LUDWIG GORANSSON – BLACK PANTHER

Today, Black Panther: Original Motion Picture Score, composed by Grammy®-nominated artist and producer Ludwig Göransson, has hit #1 on the Billboard World Music Chart. The score has also landed in the top half of the Billboard Top 200 at #64.  

These accolades come on the heels of Göransson's first Grammy win for his collaborative production work with Childish Gambino for "Best Traditional R&B Performance" for the album Awaken, My Love! The album was also nominated for 6 other awards, including Album of the Year.

Göransson has quickly become a force in the music community over the last few years, producing albums for Childish Gambino, Haim, and Chance the Rapperwhile creating brilliant scores for film and TV. Black Panther marks Göransson'sthird collaboration with the film's director Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station).

Göransson recorded the score in London with a 132-piece western classical orchestra, African percussionists and a 40-person choir. Göransson said, "After reading Ryan's first draft of the script, I quickly realized that the only way I could properly score Black Panther was to travel to Africa to record, research and learn from as many musicians I could find. I was introduced to Senegal's most incredible musicians and storytellers, and from there it all started to come together.  One of the instruments that especially caught my attention was the talking drum, which together with West African sabar drums and ceremonial rhythms, became the foundation for the score."

Göransson infused a wide array of African instrumentation into the score and character themes, noting that his biggest challenge was to blend a western classical orchestra and modern production with traditional African rhythms and harmonies.  He adds, "Together with Ryan Coogler, we worked out new ways of combining the three elements into something traditionally authentic and truly unique, that I hope embodies the heart and soul of Wakanda."

Marvel Studios' Black Panther follows T'Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T'Challa's mettle as king-and Black Panther-is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life.

Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, with Angela Bassett, with Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.

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