Judas & The Black Messiah: The Inspired Album CD

COINTELPRO was a conspiracy by the FBI to assassinate, libel, and sabotage black political agitators in the USA from the mid-1950s to the early 70s. In many areas, they were successful in their attempts to murder their political rivals for, quote, “maintaining the existing social and political order” - indeed, the state’s most prominent killing was that of Fred Hampton, the Chicago deputy chairman of the Black Panthers. ‘Judas And The Black Messiah’ is director Shaka King’s depiction of this history, first released in 2021. The film was soundtracked by the likes of Jay-Z, Polo G, Pooh Shiesty, Black Thought, Smino and Rakim - a landmark in black film soundtracks, this album joins together influences from political hip-hop, R&B and jazz. Ironically for a film about a Leninist, it deploys some of the most capitalist-minded hip-hop artists out there today - but that doesn’t detract from its intrinsic sonic value, which leans mainly towards bangers.