West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => West Coast Classics => Topic started by: TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96' on April 20, 2007, 06:15:36 AM
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It came out in an era (the mid-90's) when West Coast gangsta rap was on top of the industry. A lot of rappers were promoting criminal lifestyles, and that was the stuff that was hot and fans were used to hearing.
Well... Ras was really clever. Because he was far too intelligent to just do what everyone else was doing, and at the same time, he wasn't a self-righteous conscious rapper like a Talib Kweli type (nothing wrong with Talib, it's just that in the mid-90's rap climate on the West Coast you couldn't get away with puttin out a record like Reflection Eternal, which was a great record too, btw, although different time and place)...
Anyway, so somehow, Rass had to come up with a way to be West Coast and hardcore, and still at the same time take it to another level and express his great artistic intelligence....
So what did he make the cornerstone of the subject matter for his album?...
White Collar Crime!
Pretty clever idea, in my opinion. Not many rap records have done it. So it still came off hardcore like the other West Coast records at the time, and fans were hearing about the criminal lifestyle... however, it was all about white collar crime.
Even his single, "Miami Life" is all about government and police corruption involved in the Florida drug trade. Also, tracks like "Anything Goes" he says, Big Bank take little Bank, Anything Goes... talking about corruption the corruption and exploitation commited by the powerful and wealthy. "Order Out of Chaos" mentions the larger game plan that big bussiness and government have executed against black people to keep them confined and subjagated, with mentions of Freemasonry, the S&L scandels..
Then he offers personal examples of his own life where he has been the victim of such grand schemes mentioned above, on tracks like "Reelyshm" and "Evil That Men Do"... where he writes autobiographically after going to prison saying.. "I'm looking at myself and seeing every other nigga I knew/ It's the Evil That Men Do!"
Classic Album.
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"Learn how to spell a nigga name" - The Game
It's Ras Kass fool.
Anyways, it's a classic to me, except for the racist comments on white people. But yeah it's classic to me as well. Great tracks, smooth, raw producing and cleverly put together lyrics. 8)
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Yeah it is a dope album. Ahead of its time lyrically.
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I was expecting you to say "BECAUSE HE'S MUSLIM!"
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soul on ice blows me away. ras kass's lyrically can shit on the best of the east and he doesn't lose his realness and in fact his mind makes him realer. i like the simple raw production too personally although ive heard other people complain about it.
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soul on ice blows me away. ras kass's lyrically can shit on the best of the east and he doesn't lose his realness and in fact his mind makes him realer. i like the simple raw production too personally although ive heard other people complain about it.
Word.. the critics were saying that the beats and hooks on his first album were weak.. but sometimes less is more, and I think the beats were perfect for his rhymes and subject matter.
Then, the second album he tried to upgrade and make the beats more elaborate, and his subject matter was more mainstream.. and I didn't connect with that album on a personal level; although it was still dope cause dude has skills regardless.
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soul on ice blows me away. ras kass's lyrically can shit on the best of the east and he doesn't lose his realness and in fact his mind makes him realer. i like the simple raw production too personally although ive heard other people complain about it.
Word.. the critics were saying that the beats and hooks on his first album were weak.. but sometimes less is more, and I think the beats were perfect for his rhymes and subject matter.
Then, the second album he tried to upgrade and make the beats more elaborate, and his subject matter was more mainstream.. and I didn't connect with that album on a personal level; although it was still dope cause dude has skills regardless.
You can't tell me you could connect to the racist statements made on Soul On Ice, that is bullshit, since you are white to. If you listen to that and don't feel anything when listening it's either one out of 2 things (if not both):
1. You don't respect yourself.
2. You're stupid.
Once again, it's a real cool album but i am gettin' kinda tired of rapper's reverse racism. They want "black" people to get treated better yet every chance they get they go at "white" people. These rappers have a big influence on kids (as well as a part of the "grown-ups"), and many kids see them as their idols who they should follow, but yet these dudes can't seem to give a good message for once. It is not about black and white, it's all about money, and no matter how wrong that is, we all keep that together by basically live toget money, do anything to get your hands on that scrilla. So yeah, blaming other races/nationalities/religions etc. is just a stupid act which shows the rapper's opinion is mad biased and he takes the easy way of blaming someone else and forget about himself.
Now back to the topic, the raw beats and tight lyrics on Soul On Ice make it what it is. If he had used "better" producers the sound would have been different to it, and maybe we wouldn't be talking about that album right now. The whole raw, simple feel to Soul On Ice made it what it is, period.
