Esham – Judgement Day Vol. 1 – Day (1992)

May 8, 2023

Judgment Day is probably my least favourite of the early Esham records, but that’s moreso because the other stuff just beyond kills it, rather than Judgement Day being particularily awful or anything like that. Hey, releasing a double album as your second record is a bold move especially when you consider how fast and loose Boomin’ Words From Hell is. Judgement Day is a step forward to the man’s known signature acid rap sound, but contains that hideous early production that we both know and love (lol). I mean, coming back to Esham after not listening for a long time and the reaction is something like “damn, that production is fucking nasty”, but give it a few minutes and you are immersed in the filthy distorted beats and twisted lyrics. It’s great.

Personally, I think the songs on the second part of Judgement Day are better, but there are some belters here too, “Nine Dead Bodies”, and then four in a row, “How Do I Plead To Homocide”, “I’d Rather Be Dead”, the surprisingly serious “Momma Was A Junkie” and the hilarious “Once You Go Black”, which is about introducing white girls to something that they uhhh, then can’t ever seem to get enough of afterward. Good ol’ Esham, you can always rely on him for some the silliest yet most entertaining XXX rhymes.

Great, dank, underground shit.