When Black Panther was released in 2018, I was immediately a fan. We loved the story, the actors, and the film score. It was all what the entertainment industry needed: a dose of representation.

There is a long history of the idea of bringing the Black Panther to the big screen. Basically, Wesley Snipes wanted it to happen back in the 1990s. John Singleton and Mario Van Peebles were front-runners for directors. But Stan Lee wasn’t happy with how the story was going to be told, so the project was put on hold. Then Snipes starred in the Blade movies. Marvel superhero movies as we know them were just getting started with the Fantastic Four movies. Then Wesley Snipes had that little issue with failing to file his tax returns.

Then came Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Vibranium (the metal from Wakanda) was introduced with Captain America, and it was obvious that the Black Panther would finally be making his appearance.

Director Ryan Coogler was chosen after the success of Creed. He pushed for a primarily African American cast. And he introduced the language of Wakanda, which is based on the Xhosa language. Actors learned to speak it because Coogler wanted the language to be used as much as possible.

Ludwig Goransson spent some time in Africa researching music to compose the score. He worked with local musicians to help him define themes for the film. Kendrick Lamar curated the film’s soundtrack, which took themes from the score and allowed the artists to be inspired by them.

I couldn’t pick just one track, but these are my 2 favorites! The score is beautifully authentic and emotional. We cannot wait to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever!!!