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You can't tell me you could connect to the racist statements made on Soul On Ice, that is bullshit, since you are white to. If you listen to that and don't feel anything when listening it's either one out of 2 things (if not both):
1. You don't respect yourself.
2. You're stupid.
Once again, it's a real cool album but i am gettin' kinda tired of rapper's reverse racism. They want "black" people to get treated better yet every chance they get they go at "white" people. These rappers have a big influence on kids (as well as a part of the "grown-ups"), and many kids see them as their idols who they should follow, but yet these dudes can't seem to give a good message for once. It is not about black and white, it's all about money, and no matter how wrong that is, we all keep that together by basically live toget money, do anything to get your hands on that scrilla. So yeah, blaming other races/nationalities/religions etc. is just a stupid act which shows the rapper's opinion is mad biased and he takes the easy way of blaming someone else and forget about himself.
Now back to the topic, the raw beats and tight lyrics on Soul On Ice make it what it is. If he had used "better" producers the sound would have been different to it, and maybe we wouldn't be talking about that album right now. The whole raw, simple feel to Soul On Ice made it what it is, period.
The reason why it doesn't bother me is simple, I have no racial pride. Also, whenever I have gone through hard times in my life white people have never helped me, it's always been somebody non-white who has given me knowledge to rise above my situation. So I have no loyalty towards whites.
Ras Kass' commentary on race relations throughout the album is partly what makes the album great. "Nature of the Threat" is one of the most spectacular hip-hop tracks ever recorded, and it is also a song that stirred my interest towards Islam back when I was still an atheist.
Ras spits venom against a system that had him locked up and in prison at age 18. He tells the story Evil That Men Do saying "I look at myself and see every other nigger I knew". The problems he was talking about are widespread in the black community. He breaks it down in order and chaos when he says, "I don't eat swine and beat the shit out of skinheads/ but where's my piece of mind, huh/ leasin a lex on credit/ all the liquor and pussy a nigger can get/ put the puzzle together but the pieces won't fit!"
That shit is deep, and it is way real. He's talking about how so many black people are pacified with liquor and pussy but they never have any peace of mind.
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You can't tell me you could connect to the racist statements made on Soul On Ice, that is bullshit, since you are white to. If you listen to that and don't feel anything when listening it's either one out of 2 things (if not both):
1. You don't respect yourself.
2. You're stupid.
Once again, it's a real cool album but i am gettin' kinda tired of rapper's reverse racism. They want "black" people to get treated better yet every chance they get they go at "white" people. These rappers have a big influence on kids (as well as a part of the "grown-ups"), and many kids see them as their idols who they should follow, but yet these dudes can't seem to give a good message for once. It is not about black and white, it's all about money, and no matter how wrong that is, we all keep that together by basically live toget money, do anything to get your hands on that scrilla. So yeah, blaming other races/nationalities/religions etc. is just a stupid act which shows the rapper's opinion is mad biased and he takes the easy way of blaming someone else and forget about himself.
Now back to the topic, the raw beats and tight lyrics on Soul On Ice make it what it is. If he had used "better" producers the sound would have been different to it, and maybe we wouldn't be talking about that album right now. The whole raw, simple feel to Soul On Ice made it what it is, period.
The reason why it doesn't bother me is simple, I have no racial pride. Also, whenever I have gone through hard times in my life white people have never helped me, it's always been somebody non-white who has given me knowledge to rise above my situation. So I have no loyalty towards whites.
Ras Kass' commentary on race relations throughout the album is partly what makes the album great. "Nature of the Threat" is one of the most spectacular hip-hop tracks ever recorded, and it is also a song that stirred my interest towards Islam back when I was still an atheist.
Ras spits venom against a system that had him locked up and in prison at age 18. He tells the story Evil That Men Do saying "I look at myself and see every other nigger I knew". The problems he was talking about are widespread in the black community. He breaks it down in order and chaos when he says, "I don't eat swine and beat the shit out of skinheads/ but where's my piece of mind, huh/ leasin a lex on credit/ all the liquor and pussy a nigger can get/ put the puzzle together but the pieces won't fit!"
That shit is deep, and it is way real. He's talking about how so many black people are pacified with liquor and pussy but they never have any peace of mind.
Did you know Ras Kass killed someone in a car accident where he was guilty of cause he was drunk?
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Did you know Ras Kass killed someone in a car accident where he was guilty of cause he was drunk?
