Black Panther The Album is a collection of songs from and inspired by the upcoming Marvel film Black Panther, with Kendrick Lamar credited as curator and executive producer. Soundtracks rarely get the same attention as proper studio albums but with an album this star-studded, it begs the question: is it worth the listen?Despite being credited to various artists, the album sort of plays as though it were a Kendrick solo project with an inordinate number of features. He receives performance credits on five of the songs and provides at least one line on every song except “Seasons.” He also has writing credits on all of the tracks and direct production credits on six of the songs. However, although the fact that he had creative control does not at all hamper the other artists on the album; in fact, each artist is utilized to the best of their abilities in a way reminiscent of Kanye’s decision making on the feature-heavy My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. For example, ScHoolboy Q’s raunchier style is paired with trap star 2 Chainz on the dark track “X” whereas Ab-Soul, notable for being an introspective rapper, is paired with R&B artist Anderson .Paak and IDM artist James Blake for a slower song in “Bloody Waters.”

Having so many different sources of input, it’s impressive that the album avoids sounding fragmented. This is in part due to Kendrick’s vision but the contribution of producer Sounwave’s efforts can’t be ignored. Receiving credit on all but three of the tracks, the versatility shown in the difference between the hard-hitting four-on-the-floor beat of “Opps” and the soulful next track “I Am” is remarkable. Even though the styles are completely different, the transition is not at all jarring. The cohesion in production allows for artists of different genres to avoid compromising their individuality. As mentioned before, R&B is present due to artists like Anderson .Paak and Khalid while 2 Chainz and Travis Scott contribute trap, but the songs “Redemption” and “Pray For Me” are closer to dance pop and Kendrick’s “Black Panther” resembles his own inimitable style on songs like “The Heart Part 4.” Of course, since these are primarily hip-hop artists there are traditional rap songs like “King’s Dead.”

While none of these songs will probably end up as chart toppers, it’s hard to find much fault with the album as a whole. It clearly received more attention to detail than the usual soundtrack and having so many features allows for each artist to put their best foot forward. The overall dark production lends itself better to the aggressive tracks, though, and so songs like “X” shine while the “R&B” tracks I feel would be weaker as singles. However, within the album, they fit well.

Verdict

Black Panther The Album is definitely worth the time to listen as a whole, but without context, some of the songs suffer. It’s an album greater than the sum of its parts, functioning as a showcase of both well-known and unknown modern black artists of several different genres.