The past few months have seen the long-awaited slave period film Birth of a Nationmired in controversy. Nate Parker, the film’s creator, lead actor and co-writer, has had quite the task escaping the cloud cast by his past acquittal of a college year rape accusation and all but saw the buzz of his Sundance Film Festival darling halted. To add valleys to the uphill battle, Parker’s rendition of the story of Nat Turner has also been met with a plethora of mixed reviews. For what the movie may lack, The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album offers up a suitable alternative.
Boasting of a laundry list of Hip Hop’s elite and R&B stars, the original soundtrack seamlessly mixes artists across multiple rap subgenres to create a sonic experimentation of music that spits in the face of sedition. Lecrae and Leon Bridges embody the film’s rebellious persona with their own haunting, organ-backed and percussion laced opus “On My Own.” Lecrae preaches the plight of our ancestors with powerful bars “I’ve been pushing hard/I’ve been praying harder/Only Heaven can help me/They took my Earthly father/Mama they promised me death and walked me into my grave/I’d rather die a free man than live on Earth a slave/I’m fighting for people they put in chains/they stripped our heritage they took our names/Put our women to shame.”
Vic Mensa opens the project with the same militancy on the handclap-powered “Go Tell ‘Em,” as the Roc Nation star proclaims, “But we still can’t cross the street without the police trying to Zimmer-Man us while the Neighborhood Watch,” with the choir professing lines such as “I see the future Martin Luther dreamt when he was a man.” The pain and anguish of America’s black stain is impressively captured by K. Michelle on “Forward” as she gracefully belts “Pain ain’t a choice, it’s a feeling when there’s no way out.” Over beautifully placed keys, she continues with “Trust is a verb, not a feeling, that will let you down” and “There’s a life for every reason and my life is no different from yours.”
As the album nears the finish line, Nas eloquently sums up the thoughts of every African American on “War.” With poignant lyrics such as “I’m a man of God but where’s Christ at” and “I’m about to show you what I’m made of/I’m what racists are afraid of/no mule and no 40 acres and despite that, watch out for the traitors so when they say make American great again do they mean make us all slaves again, don’t be sidetracked” Nas is in his political element.
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Although sixteen tracks of the same focal subject matter can be overbearing, The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album displays the power of protest art. When there’s a cause greater than ourselves, Hip Hop and R&B stars from Gucci Mane, Ne-Yo, 2 Chainz, Trey Songz and Anthony Hamilton can unite for an entertaining piece of work meant to shine light on not only the film but the plight of the modern day African American. The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album displays the type of cohesiveness all conceptual albums aim to create but generally fall short. Atlantic Records should be proud.
