Right as Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne’s “Oh Lord” gets released, Pusha T, Meek Mill, and Priscilla Renea team up on “Black Moses,” another cut off The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album.
Backed by potent percussion and Renea’s soulful voice, Pusha T powerfully rhymes from a runaway slave’s perspective on his verse.
“They’ll just beat me ’til the sin is off or my skin is off,” he raps. “Some tried to run, they got tracked down, now our limit’s off / I’m just tryna find the North / Let the stars design the course / Hope the mud can hide my scent, pray the night can slow they horse.”
But before it’s over, Pusha offers some hope through the despair: “Got me shackled up in chains / Even made me change my name / But they couldn’t trap my mind, this cry for freedom ain’t in vain.”
Meek Mill carries the theme over onto his verse. “All them days, man, my body hurt,” he raps. “Locked my brothers all up in the cage / And we turn to prayer, hoping God will work.”
The concept-driven track for The Birth of a Nation follows the theme of the film, which is based on the historic Nat Turner-led slave rebellion of 1831.
The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album — featuring Vic Mensa, 2 Chainz, Lecrae, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, Wale, Anthony Hamilton, The Game, K. Michelle, and Nas, among others — arrives Friday (Sept. 30), while the movie hits theaters Oct. 7.