There has never been a time when one has gone to a Marvel movie for the new original songs. If anything, these superhero films tend to have bland, forgettable soundtracks that take the backseat to big CGI things hitting each other. But, in a stunning move, Marvel has tapped Kendrick Lamar to make the soundtrack for the much anticipated Black Panther.
Everything we've heard so far has been truly impressive—Lamar and his phenomenal list of collaborators are not phoning these songs in for a paycheck. In his latest, Lamar teams up with The Weeknd for the beautiful and powerful "Pray For Me." The track reflects the Afrofuturist utopia of Black Panther's fictional Wakanda. Lamar raps, "I fight the world, I fight you, I fight myself/I fight God, just tell me how many burdens left/I fight pain and hurricanes, today I wept/I'm tryna fight back tears, flood on my doorsteps." And that's in a Disney movie. This is some next level stuff. Never has a superhero film had something like this to say. Even if you're not a fan of the genre, still go see Black Panther—this will be one of the most important films of the year, if not the decade.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
