‘Black Panther’ Is the Top Album on iTunes

The latest film from Marvel Studios is unlike anything they’ve previously released, and the promotion for the movie has been unique as well with the release of a hip hop album curated by Kendrick Lamar.

Director Ryan Coogler worked alongside Lamar to create new music for Black Panther, and the album officially released last week to capitalize on the buzz of the film’s premiere. And now the soundtrack is at the top of the iTunes charts.

After dropping on February 9th, Black Panther: The Album has surpassed the popular soundtrack of The Greatest Showman to become the number one album on the music service. While The Greatest Showman has dominated the charts since it was released months ago, Top Dog Entertainment’s latest release dethroned the Hugh Jackman-led soundtrack.

Black Panther: The Album has received critical acclaim since its release. The buzz began mounting after the surprise announcement was accompanied by the first track, “All The Stars” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.

They followed up with the reveal of “King’s Dead” by Kendrick, Jay Rock, Future, and James Black, and then The Weeknd and Kendrick collaboration “Pray For Me.”

After Lamar’s music was featured in some of the trailers for Black Panther, fans assumed that he’d create a song or two for the soundtrack. Instead, Lamar and his Top Dawg cohort Anthony Tiffith worked with Coogler to create an entire album inspired by the film.

“I am honored to be working with such an incredible artist whose work has been so inspirational, and whose artistic themes align with those we explore in the film. I can’t wait for the world to hear what Kendrick and TDE have in store,” Coogler said in the announcement of the album.

The album currently sits with a 4.5 star rating with over 500 reviews.

Buzz for Black Panther continues to mount ahead of its release date this Friday, and the Marvel Studios film is already on track for a $150 million weekend debut. The film has already been reviewed by critics who are singing near-universal praise for the film, and it currently has a 98% critics rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

Fans will finally be able to see the film for themselves when Black Panther premieres in theaters Friday, February 16th.