Yes. He talks about it in "The Evil That Men Do". Whiich, again, this is what makes the album so dope, is that Ras expresses so much of his personal life and emotions throughout the album. It's one of the realest albums ever. It's no image, because when you got lyrics like Ras Kass does, you don't need image to sell records, you can be yourself.
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Did you know Ras Kass killed someone in a car accident where he was guilty of cause he was drunk?
Yes. He talks about it in "The Evil That Men Do". Whiich, again, this is what makes the album so dope, is that Ras expresses so much of his personal life and emotions throughout the album. It's one of the realest albums ever. It's no image, because when you got lyrics like Ras Kass does, you don't need image to sell records, you can be yourself.
How can you see things like this if you knew?
Ras spits venom against a system that had him locked up and in prison at age 18.
That shit is deep, and it is way real. He's talking about how so many black people are pacified with liquor and pussy but they never have any peace of mind.
He killed a innocent person just cause he couldn't leave the bottle alone, so how can you talk all that stuff, it's a good album, but you just on his nuts cause he is against white people. One again shows me your limited thinking capacity.
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He killed a innocent person just cause he couldn't leave the bottle alone, so how can you talk all that stuff, it's a good album, but you just on his nuts cause he is against white people. One again shows me your limited thinking capacity.
So you think that if someone makes a mistake when they are 18, then immediately any thing they create after that is worthless. If that's the case, then alot of the greatest men in history (like Malcolm X) would be worthless.
Also, my second point is that this dude is an artist. So as an artist, his goal is to make great art, not stay out of trouble. In fact, the mistakes he has made has only allowed him to produce an even better album, because it gave him material to write about.
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He killed a innocent person just cause he couldn't leave the bottle alone, so how can you talk all that stuff, it's a good album, but you just on his nuts cause he is against white people. One again shows me your limited thinking capacity.
So you think that if someone makes a mistake when they are 18, then immediately any thing they create after that is worthless. If that's the case, then alot of the greatest men in history (like Malcolm X) would be worthless.
Ras Kass just got out of prison a year and a half ago for multiple DUIs.
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Ras Kass just got out of prison a year and a half ago for multiple DUIs.
Good.. now he'll have more material to write about again, and he might come up with another dope album. Also, he may have been hanging with the Muslims in prison like before, and it may have elevated him spritually.
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Ras Kass just got out of prison a year and a half ago for multiple DUIs.
Good.. now he'll have more material to write about again, and he might come up with another dope album. Also, he may have been hanging with the Muslims in prison like before, and it may have elevated him spritually.
::)
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Ras Kass just got out of prison a year and a half ago for multiple DUIs.
Good.. now he'll have more material to write about again, and he might come up with another dope album. Also, he may have been hanging with the Muslims in prison like before, and it may have elevated him spritually.
It's a miracle he has only killed one person and you think his drinking problem is good? And you're a muslim?
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Islam has blinded him, or was it the slaps in his face by his father?? ::)
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It's a miracle he has only killed one person and you think his drinking problem is good? And you're a muslim?
I don't think his drinking problem is good.. but I do think his great talent and ability to express the effects of his drinking problem is good.. because in his song, "The Evil That Men Do" he explains how a series of events lead him down the path that so many others have unfortunately fallen into, a path of drug and alcohol abuse, crime, and inprisonment.. he says in the song.. "I'm looking at the mirror and seeing every other nigger I knew/ It's the Evil That Men Do". That makes for a very introspective track, one of the most personal I've ever heard.
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Why don't you guys tell me about the rappers you listen to who rap about never making mistakes and the fun they had going out to boy scout camp and baking cookies?
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It's a miracle he has only killed one person and you think his drinking problem is good? And you're a muslim?
I don't think his drinking problem is good.. but I do think his great talent and ability to express the effects of his drinking problem is good.. because in his song, "The Evil That Men Do" he explains how a series of events lead him down the path that so many others have unfortunately fallen into, a path of drug and alcohol abuse, crime, and inprisonment.. he says in the song.. "I'm looking at the mirror and seeing every other nigger I knew/ It's the Evil That Men Do". That makes for a very introspective track, one of the most personal I've ever heard.
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Why don't you guys tell me about the rappers you listen to who rap about never making mistakes and the fun they had going out to boy scout camp and baking cookies?
