Kendrick Lamar to produce, curate "Black Panther" soundtrack

One of the most anticipated chapters in the Marvel cinematic universe just got a serious boost in the music category! Kendrick Lamar has been selected to curate and executive produce the soundtrack to the Ryan Coogler directed Black Panther movie which is set to hit theaters February 16th, 2018.

As one of hip hop's more progressively conscious emcees, Lamar is a great pick to lead the sonic direction of the project. His positive and powerful representation of marginalized peoples of color within American culture are a great launching point to build soundscapes that reflect the power and independence of Black Panther's home land called Wakanda.

The announcement was made alongside the release of a video for a new track called "All The Stars" which features Kendrick along side rising star Sza. On the Kendrick Lamar VEVO page where the video is posted there is an option to pre-order "Black Panther: The Album - Music from and inspired by Black Panther" but the only track listed is the one track from the video.

This isn't the first time that Ryan Coogler has worked with hip hop heavyweights to craft the tone for one of his movies. His award winning movie "Creed" used The Roots's classic track "The Fire" (which was released 5 years before the movie) to represent the gritty Philly essence that resonated throughout the original Rocky movies and into his modern day extension of the legendary boxing series. He also enlisted Ludwig Goransson, co-producer of Childish Gambino's three major label releases, to do the scores for Creed and his first major film, Fruitvale Station. So Coogler's dedication to a progressive hip hop aesthetic is very intentional and is another reason why he was a great selection to direct this movie. Looking forward to hearing what he, K-Dot and the rest of his crew have in store for the masses.

What do you think about Kendrick Lamar being selected to lead the musical direction for Black Panther? With the success of the "movie mixtape" motif of Guardians of the Galaxy and Baby Driver, are we going back to an era when the soundtrack outshines the movie?