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Black Panther soundtrack: Kendrick Lamar shares album of music for and inspired by the Marvel film

Album dropped ahead of the release of the hugely-anticipated and critically-acclaimed Marvel film

Roisin O'Connor
Music Correspondent
Friday 09 February 2018 10:07 GMT
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(Marvel / Disney)

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Kendrick Lamar has shared his album of music from and inspired-by the Marvel film Black Panther.

The hip hop artist produced and curated the 14-track record which boasts a wealth of featured artists including Vince Staples, Swae Lee, The Weeknd, SZA, Khalid, Jorja Smith, James Blake, Anderson .Paak and Zacari.

It includes the single "All The Stars" ft. SZA, which was released earlier in the year, and "I Am", which features guest vocals from the Brit Awards Critics' Choice winner Jorja Smith.

One of the standouts on the record is Travis Scott collaboration "Big Shot", produced by Cardo, who told HotNewHipHop: "That record is a banger. It's hard to describe. It's one of those records that as soon as you hear it in the club you're like: 'Oh shit. This is going up.' It got that bounce to it.

"Of course, [Kendrick Lamar] and Travis coming in and doing what they have to do. It's for the clubs. It's for you to have a good time. It's for you to bounce around. It's fire."

Lamar himself has said of the film: "Marvel Studios' Black Panther is amazing, from its cast to its director. The magnitude of this film showcases a great marriage of art and culture. I'm truly honoured to contribute my knowledge of producing sound and writing music alongside Ryan and Marvel's vision."

Label Top Dawg added: "Working on such a powerful movie is a great opportunity. We're always working on new goals at TDE, so teaming up with Disney, Marvel Studios and the Black Panther film makes perfect sense."

The bulk of the soundtrack was recorded on Lamar's DAMN. tour last summer, with producer Sounwave telling NPR that the team came up with around 50 per cent of it - production, hooks, ideas - during that time.

"When we got back from the tour in September, that's when we were able to execute our ideas and reach out to people we respect and whatnot... kind of just put the stamp on it. So, I want to say those two months was the most vital on that tour, in terms of creative process."

The Black Panther soundtrack is available to stream and download via Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music.

Black Panther is released to UK cinemas on 12 February

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