All the Stars

Lore & Background

Kendrick Lamar first hinted at his involvement with the Black Panther soundtrack in the music video for his song "Love", released on December 22, 2017, which briefly showed a clapperboard reading "B.Panther Soundtrack Coming Soon". He announced his involvement on January 4, 2018, alongside the release of "All the Stars". Upon release, Lamar praised the film and its director, Ryan Coogler, stating he was honored to contribute to the project. The song received mixed critical reception: Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone praised Lamar's verse as "defiant" and SZA's as "enthralling", while Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork called it "generic" and "pales in comparison to recent works", though he complimented the performances and production. Billboard ranked it the 15th best song of 2018.

Reader's Guide

"All the Stars" is significant as the lead single for the Black Panther soundtrack, a landmark film in superhero cinema and African-American representation. The song's commercial success—peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching number one in several countries—demonstrated the broad appeal of the film's music. Its nominations at major award ceremonies, including the Golden Globes, Oscars, and Grammys, underscored its cultural impact. The music video, directed by Dave Meyers and the Little Homies, featured Afrocentric and Afrofuturistic imagery, referencing the Middle Passage and traditional African attire, though it faced a copyright infringement claim from artist Lina Iris Viktor, which was settled. The song's legacy includes its role in cementing Lamar and SZA as top-tier collaborators and its enduring popularity, with over 583 million YouTube views as of September 2025.

Did You Know?

• The song was released on January 5, 2018, the same day Top Dawg Entertainment announced Lamar and Anthony Tiffith would produce the Black Panther soundtrack.
• It was nominated for Best Original Song at both the 76th Golden Globe Awards and the 91st Academy Awards.
• In February 2018, British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor claimed her artwork was used in the video without permission; a settlement was reached in December 2018.

Origins & the Black Panther Connection

Lamar first signaled his involvement with the Black Panther soundtrack in an almost accidental way. In the music video for "Love," released on December 22, 2017, a clapperboard briefly appears around the one-minute-fifty-four mark bearing the words "B.Panther Soundtrack Coming Soon." The following day, January 4, 2018, he made the announcement official alongside the release of "All the Stars," which hit listeners on January 5 as the lead single for the film's soundtrack. The project carried particular weight because director Ryan Coogler personally selected Lamar to helm the album's production, a choice Marvel Studios confirmed publicly. Top Dawg Entertainment's president Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith joined Lamar on the production side, and the songwriting credits include Tiffith along with producers Sounwave and Al Shux. Upon release, Lamar expressed deep gratitude, describing the film as a "great marriage of art and culture" and saying he felt honored to contribute his craft alongside Coogler and Marvel's vision. The track ultimately earned a spot in the movie's end credits, cementing its place as the sonic signature of the film.

Critical Reception & the Award Trail

The critical response to "All the Stars" split along a familiar line: praise for the individual artistry versus skepticism about the song's broader ambition. Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone lauded Lamar's verse as "defiant" and called SZA's contribution "enthralling" and rich with "vocal turns." Sheldon Pearce of Pitchfork, by contrast, found the track "generic" and argued it "pales in comparison" to both artists' recent solo work. He described the lyrics as "full of heavy-handed plotting and everyman cliches," calling the song "nondescript" and suggesting it "reeks of compromise, devoid of personality or any true vision." Even while acknowledging the "slick production" and strong performances, Pearce concluded the track was "uncharacteristically conservative" for the pair, made "in service of a bigger picture." Despite the mixed critical verdict, the song's institutional recognition was substantial. It earned nominations at the 76th Golden Globes and the 91st Academy Awards for Best Original Song, collected four Grammy nominations including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and took home Best Song from the African-American Film Critics Association. Billboard later ranked it the fifteenth-best song of 2018.

Chart Performance & Global Footprint

"All the Stars" climbed steadily on American charts, debuting at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending January 20, 2018, before reaching a peak of number seven by the week ending March 3. That made it Lamar's second top-ten single of 2018, following his collaboration with the Weeknd on "Pray for Me," and SZA's second top-ten hit after "What Lovers Do" with Maroon 5. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the track debuted at number 19, held a top-20 position for three consecutive weeks, and ultimately climbed to number five by its fifth week. Its international reach was even more striking. The song claimed the number-one spot in Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, and Slovakia, while landing in the top ten across Australia, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In France and Brazil, it earned diamond-level certification, a testament to sustained streaming and sales well beyond its initial release window.

The Music Video & Visual Legacy

Directed by Dave Meyers and the Little Homies, the music video was filmed in January 2018 and uploaded to Lamar's Vevo channel on February 6. Its visual language deliberately echoes the Afrocentric and Afrofuturist aesthetic of the Black Panther film. The opening sequence evokes the Middle Passage, while the video weaves in imagery of Fulani hats, La Sape, Pantsula, Kufi caps, traditional African masks, and a Kandake figure in the closing moments. One standout passage shows Lamar walking alongside several panthers, a direct nod to the soundtrack album's identity. The video's craftsmanship earned it the Best Visual Effects award at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, and as of September 2025 it has surpassed 583 million views on YouTube. Not without controversy, the video also drew a copyright claim in February 2018 from British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor, who alleged that images of her 24-karat gold patterned artwork appeared without permission; a settlement was reached in principle by December 20. The song's live life continued into 2025, when Lamar and SZA performed it during the fifth act of their co-headlining Grand National Tour, each standing at opposite ends of a runway as platforms beneath them rose into the air.

Gallery