Wakanda Foreva-eva.
J.Period, who's known for producing The Hamilton Mixtape, just dropped Wakanda ForeverEver. The 45-minute project blends together sounds from Outkast, the Kendrick Lamar–curated soundtrack for Black Panther, and the Marvel film's score providing an "EPIC journey into the secret forests between Wakanda and Stankonia."
The project, which was inspired by #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign, also features historical speeches like Malcolm X's "Ballot or the Bullet" and clever track titles like "WakandATLiens." But if course, it's the mixes that stand out, stuff like "B.O.B." rapped over "Seasons" or "Rosa Parks" over traditional African drums.
"Outkast embodies the best of hip hop—originality, creativity, style, swagger, intelligence, BARS—and their lyrics touch on many of the themes in the movie as in empowerment, representation, royalty, tradition, Afrofuturism, so it was just a perfect fit," said J.Period in an interview with Vibe. "Black Panther is such a phenomenon and has sparked so much conversation in the hip-hop community. The core of hip-hop is the drum, and when you break it down to the essence, the story of the drum, of Africa, of the Diaspora, of using rhythm and music to tell stories…those are all part of the fabric of hip-hop."
The Dan Lish–designed cover art, above, is something to behold as well since it stylizes André 3000 and Big Boi in Killmonger's suit. (No T'Challa here, huh?) Wakanda ForeverEver is available to stream now, but hip-hop heads who download it will receive a bonus track with Sterling K. Brown's N'Jobu telling the origin story of hip-hop.
Stream it above. The download will be available on Friday, April 20 at JPERIOD.com.
Wakanda ForeverEver tracklist:
1. Wakandan Airlines [Sky High]
2. Seasons Change b/w Afro-Future
3. Wakanda vs. Babylon
4. T’Challa vs. Killmonger [Elevation Anthem]
5. T’Rosa Parks
6. Royal Panther b/w Wakandan Belle
7. All Hail The Dora Milaje [Interlude]
8. Wakandan Church Cookout
9. Storytellin’ [J.Period “Fela-bration” Remix] feat. Daniel Crawford
10. WakandATLiens
11. Jabariland Outkasts [Outro]
12. Bombs Over Wakanda [Reprise]
13. Bonus: T’Challa in ATL
