Nipsey Hussle and Jay-Z recorded this for Judas and the Black Messiah: The Inspired Album, a 22-track record accompanying the movie of that name. Judas and the Black Messiah is a biographical drama about Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Black Panther Party, who became a martyr when he was killed at 21. The album links the Black experience of the late 1960s to modern times.
Jay-Z entered this world on December 4, 1969 - the same day Fred Hampton was shot and killed in his bed during a predawn police raid at his Chicago apartment. During his verse, Hova interpolates a line from his 2011 The Throne track with Kanye West, "Murder to Excellence." I arrived on the day Fred Hampton died After Jay and Kanye dropped The Throne, Hampton's son, Fred Hampton Jr., complained about the rapper not referring to his father's killing as an assassination. The Brooklyn-born artist takes the opportunity on "What It Feels Like" to amend it. I arrived on the day Fred Hampton got mur..., hol' up Assassinated, just to clarify further
The song features a posthumous verse and hook from Nipsey Hussle, who was fatally shot in front of his LA Marathon Clothing store on March 31, 2019. Like Hampton, Nipsey was a leader in his community before his untimely passing.
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