A great record that seems to fuse the modern day trap sound with the settings of the film. Towards the end of the project, Kendrick collaborates with Houston’s rage rapper Travi$ Scott on “Big Shot”. Also featuring Mozzy and REASON, it’s a record with a lot of mixture that comes well together. “Seasons” shows a huge African influence with the record, with South African’s Sjava using the Zulu language within his verse. Though I did not care for the interlude, “Redemption” with Zacari and Babes Wodumo was an enjoyable record, that had a great vibe. Though thankfully Jay Rock and Kendrick are slight saving graces, not to say that the record was bad, but this was my least favourite record on the soundtrack. Fresh and Slick Rick’s “La Di Da Di” and Juicy J’s “Slob On My Knob”. With his squeeky mouse voice he uses on the bridge, whilst he interpolates Doug E. Future’s feature on the single is… weird. The single “King’s Dead” does provide the worst feature and the worst part on the whole soundtrack. “Paramedic!” is a dark banger and a standout on the soundtrack. Lyrically SOB X RBE aren’t mind blowing on the record, however I will give them credit of how they fit perfectly with the sound of the record. A hard hitting production, that really brings the streets to the soundtrack. If “Black Panther” (the opening record) was for T’Challa, then “Paramedic!” must be for Killmonger (the antagonist of the film). Sounwave kills another production, with the phenomenal “Paramedic!” featuring SOB X RBE. I was excited to see Jorja Smith on the soundtrack, with her talent being known across the world, ( Jorja Smith’s “Lost & Found” album review). “Stack bodies, not figurines, move beneath the surface, submarine” Yugen Blakrok also shines lyrically, with great bars and a phenomenal delivery.
Vince is lyrically flawless with the lines such as “They don’t wanna see me gettin’ to the cheque, they just wanna see me swimming in the debt”. Vince sounds amazing on the record, with his vocals and flow fitting perfectly with the intense production (produced by Sounwave and Ludwig Goransson). The second collaboration between Kendrick and Vince Staples on “Opps” with South African rapper Yugen Blakrok, is a huge gem on the album. An unlikely collaboration, that truly worked. But, it’s “The Ways” with Khalid and Swae Lee, that was a huge surprise on the soundtrack.
“X” featuring Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz and Saudi, is also a highlight of a banger. However, he’s not awful, just not a highlight on the record. Kendrick isn’t up to scratch lyrically for me, as he normally is. The single is fantastic with SZA shining with her great vocals on the chorus and the production is just as great. The follow up record is the successful single “All The Stars” featuring fellow TDE member SZA. With the beat switching up he goes on to rap about what a king should do/not do. Yet it also seems that Kendrick is creating a similarity with himself (“King Kendrick”) with T’Challa, as he raps the many names that T’Challa (or himself) are (different types of Kings). Kendrick kicks the soundtrack off with a two minute record of him freestyling, from the perspective of T’Challa (the protagonist in the film). The soundtrack is filled with great records and is highly versatile, with both bangers and mellow records to vibe to. From the likes of SZA, The Weeknd, Jorja Smith and Kendrick’s other fellow TDE members. The soundtrack is curated by Compton’s Kendrick Lamar and it is star studded with some of music’s biggest artists. With the release of the highly successful “Black Panther” film, which was a huge critical and commercial success, surely the soundtrack had to deliver.
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