Wakanda Reigns

The soundtrack to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever launches at No. 1 on World Albums with 12,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending Nov. 10, according to Luminate. The arrival occurs as the film, released by Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, rules the U.S. box office thanks to a $180 million haul in its opening weekend (Nov. 11-13), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The album includes the long-awaited return of Rihanna (above). “Lift Me Up,” her first solo release since 2016, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Nov. 12.

Unlike the film’s 2018 predecessor, with its soundtrack executive-produced by Kendrick Lamar, no one act shapes Wakanda Forever. Instead, the album boasts global talent that crisscrosses sounds, including Afrobeats and several songs in Spanish, with work from artists such as Burna Boy, Future, Stormzy, Snow Tha Product and Tems. The lattermost’s cover of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ “No Woman No Cry” jumps 31-9 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.