So he makes a song about how fucked up his life is because of alcohol, yet he still is a very heavy drinker. Sounds like he is making excuses to me. Making a song about his problem and actually doing something fix the problem are two entirely different things. Rappers do dirt no question about it, but there is a big line between doing dirt and vehicular manslaughter.
And weren't you the one who praised the Minnesota muslim taxi drivers for protesting fares with alcohol? You are just as confused as Rassy is.
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So he makes a song about how fucked up his life is because of alcohol, yet he still is a very heavy drinker. Sounds like he is making excuses to me. Making a song about his problem and actually doing something fix the problem are two entirely different things. Rappers do dirt no question about it, but there is a big line between doing dirt and vehicular manslaughter.
And weren't you the one who praised the Minnesota muslim taxi drivers for protesting fares with alcohol? You are just as confused as Rassy is.
Ras Kass put his story out there for people to learn from, relate to, or otherwise he just did it himself because it was therapuetic. The point is, if you could relate to it, or you enjoyed the song then that's cool.... but somebody like you is too brief and narrow minded to understand.
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So he makes a song about how fucked up his life is because of alcohol, yet he still is a very heavy drinker. Sounds like he is making excuses to me. Making a song about his problem and actually doing something fix the problem are two entirely different things. Rappers do dirt no question about it, but there is a big line between doing dirt and vehicular manslaughter.
And weren't you the one who praised the Minnesota muslim taxi drivers for protesting fares with alcohol? You are just as confused as Rassy is.
Ras Kass put his story out there for people to learn from, relate to, or otherwise he just did it himself because it was therapuetic. The point is, if you could relate to it, or you enjoyed the song then that's cool.... but somebody like you is too brief and narrow minded to understand.
You know nothing about me. Just because we don't agree doesn't mean my points aren't valid or that you know more than me. I do like some of Ras Kass's music, but the fact of the matter is he should at least try to stop drinking or driving after drinking instead of doing again and again and again and again, then go to jail for a year and a half almost a decade after he initially wrote the track. It's very contradictory of the tracks meaning.
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He contradicts himself to a very very high degree with everything he does, wether it's this drinking & driving stuff, the game beef, makin' music with white people while discriminating them on tracks etc. His music is cool, but as a person he is very weak to me, dude seems hella confused in life and can't make any choices, he says one thing, then the next day he does something which makes that statement complete trash.
I like Soul On Ice for it's lyrical content, but Ras Kass has no personality.
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+1 xander
+1 infinite
my homies, chill
-T
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You know nothing about me. Just because we don't agree doesn't mean my points aren't valid or that you know more than me. I do like some of Ras Kass's music, but the fact of the matter is he should at least try to stop drinking or driving after drinking instead of doing again and again and again and again, then go to jail for a year and a half almost a decade after he initially wrote the track. It's very contradictory of the tracks meaning.
Have you even listened to the song?
There is nothing contradictory in it. The song is not about him saying, "Ohh I made mistakes, but now I'm going to change my lie and live righteous." The song isn't like that at all. The song is about him expressing how he ended up looking at his life and "seeing every other nigger he knew".. he was expressing what it was like for him growing up, and how before even turning 19 his life had already been nearly destroyed.
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He contradicts himself to a very very high degree with everything he does, wether it's this drinking & driving stuff, the game beef, makin' music with white people while discriminating them on tracks etc. His music is cool, but as a person he is very weak to me, dude seems hella confused in life and can't make any choices, he says one thing, then the next day he does something which makes that statement complete trash.
I like Soul On Ice for it's lyrical content, but Ras Kass has no personality.
I don't think ya'll really listened to the album. There's nothing contradictory at all. He's not a self-righteous rapper like Mos Def, Common, or Talib Kweli.
He never says on the album, "Ohh, I made a mistake, I'm turning my life over to Allah, and I'm going to live a righteous and clean life"... he never ascribes any purity to himself.
He actually does the opposite. You said he is confused, WELL HE ALSO CALLS HIMSELF CONFUSED ON THE ALBUM! On Order Our Of Chaos he says, "where's my piece of mind, huh? a swiss watch/ leasing a lex on credit/ all the liquor and pussy a nigger can get/ Put my pieces together but my puzzle won't FIT!" He expresses how his life is messed up, he never claims to be reliigious or pure.
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You know nothing about me. Just because we don't agree doesn't mean my points aren't valid or that you know more than me. I do like some of Ras Kass's music, but the fact of the matter is he should at least try to stop drinking or driving after drinking instead of doing again and again and again and again, then go to jail for a year and a half almost a decade after he initially wrote the track. It's very contradictory of the tracks meaning.
