Black Panther: Ryan Coogler Shares How Rap Influenced Movie

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler talked about the movie's Hip-Hop inspirations. The genre turns 50 this year, and a bunch of places are publishing retrospectives. A.V. Club caught up with the Black Panther filmmaker to talk about his perspective on hip-hop and it's place alongside the Marvel hero. Famously, the soundtrack to the MCU film was compiled by Kendrick Lamar. That artistic choice gave the first Black Panther a distinct feel among other superhero movies. Clearly, the Grammy-winner's work struck a chord with Coogler as well. Here's how he talked about "crafting a place" for the Wakandan people.

"I was nervous about Panther because it's a fictional place. We had to build everything from the ground up. So when we were in a real place—say in South Korea or South Africa—I used that to create a sense of a real place for the movie," Coogler told the outlet. "It was important for me to ground it with the real music of actual places. So for the voice of the film, we ended up working with Top Dawg and Kendrick [Lamar]. Kendrick was representing themes we were looking for, themes that existed between African and American hip-hop culture at that time. The movie was an exploration of that, and he was in that zone as an artist."

Expanding Wakanda Sonically For Black Panther 2

With so much tragedy between Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, merely employing the same trick for the soundtrack wasn't going to work. It seems like Coogler and his collaborators understood that immediately. So, the director swung for the fences and managed to get Rihanna to release two new songs for Wakanda Forever. Those releases along with Tems' stirring song for the trailer ignited so much emotion online that its hard to ignore. 

"After speaking with Ryan and hearing his direction for the film and the song, I wanted to write something that portrays a warm embrace from all the people that I've lost in my life. I tried to imagine what it would feel like if I could sing to them now and express how much I miss them," Tems told Variety last year. "Rihanna has been an inspiration to me so hearing her convey this song is a great honor."

Mixing Perspectives for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Also worthy of some note here is the fact that more latin music had to be incorporated because of Namor and Talocan's prominence in the sequel. In this way, the soundscape of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever actually branches out even further. Yes, there was always going to be hip-hop and rap. But, the sequel managed to reach into afrobeat and latin pop music. What Coogler, Göransson and these artists achieved is nothing short of amazing.

"The soundtrack, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music From and Inspired By, will be available on November 4 from Roc Nation Records/Def Jam Recordings/Hollywood Records. The soundtrack album producers are Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis and Dave Jordan. The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Original Score, composed and produced by Ludwig Göransson, will be available on November 11 from Hollywood Records."

Do you love the Black Panther soundtracks? Let us know down in the comments!