "ancestral theme" also serves as a theme for the relationship between T'Challa and Killmonger, with a broken down, "tiny piece" of the string motif heard in Killmonger's theme to show that "it's all related in a way, just as [the characters] are related by blood";^[11][18] Göransson actually developed this familial theme for all the characters from the Killmonger flute motif, using part of the music originated by Ba.^[10] For T'Challa, it is played longer and with a full orchestra, and indicates that he is "trying to find his way in life."^[12][18] Other themes composed for the film include one for T'Challa's sister Shuri, which was played on a balafon,^[19] and one for the Dora Milaje warriors, consisting of a group of Senegalese women 'yipping' which Coogler described as a "chu chu" sound.^[20] The latter was supported by a female choir from London.^[21]

Recording

Because Coogler does not use a temp score (placeholder music included for editing purposes) for his films, Göransson began work without specific references for each scene. He had enough material by the time Coogler put together his initial four-hour cut of the film that he was able to fully score the cut.^[11] Göransson recorded many different elements of the score at Baal's studio in Senegal,^[15] including Baal himself for his part in the "Wakanda" song.^[22] The composer then recorded the rest of his score with a 92-piece Western classical orchestra and a 40-person choir in London^[6][13] at Abbey Road Studios for two weeks during October and November 2017.^[13][15] Göransson and John Ashton Thomas conducted the orchestra.^[15] The orchestral music was sometimes used as counterpoint to Göransson's recordings from Senegal, and other times was made to "echo the multiple layers of rhythms" heard in those recordings. The choir sung in the Xhosa language,^[13] including passages that sound like "T'Challa" for when he arrives at the Warrior Falls arena.^[18]

Coogler concluded that Göransson "really set the table for the emotion that we were trying to get across [in the film], whether it was excitement or reflection or sadness."^[13] Moore compared the work Göransson did in defining the sound of the film to the use of music by James Gunn in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and said that it was something that would be further expanded on in a Black Panther sequel.^[23] He noted that Göransson took Marvel outside of their comfort zone on the film, but they were willing to defer to him after all of the research he did. Several times, Marvel executives questioned whether the score was leaning too close to traditional Western music only to have Göransson explain that the music they were questioning was recorded by traditional musicians in Africa and that it had simply been coopted by Western culture from Africa.^[9] Göransson agreed that Marvel was completely supportive of his work,^[12] and said he would never have been able to make the score without first spending time in Africa. Throughout all of his work on the score, Göransson aimed to recreate the feeling he had when first listening to Maal's music in Senegal,^[15] which he described as a mesmerizing "out-of-body experience."^[12]

Development

Kendrick Lamar curated the soundtrack album for Black Panther with Anthony Tiffith of Top Dawg Entertainment.

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,"^[24] and he felt that Lamar's artistic themes aligned with this goal.^[25] 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."^[7] 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 "Seasons," which features verses sung in the Zulu language.^[24]

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,^[8] 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.^[8][7] 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.^[26][7] 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.^[8]

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."^[27] 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.^[28] 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.^[9]

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.^[24] The artists ultimately involved in the songs were chosen for their match to the different "aesthetic and vibe" that was wanted for each song,^[26] and included the majority of "top-billing names" under Top Dawg Entertainment.^[7] 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.^[24] 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.^[29] 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."^[30] 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.^[31]

Several artists from South Africa worked on the album, including Babes Wodumo, Sjava, Yugen Blakrok, and Saudi.^[32] 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.^[8] 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."^[32] 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."^[33] 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.^[5] He contributed to the song "Opps" that is played during a car chase in the film.^[34] 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."^[7] 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.^[26]

Singles

Lamar released the first single from his soundtrack album, "All the Stars," on January 4, 2018, in which he collaborated with fellow Top Dawg artist SZA.^[25] Shortly after, a new trailer for the film featured "Opps" by Lamar and Vince Staples.^[35] A second song by Lamar with Jay Rock, Future, and James Blake called "King's Dead" was released later in the month.^[36] On February 2, "Pray for Me" by Lamar and the Weeknd was released as the album's third and final single.^[37]

Black Panther: The Album

Lamar's soundtrack was released as Black Panther: The Album on February 9, 2018.^[38] The album features artwork by Nikolas A. Draper-Ivey, an artist known online for his fan art based on Disney intellectual property such as Black Panther and Spider-Man. Draper-Ivey was surprised when he was approached about providing artwork for the album by Interscope Records, but was excited to join the project and produced an initial mock-up within a day. He then refined the piece with input from the studio, and noted that it was much more minimalistic than his usual work, with a focus on hinting at power rather than overstating.^[39] A vinyl version of the album was released in early May 2018.^[40]

Black Panther (Original Score)

An album featuring Göransson's score was released digitally by Hollywood Records on February 16, 2018.^[6] A vinyl version of the score album was released on May 18.^[47]

Live performance

From September 10–12, 2021, the Los Angeles Philharmonic along with Maal, Massamba Diop, Magatte Saw, and an ensemble of African drummers performed the film's score at the Hollywood Bowl. Göransson had been urging Disney and Marvel to do this for some time, and was thrilled that the Philharmonic agreed to do it and that Maal and the African musicians were able to travel to Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. The choral and music-production elements of the score were played from the original tracks during the performance against the live orchestra and soloists, with Thomas Wilkins conducting. The orchestra also played a version of "All the Stars."^[50]

