10 Artists Who Made Entire Movie Soundtracks

There seemed to be a significant cultural shift with the MCU when Black Panther first hit the big screen. While we had superheroes like Blade before him, seeing Chadwick Boseman's turn as the leader of Wakanda made for one of the most emotional movies in the Marvel canon, celebrating what it means to have power and trying to be something much more than what you are given. The journey to the top is something that Kendrick Lamar knew all too well, and the accompanying soundtrack is miles ahead of what any Guardians of the Galaxy mixtape could have ever done.

Though all of these songs fit under the umbrella of the Black Panther storyline, most of them have their own story to tell, like Kendrick talking about the struggles with confrontation on All the Stars to what it means to have the identity of a black man at the top on the title track. With the help of guests like The Weeknd on Pray for Me, the album runs more like a mixtape, with occasional tracks giving you a peek into what the world both in and outside of Wakanda is like, from Paramedic capturing a certain sense of despair as it plays out.

Compared to other genres that just like to release a bunch of random tie in songs for their movie, Kendrick was looking to paint a picture with this project and celebrate what it means to be African. The tides were already shifting in the world of the MCU, and one of the greatest rappers of our generation finally gave us a record that was fit for a king.