It was supported by "Shiny Suit Theory", featuring vocals from Jay-Z and The-Dream, released in November 2010 and rereleased as a single on Tidal in September 2018.

The album received widespread acclaim from music critics, praising Jay Electronica's rapping and production, though certain controversial lyrics have been characterized as anti-Semitic.

[4] In February 2010, Jay Electronica stated that he was planning collaborative projects with American rappers Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco, and Nas.

[4] In November 2010, American rapper Jay-Z signed Jay Electronica to his record label Roc Nation and they released their first collaborative song, entitled "Shiny Suit Theory".

[2] The track list included guest appearances from Jay-Z, fellow rappers Kanye West and Sean Combs, American singer The-Dream, and English-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, among others.

[9][b] The track "The Neverending Story" was produced by American musician the Alchemist three to four years prior to A Written Testimony, as a result of a trip he took to Argentina with rapper Eminem.

[20] Clash described the track as reminiscent of Jay Electronica's previous releases, noting the "unusual production, demo-like mixing and the MCs vocals front-and-centre.

[20][21] William E. Ketchum III, writing for Vibe, described "The Neverending Story" as including "a somber, piano-laced Alchemist beat".

[24] On "Universal Soldier", Jay-Z expresses feeling unloved through a comparison of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar to Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur.

[23] "Fruit of the Spirit" is a solo track[14] that is political in nature, with Jay Electronica discussing the Flint water crisis, fake news, the Underground Railroad, African-American Muslims, and globalization.

[9] In anticipation of the album's release, record producer Young Guru posted a picture of himself in the studio with the aforementioned, Jay-Z, and Lawrence "Law" Parker on March 10, 2020.

[26] Tidal planned to host the listening parties on March 12 of that year in Los Angeles, New York City, and Jay Electronica's hometown of New Orleans.

[32] On November 15, 2010, Jay Electronica released his first collaborative song with Jay-Z and The-Dream entitled "Shiny Suit Theory" after signing to Roc Nation.

[5][34] In July 2012, a track list for Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn) was revealed that included a song titled "Dinner at Tiffanys (The Shiny Suit Theory)", featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jay-Z, and The-Dream.

[37] Grove praised the album as "one hell of a promising effort that was well worth the wait," further stating, "The skillset of Jay Electronica as both an MC and a producer is on full display, even when he does seemingly play Robin to Jay-Z's Dark Knight on his own project.

hailed it as "a solid effort that makes good on promises set by Electronica's earlier work: thumping, vintage beats; dense rhymes that shimmer with vivid imagery; clever references to the Nation of Islam.

"[39] HipHopDX's Brody Kenny felt that the album was worth the anticipation, describing it as a "summation of why so many people have revered Jay Electronica for so long.

"[14] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Marcus J. Moore called it "an accomplished album with decent rewind factor, but it feels somewhat hampered by the seismic impact of the rapper's work a decade ago.

"[19] In his review for NME, Dhruva Balram noted that Jay Electronica and Jay-Z "exchange epic verses in a style that's inevitably similar to Raekwon and Ghostface Killah on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx," however, he concluded that the album "is nothing spectacular; it won't shift or affect cultural discourse.

"[18] Robert Christgau named "Ezekial's Wheel" and "Ghost of Soulja Slim" as highlights and said in summation, "He's good and then some, absolutely, but after all these years he has more to say about the prophet, who is himself, than to his flock, whoever that may be, and though the label owner's cameos are why we're here, respect to Farrakhan for his class-conscious rap".

[54] FNR Tigg of Complex defended "The Ghost of Soulja Slim", writing that the particular line was not anti-Semitic but that Jay Electronica was "finding a clever way to vent about a personal vendetta he had against [Rothschild] who he feels aided in helping the media assassinate his character.

"[54] In an article about alleged antisemitic aspects of the album, Lee Harpin of The Jewish Chronicle noted the lyrics "Satan struck Palestine with yet another mortar" from the track "Fruits of the Spirit".

[16] Harpin, along with Gabe Friedman of The Jerusalem Post, highlighted the album's inclusion of vocals from Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam who has been labelled as an extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center due to anti-Semitic and black supremacist views.