Ludwig Goransson

Growing up in Sweden, musical education is something really special. There are music schools everywhere, and the education is very advanced.

As a kid growing up in Sweden loving American music, I always dreamt of migrating here and working with brilliant artists like Donald Glover.

Growing up, I was listening to a lot of Metallica, a lot of instrumental guitar music because I started out as a guitar player.

I was able to learn a new language - a new musical language is learning a new language, because it's so extremely different from Western classical music. African music is completely different.

For the score of 'Black Panther,' the heart and soul came from immersing myself in the rich musical history of the griots in West Africa. I was following these brilliant musicians all over rural Senegal, learning their musical language.

I love learning new things.

So much music in Africa was created for specific moments, written for rituals or for a funeral or for challenges, thousands of years ago, and these rhythms are still used.

Words fail to express how surreal and humbling it feels to be invited into the 'Star Wars' universe.

I think to try to make new music and new ideas, you have to push the boundaries of existing music.

The through line of the way I like to work, what makes me different, and what I like to do for every project - although they are completely different from each other - is I like to do a lot of research and create a unique landscape and unique soundscape for each movie.

I was drawn to West Africa. I did listen to a bunch of different styles of African music, and there was something about the percussion and the drums of West Africa, and the energy, that felt so cinematic to me.

One of the instruments that really stuck out to me was the talking drum, which is basically the first type of communication device. It's a drum you put on your shoulder, and you can pitch it with your arm, and you can 'talk' with it.