I've said it before and I'll say it again, while I enjoy Black Panther's soundtrack since it's one of the few MCU scores to stand out, I don't like how European it sounds. And, this track is a good example of this. So, it starts out with a heavy Spanish vibe, almost invoking a type of Spaghetti Western theme with its acoustic guitar. It then transitions into strings with violins and celos dominating for the rest of the track and becoming the central core of the theme. All in all, it is a powerful and moving track. So, what's wrong?
Well, let me ask you, what exactly is "Wakandan" about the track? Where is the African motifs? Where are the African instruments? The entire track feels extremely European with European orchestral instruments. If you took this song out and placed it inside Thor or Ant-Man or Iron-Man would it feel out of place? Because, to me it most certainly would not. And, that's a lot of my problem with the BP score, too much of a Western European influence. Yes, there are some tracks that have quite a bit of African sounds and influence, but even they often become infected with European sounds. And, there simply aren't enough of these more African focused tracks. Now, I could understand of it was only Killmonger's tracks that have a sort of European influence to them since he grew up in the West, but not T'Challa and all of Wakanda.
And, I think this is emphasized especially in the video above when he talks about the "Wakanda" track. He talks about the W. African drums which starts out the track that become heavier and heavier. And then, he states that he brings in some horns to give it that "Royal" feel to match T'Challa as King. Now, this is extremely important when the composer thinks "Royal" he thinks European horns. I repeat, when the composer thinks Royal, he thinks EUROPEAN HORNS. That's all that needs to be said about the track and my disappointment with its musical choices. Why are European horns which were used to announce the heralding of royalty being used to herald in an African King? An African King of a Nation that is isolationist and was never conquered by the West.
Please...
