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Kendrick Lamar · S7 E1
Black Panther
Curating and performing on the biggest movie soundtrack of 2018. Wakanda's voice
February 2018. Marvel releases the biggest cultural event in film since Star Wars, and the soundtrack belongs to a kid from Compton.
Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake, King's Dead (official music video, 2018). Four artists, four completely different styles, one Black Panther soundtrack. This video captures the controlled chaos of the album Kendrick curated: Jay Rock's precision, Future's melody, James Blake's otherworldly production, and Kendrick arriving to steal the whole thing.
King's Dead, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake (2018)
James Blake builds the foundation from warped, ghostly vocals and sub-bass. Future delivers the hook with his signature melodic mumble, Jay Rock goes bar-for-bar in his tightest verse on the soundtrack. Then Kendrick enters with a voice pitched up like a demon and a flow so bizarre it became a meme before the song was a week old.
Sources
Black Panther: The Album. Top Dawg Entertainment / Aftermath / Interscope, 2018.
“Ryan Coogler called me and said, 'I need you to score the feeling of this film.' Not just songs. The feeling. That changed everything about how I approached it.”
— Kendrick Lamar on the Black Panther soundtrack, Rolling Stone, 2018
The Curator
Kendrick didn't just feature on the Black Panther soundtrack. He executive produced the entire thing alongside Top Dawg, choosing every artist, approving every beat, shaping every track to fit the film's themes. The result was not a typical movie tie-in compilation. It was a Kendrick Lamar album disguised as a soundtrack.
Sources
Rolling Stone, "Inside Kendrick Lamar's Black Panther Soundtrack," 2018
TAP TO REVEAL: How much of the Black Panther soundtrack did Kendrick actually control?
How many artists appear on the Black Panther soundtrack alongside Kendrick?
Black Panther, Kendrick Lamar (2018)
The title track and Kendrick's solo statement on the soundtrack. No features, no collaborators, just Kendrick rapping about kingship, legacy, and the weight of representing something bigger than himself. The beat is minimal and deliberate, leaving space for every word to land.
Black Panther, Kendrick Lamar (2018)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Kendrick positions himself as both the king and the subject, claiming power while questioning what power costs. The recurring phrase about kingship expands outward with each repetition: city, country, homeland.
Black Panther: The Album
The Black Panther soundtrack proved Kendrick could build beyond his own albums. Now he formalizes it: a new company, a new creative partner, and a vision for what a rapper's business can look like. Next: pgLang.
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