To kick things off, let’s play a game I like to call “This Album is Not … But This Album is”. The rules are simple: I’m going to specify something that is not about this album and then I’m going to specify something that is about this album. I’ll even do this a few times so that we understand the true context to consider this album within, especially in relation to the movie that shares its name.
This Album is Not: The Black Panther Soundtrack
But This Album is: An album inspired by Black Panther
- It is more than just the soundtrack to the (great) movie because it can definitely live on its own, making sense without having to be placed neatly into the plot of the film.
This Album is Not: about Black Panther, specifically
But This Album is: inspired by Black Panther, generally
- While the lyrics in this album (at times) will drop references to the movie, its characters, and its themes, this music will not spoil the movie for you, or even detail the plot in any way
This Album is Not: the score to the movie
But This Album is: in the movie (briefly)
- This might be the album’s (and the movie’s) biggest flaw: while it would have been great to have experienced the film with this album as its full score, it was used sparingly. Inversely, if you listen carefully throughout the album, you’ll hear some sounds from the movie score as transitional elements.
This Album is Not: solely by Kendrick Lamar
But This Album is: co–curated by Kendrick Lamar (and he is heavily featured)
- Comparable to, say, Drake’s More Life, Kendrick delivers an album under his name and with his voice the most prominent … but he’s not in every song.
This album reflects the movie in so many ways, most apparently when you look at the contributors to the album. In the same way that the Black Panther movie made a point to present black excellence in film, the Black Panther album is a collective of many representatives of black excellence in music. As you listen through the album, it is hard not to recognize the voices of well-known artists like Vince Staples, Travis Scott, SZA and The Weekend, along with a surprising amount of upcoming (and vocally different sounds) like Zacari, Mozzy, SOB X RBE and Sorja.
Every artist on the album is put in the optimal situation for their musical “super powers” to be fully showcased: songs that sound like a Vince Staples song (“Opps”) suddenly feature, of course, an appearance by Vince Staples on the track. A track reminiscent of Anderson Paak (“Bloody Waters”) begins, eventually introducing Paak himself. “King’s Dead”, something that sounds like it couldn’t possibly feature James Blake, changes itself into a psyched-out interlude when his part begins.
Again, this album is probably closer to a playlist (like Drake’s More Life) than a proper album. And, with this in mind, the album succeeds in creating that loosely cohesive sound in a way that More Life could not. There are waves to the album: it swells and then washes away consistently, a quiet intensity building into smoother sounds, then erupting. A Kendrick song that sounds like it could have been an extra track from Damn. melts into an R&B track, then a club track, then a hard-hitting rap track full of energy, swelling without repeating any formula.
This album’s success hinges on one main reason: Kendrick Lamar. If you want something well-produced, non-repetitive and culture-creating, then Lamar is your guy. With so many sounds and artists melting into the album, it is a shock (and a testament to Lamar) that it doesn’t feel at all competitive. Stand outs from the 14-track album include: the high energy tracks of “X” and “King’s Dead,” the vibed-out “Seasons” and “The Ways” and the more ballad-like “I am”.
It is crazy (and joyful) to think that two of Compton’s most well-known creators are batting 1.000 with this album: Lamar complementing Ryan Coogler, Black Panther’s director, in such an inspired way.
Thematically, the album references the same subject matter as the movie: love, royalty, strength and the ambiguity that comes between right and wrong.