Commercial performance

The soundtrack album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 154,000 equivalent album units, including 52,000 from pure album sales.^[51] It remained at the number one spot in its second week, moving 131,000 equivalent album units with 40,000 from pure album sales.^[52]

Critical response

Soundtrack

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.5/10[99]
Metacritic	80/100[100]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[101]
Consequence of Sound	B+[102]
Clash	[103]
The Guardian	[104]
Highsnobiety	4/5[105]
HipHopDX	4.5/5[106]
The Independent	[107]
NME	[108]
Pitchfork	7.5/10[109]
Rolling Stone	[110]

Aggregator Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned Black Panther: The Album a score of 80 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."^[100] AnyDecentMusic? found the album had an average score of 7.5 out of 10.^[99]

Matt Miller of Esquire said the album was a "stunning moment in film history ... an absolute milestone," feeling that the fact that "these topics can even be breached on a [Disney] platform like this seems like progress might be possible."^[111] Clayton Purdom at The A.V. Club felt the Black Panther soundtrack was one of the best rap albums in 2018, saying the individual songs "play it safe, but the project itself does not, an audacious exertion of energy from one of the planet's most universally revered musicians... the album doesn't need the film; it works on its own." He compared it to other artist-driven soundtracks for films like Tron: Legacy, Coffy, and 8 Mile.^[112] Writing for Vice, Robert Christgau called the music "sneakily experimental pop-rap" and credited Lamar for "marking every [song] with a verse or chorus or hook defined by the least regal of the great rap flows, unassumingly slurred while making every word count."^[2]

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 felt that the majority of the album's guest artists treated it as a Kendrick Lamar album rather than a soundtrack, but thought it served both purposes well.^[101] 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 reflect the viewpoints of T'Challa and Killmonger at different times, matching the film's "empathetic understanding of both characters."^[113] Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Sheldon Pearce said it "is finely-tuned, aware of its audience, its objectives, and the stakes." Pearce felt the album was convoluted and generic at time, but ultimately it "delivers on its promise, much like the larger comic world it now occupies."^[109] 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 message of 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."^[114]

At Rolling Stone, Jody Rosen felt the album was a fascinating entry to Lamar's discography. He wrote 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, specifically naming SZA, Jorja Smith, and Yugen Blakrok.^[115] 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.^[116] 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 Dawg Entertainment in terms of aesthetic and concluded that there are "limits to the album and the film's audacity."^[117] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called the soundtrack enjoyable rather than essential, but acknowledged 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.^[118]

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 Spice [or] Brazil's Karol Conká ... It could have made an equally-remarkable accompanying musical piece to Black Panther. But if those chances are never taken, especially with platforms as big as Marvel in support, we may not get to see what an artistic coming-together could really do for diasporic relations."^[119] Dustin Seibert was excited for the album's release, but in his review of it for The Grio he expressed disappointment, finding many of the songs to be mediocre and especially criticizing Lamar's supportive work which he felt detracted from some of the guest performances. Seibert also criticized lyrics that he found to be demeaning to women or even "basic scumbag gangster bars," which he saw as clashing with the themes of the film. He stated his hope that the film itself be better than the underwhelming soundtrack album.^[120]

Industry impact

Lamar's soundtrack, along with that of the film The Greatest Showman (2017), was named as proof of a "soundtrack renaissance" with growing public interest in albums tied to films. Atlantic Records president Kevin Weaver said that "when the right music is aligned to the right media, especially with these new means of music distribution, primarily streaming, it's created a whole new world for soundtracks that didn't previously exist." Interscope Records executive Manny Smith felt that Black Panther: The Album stood out because of the strong direction from Coogler and Lamar, adding, "I think it'll spark people to make more culturally relevant music and be more aware. That's always our goal."^[132] David Bakula, Vice President of Analytics at Nielsen Entertainment, said the album was "much bigger than just a music release. It's much bigger than just a compilation album." MIDiA research analyst Zach Fuller added that the success of the album could be "indicative of streaming bringing people back to this [soundtrack-centric] model ... it may well be the film industry that leads the way in preserving the album as an artistic medium." He compared this possible trend to the way Bollywood films affect popular music in India.^[133]

Accolades

Background

On August 16, 2018, Hollywood Records and Marvel Music released an extended play titled Black Panther: Wakanda Remixed, featuring remixes of five cues from Göransson's score. Göransson worked with several other artists to create the remixes.^[158] Music videos for each of the remixes were also released to Marvel Music's Vevo channel on YouTube.^[159][160]

Track listing

Reception

James Whitbrook of io9 praised the EP as improving Göransson's already "sublime" score, calling the remixes "all pretty great, chill takes" on the existing music. Whitbrook particularly praised the new take on the "Black Panther" theme as a "stirring choral anthem ... while still keeping that electrifying drumbeat that made the original one of the best character themes on a Marvel movie soundtrack."^[159] Hoair-Tran Bui at /Film said the EP was unlikely to become as popular as the main score or soundtrack albums, but felt that it provided "the perfect capper for the summer, and an energizing vehicle for Black Panther to ride through Oscar season."^[161] For Complex, Joshua Espinoza recommended the remixes to fans of the score and soundtrack albums, and also described them as "chill tunes."^[160]