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Writer's pictureCharles Luberisse
Feb 14, 20214 min read

Album Review: Judas The Black Messiah (The Inspired Album)

Written By: Mike Double G

 

Grade = 75.00% or 3.5 ⭐️


  1. Cointelpro/Dec 4 (Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.)

  2. Fight For You (H.E.R.) ❌

  3. EPMD (Nas Feat. Hit-Boy) ⭐️

  4. Welcome To America (Black Thought) ✅

  5. What It Feels Like (Nipsey Hussle & JAY-Z) ⭐️

  6. Broad Day (Hit-Boy) ✅

  7. Plead The .45th (Smino & Saba) ❌

  8. Somethin’ Ain’t Right (Masego Feat. JID & Rapsody) ✅

  9. Letter 2 U (BJ the Chicago Kid) ❌

  10. On Your Mind (Lil Durk) ⭐️

  11. Appraise (White Dave Feat. Hit-Boy) ✅

  12. All Black (G-Herbo) ⭐️

  13. I Declare War (Nardo Wick) ❌

  14. No Profanity (Pooh Shiesty) ⭐️

  15. Last Man Standing (Polo G) ⭐️

  16. Respect My Mind (Dom Kennedy) ⭐️

  17. Revolutionary (G-Herbo Feat. Bump J & Hit-Boy) ✅

  18. Teach Me (SiR) ❌

  19. Contagious (SAFE & Kiana Lede) ✅

  20. Rich N***a Problems (A$AP Rocky) ✅

  21. Outro

  22. Black Messiah (Rakim) [Bonus Track] ✅

Think of younger Chicago artist, older east coast artist, and Hit-Boy on the production. Now mix in political content along with some R&B songs and that’s what you have when listening to this soundtrack. That alone should make you want to listen to the album even if you didn’t see the movie.


This soundtrack has something for every kind of listener. If you like rap and R&B music you will find something on this album that you’ll like no matter how old you are. The younger artist include Polo G and Pooh Shiesty who are in there early 20s. You also get all time greats like Jay-Z and Rakim who are the oldest artist on the album being in there 50s. Since we have artist of all different ages on this project it gives you a good perspective on how the majority of African American people feel when it comes to the social injustices in our country. In particular on how the police look at you if your a black person in America.


With the movie taking place in Illinois they were able to recruit some of the biggest artist from Chicago. Arguably the top three from the Windy City. Lil Durk and Polo G each have a track to themselves while G-Herbo appears on two songs. While these artist are known for drill music you don’t get much of it besides the song All Black by G-Herbo. What you do it get is these guys showcasing there song writing ability.

One of the songs that stand out to is Last Man Standing by Polo G. He speaks on how the majority of police officers are prejudice towards black people. Some people are so scared of the police that they hesitate before walking outside. One line he says:

Cause I be damned if I let a pig put a fork in me. The feds knockin', that just mean the devil at the door for me.

Another great song that would be considered “radio friendly” is On Your Mind by Lil Durk. He speaks on how many people in the inner city are trapped so they turn to drugs as an outlet to deal with the pain they feel from the environment they are living in. In the first verse of this song Durk says:

The weed ain’t getting stronger so he fallin into crack. 9 to 45 on probation it’s a trap.

It should be noted that crack cocaine is found more in the inner city because the price is cheaper. Some would go as far to say that crack cocaine is a black persons drug while powered cocaine is a white persons drug. In reality, race has nothing to do with it. It depends on where you live and what your income level is. Although there is no chemical difference there was a time when the penalty for possessing crack cocaine was 100 times longer than the penalty of possessing powered cocaine. In 2010 President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. This reduced the penalty on crack cocaine. With out going into detail this Bill eliminated the mandatory five year sentence if you are found with crack cocaine. Most people found with the drug were users rather than dealers. These people need help for there addiction rather than punishment.

Getting back to the music...Lil Durk and Pooh Shiesty have done a lot of collaborating of late. With Shiesty being a young star on the rise he was was able to get a track on No Profanity. While he didn’t curse on the record Shiesty also has something to say about the police from his city. Pooh says that he was a arrested just based on the color of his skin. The exact lyrics were "Get locked up, unlucky ‘cause the color of my skin.” This is just another example that even in 2021 there is still a lot of racist people in our country. Pooh Shiesty is from Memphis and usually the farther south you go the more racist people you find.


Some other favorites on the soundtrack are What It Feels Like by the late Nipsey Hussle and Jay-Z. Also Nas and Hit-Boy reconnect on EPMD. Some other artist on this album include H.E.R., A$AP Rocky, JID, Black Thought, Dom Kennedy, and you can’t have a Chicago based album with out BJ The Chicago Kid. While there is a lot of star power this wasn’t the perfect album.


A couple negatives is that some of the R&B songs are a little boring. There are some songs that get a little dry. Also if you prefer fun music over lyrical content then this probably isn’t for you. It’s the kind of album that you have to pay attention to if your going to appreciate it. If you like political music with a message then this is something that you should check out.


Overall, I think this was a solid project with a lot of star features. Something I might even like more after I watch the movie. Based on the music alone I give this album a 3.5 ⭐️ rating or 75% overall.


Best Song = “On Your Mind” (Lil Durk)



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