''Judas and the Black Messiah'' is the soundtrack to the identically named 2021 biographical crime-drama film. Two soundtracks — ''Judas and the Black Messiah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'', consisting of film score composed by

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic music, electronic. He is also a prolific and acclaimed composer of Film ...

and

Craig Harris Craig S. Harris (born September 10, 1953) is an American jazz trombonist, who started working with Sun Ra in 1976. He also has worked with Abdullah Ibrahim, David Murray (saxophonist), David Murray, Lester Bowie, Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers (jazz ...

, and ''Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album'', consisting of incorporated film songs, were released by

WaterTower Music WaterTower Music Inc. (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

on February 12, 2021, the same day as the film's theatrical and premium

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

release on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

. The soundtrack and score received positive critical acclaim. The original song " Fight for You", which was featured in the film score album, won the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

at the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...

''Judas and the Black Messiah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)''

The film's score was composed by

and

The Inflated Tear ''The Inflated Tear'' is a studio album by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Roland Kirk, released on Atlantic Records, Atlantic in 1968. It was re-released in 1998 by Rhino Entertainment, Rhino featuring a bonus track and extensive liner notes. In 2017, ''Pi ...

is a

Roland Kirk Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

track from 1968.

''Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album''

An accompanying 22-track music album titled ''Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album'' came out on the day of the film's digital release, with songs from many prominent rappers, such as

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop music, hip hop coll ...

and

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

, as well as a posthumous appearance by

Nipsey Hussle Ermias Joseph Asghedom (born Airmiess Joseph Asghedom; August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip-hop scene in the mid-20 ...

. ''The Inspired Album'', was later released through double vinyl by

Waxwork Records Waxwork Records is an American independent record label. It has released film scores and movie soundtracks on vinyl as well as comics. History Waxwork Records was founded in 2013 by Kevin Bergeron and Sue Ellen Soto. By 2015, it had re-re ...

on April 2, 2021. It features an original song titled " Fight for You" performed by

H.E.R. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her" and standing for "Having Everything Revealed") is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. She has won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Child ...

, who also co-wrote it with

D'Mile Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II (born January 24, 1985) is an American record producer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York City. He received his first production credits on Rihanna's 2005 album ''Music of the Sun'', as well as Mary J. Blige's '' The ...

and

Tiara Thomas Tiara Nicole Thomas (born September 12, 1989) is an American R&B singer. She is best known for her guest appearance on Wale's 2013 single "Bad", which peaked within the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and received triple platinum certifica ...

Reception

From the critical reviews for the soundtrack,

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned a score of 70/100. Clash, gave 9/10 to the soundtrack, stating a verdict: "An emphatic show of force that frequently taps into outright brilliance. As an album it's not without fault, but as a cultural event it's largely without peer." HiphopDX gave a mixed review saying "The Inspired Album could’ve benefited from more carefully curated content instead of some of the tone-deaf material that wound up on the project". Pitchfork stated "It’s hard to believe that the bulk of the project was inspired by anything that Hampton said. Instead, it exploits his image to peddle liberation-lite Billboard hits over anything remotely revolutionary. It’s not all terrible."

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{authority control 2021 soundtrack albums 2020s film soundtrack albums RCA Records albums WaterTower Music soundtracks Mark Isham soundtracks Craig Harris albums Pop soundtracks