Kendrick is surely one of the most ambitious and successful rappers on today’s music scene, and his enormous potential is evident on the five tracks in which he is featured on this soundtrack. He opens up the album with a hammer track called “Black Panther,” where he channels his inner conflicts and burdens of being a leader of people. Lyrics are accompanied by a powerful beat which sinks well with the weight of his words. Then he teams up with Jay Rock, Future and James Blake on “King’s Dead,” which represents almost a sequel to the first track. Together they work as a movie narrative, which is pretty awesome when you look at it.

However, not all tracks are hardcore rap that we are used to hearing from Lamar. Black Panther: The Album also experiments with pop-friendly vibes. This is probably due to a fact that movie needs to appeal to wider audience, so a mainstream hit is a necessity after all. Such is the track “All The Stars“ which features Kendrick and SZA. Although it might come off a bit mellow and as a song you’ve heard numerous times before, it will surely find its audience. The last track “Pray For Me” with Kendrick and The Weeknd may be appealing to the casual and The Weeknd fans, but it isn’t something hip-hop fans will think of highly. ‘Big Shot’ featuring Kendrick and Travis Scott can be viewed as experimental for Lamar, and although it might seem like a misfire, the song is catchy and might grow on you with time.

When it comes to the songs on Black Panther: The Album which doesn’t feature Kendrick Lamar, you should pay attention to “X” (Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, and Saudi), “Opps” (Vince Staples and Yugen Blakrok), and “Bloody Waters” (Ab-Soul, Anderson Paak and James Blake) where you will find plenty of good rap.

Overall, the album is satisfying, with positive certainly outweighing the negative. It is surely a worthy soundtrack to accompany a superhero like Black Panther and the rap-centric album fits nicely in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The post Album Review: “Black Panther: The Album” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

https://t.co/v1K8meoDX8 pic.twitter.com/m1uqjPJimj

— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) February 9, 2018

Besides Kendrick Lamar, the soundtrack features numerous other artists including SZA, Travis Scott, Mozzy, Zacari, ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Jay Rock, Future, the Weeknd, Vince Staples, James Blake, Khalid, Swae Lee, and Ab-Soul among others.

Kendrick Lamar was hand-picked by Black Panther’s director Ryan Coogler to be the producer of the soundtrack. Although Lamar initially intended to do just a couple of songs for Black Panther’s soundtrack, he changed his decision after watching the majority of the movie and decided to do a full album. The 30-year-old rapper started working on the ideas for the songs during his Damn Tour, and proceeded with the work in late 2017.

The first single from the album, titled “All the Stars“ and featuring SZA, was released in January 2018 and met with generally positive reviews from the critics. Two more songs, “King’s Dead” (featuring Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake) and “Pray for Me” (featuring Lamar and The Weeknd) followed soon, meeting with a similar response.

The movie Black Panther is set for release in the United States on February 16, 2018.

The post Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Panther” Soundtrack is Finally Here appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Lamar’s last album DAMN received seven Grammy nomination. Vince Staples album Big Fish Theory was released last summer, and he recently took part on Billie Eilish’s new song “&burn.”

Lamar and Staples had already worked together on Staples song “Yeah Right” from the album Big Fish Theory. Looks like it’s just the beginning of the duo’s collaboration.

Long live the king. Marvel Studios' #BlackPanther tickets are now available: https://t.co/OT4u5v07bh pic.twitter.com/7kA8R9DaNm

— Black Panther (@theblackpanther) January 9, 2018

The post A Tease to Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples New Song appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Kendrick is surely one of the most ambitious and successful rappers on today’s music scene, and his enormous potential is evident on the five tracks in which he is featured on this soundtrack. He opens up the album with a hammer track called “Black Panther,” where he channels his inner conflicts and burdens of being a leader of people. Lyrics are accompanied by a powerful beat which sinks well with the weight of his words. Then he teams up with Jay Rock, Future and James Blake on “King’s Dead,” which represents almost a sequel to the first track. Together they work as a movie narrative, which is pretty awesome when you look at it.

However, not all tracks are hardcore rap that we are used to hearing from Lamar. Black Panther: The Album also experiments with pop-friendly vibes. This is probably due to a fact that movie needs to appeal to wider audience, so a mainstream hit is a necessity after all. Such is the track “All The Stars“ which features Kendrick and SZA. Although it might come off a bit mellow and as a song you’ve heard numerous times before, it will surely find its audience. The last track “Pray For Me” with Kendrick and The Weeknd may be appealing to the casual and The Weeknd fans, but it isn’t something hip-hop fans will think of highly. ‘Big Shot’ featuring Kendrick and Travis Scott can be viewed as experimental for Lamar, and although it might seem like a misfire, the song is catchy and might grow on you with time.

When it comes to the songs on Black Panther: The Album which doesn’t feature Kendrick Lamar, you should pay attention to “X” (Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, and Saudi), “Opps” (Vince Staples and Yugen Blakrok), and “Bloody Waters” (Ab-Soul, Anderson Paak and James Blake) where you will find plenty of good rap.

Overall, the album is satisfying, with positive certainly outweighing the negative. It is surely a worthy soundtrack to accompany a superhero like Black Panther and the rap-centric album fits nicely in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The post Album Review: “Black Panther: The Album” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

https://t.co/v1K8meoDX8 pic.twitter.com/m1uqjPJimj

— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) February 9, 2018

Besides Kendrick Lamar, the soundtrack features numerous other artists including SZA, Travis Scott, Mozzy, Zacari, ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Jay Rock, Future, the Weeknd, Vince Staples, James Blake, Khalid, Swae Lee, and Ab-Soul among others.

Kendrick Lamar was hand-picked by Black Panther’s director Ryan Coogler to be the producer of the soundtrack. Although Lamar initially intended to do just a couple of songs for Black Panther’s soundtrack, he changed his decision after watching the majority of the movie and decided to do a full album. The 30-year-old rapper started working on the ideas for the songs during his Damn Tour, and proceeded with the work in late 2017.

The first single from the album, titled “All the Stars“ and featuring SZA, was released in January 2018 and met with generally positive reviews from the critics. Two more songs, “King’s Dead” (featuring Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake) and “Pray for Me” (featuring Lamar and The Weeknd) followed soon, meeting with a similar response.

The movie Black Panther is set for release in the United States on February 16, 2018.

The post Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Panther” Soundtrack is Finally Here appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Lamar’s last album DAMN received seven Grammy nomination. Vince Staples album Big Fish Theory was released last summer, and he recently took part on Billie Eilish’s new song “&burn.”

Lamar and Staples had already worked together on Staples song “Yeah Right” from the album Big Fish Theory. Looks like it’s just the beginning of the duo’s collaboration.

Long live the king. Marvel Studios' #BlackPanther tickets are now available: https://t.co/OT4u5v07bh pic.twitter.com/7kA8R9DaNm

— Black Panther (@theblackpanther) January 9, 2018

The post A Tease to Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples New Song appeared first on Hot Pop Today.