Have you even listened to the song?
There is nothing contradictory in it. The song is not about him saying, "Ohh I made mistakes, but now I'm going to change my lie and live righteous." The song isn't like that at all. The song is about him expressing how he ended up looking at his life and "seeing every other nigger he knew".. he was expressing what it was like for him growing up, and how before even turning 19 his life had already been nearly destroyed.
Yes I have heard the song. I have the entire album on my hard drive.
Okay okay, so in your eyes, he made the song about his life almost being destroyed because he did something stupid. I can live with that. But the one question I have is, why does he keep doing the same thing that makes him feel like every other person in the hood?
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Yes I have heard the song. I have the entire album on my hard drive.
Okay okay, so in your eyes, he made the song about his life almost being destroyed because he did something stupid. I can live with that. But the one question I have is, why does he keep doing the same thing that makes him feel like every other person in the hood?
That's a question affecting so many different people's lives from so many different backgrounds. How come we can't break cycles of undesireable behaivor's and addictions? This is a worldwide dilemna affecting millions. Ras is no different.
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The reason why it doesn't bother me is simple, I have no racial pride. Also, whenever I have gone through hard times in my life white people have never helped me, it's always been somebody non-white who has given me knowledge to rise above my situation. So I have no loyalty towards whites.
Ras Kass' commentary on race relations throughout the album is partly what makes the album great. "Nature of the Threat" is one of the most spectacular hip-hop tracks ever recorded, and it is also a song that stirred my interest towards Islam back when I was still an atheist.
Ras spits venom against a system that had him locked up and in prison at age 18. He tells the story Evil That Men Do saying "I look at myself and see every other nigger I knew". The problems he was talking about are widespread in the black community. He breaks it down in order and chaos when he says, "I don't eat swine and beat the shit out of skinheads/ but where's my piece of mind, huh/ leasin a lex on credit/ all the liquor and pussy a nigger can get/ put the puzzle together but the pieces won't fit!"
That shit is deep, and it is way real. He's talking about how so many black people are pacified with liquor and pussy but they never have any peace of mind.
BRYAN, YOU ARE WHITE! You sitting there saying you have no loyalty to whites is one of the most self-loathesome statements you can make. And I'm not saying you should be on some pro whitey shit, but when you denounce an entire race that you are a part of is fucked up. Do you realize when you say you hate whitey you're saying that you hate yourself? And I'm not trying to be an asshole, I'm asking an honest question.
As for Ras Kass, you say he spits venom against a system that had him locked up for years. The guy wasn't a political prisoner that was locked up unjustly, he's a fuckin alcoholic that KILLS PEOPLE WITH HIS FUCKIN CAR WHEN HE'S PISS DRUNK. And he continues to get DUI's, so he hasn't learned jack fucking shit.
People view your posts as ignorant propaganda because of the way you're always spinning shit like that. You're not fooling anyone, you're just making yourself look really pathetic.
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I can respect the view that he has no racial pride, I may not completely see how he sees it but I ain't gonna call it pathetic... +1 jrome and infinite
-T
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The reason why it doesn't bother me is simple, I have no racial pride. Also, whenever I have gone through hard times in my life white people have never helped me, it's always been somebody non-white who has given me knowledge to rise above my situation. So I have no loyalty towards whites.
Ras Kass' commentary on race relations throughout the album is partly what makes the album great. "Nature of the Threat" is one of the most spectacular hip-hop tracks ever recorded, and it is also a song that stirred my interest towards Islam back when I was still an atheist.
Ras spits venom against a system that had him locked up and in prison at age 18. He tells the story Evil That Men Do saying "I look at myself and see every other nigger I knew". The problems he was talking about are widespread in the black community. He breaks it down in order and chaos when he says, "I don't eat swine and beat the shit out of skinheads/ but where's my piece of mind, huh/ leasin a lex on credit/ all the liquor and pussy a nigger can get/ put the puzzle together but the pieces won't fit!"
That shit is deep, and it is way real. He's talking about how so many black people are pacified with liquor and pussy but they never have any peace of mind.
BRYAN, YOU ARE WHITE! You sitting there saying you have no loyalty to whites is one of the most self-loathesome statements you can make. And I'm not saying you should be on some pro whitey shit, but when you denounce an entire race that you are a part of is fucked up. Do you realize when you say you hate whitey you're saying that you hate yourself? And I'm not trying to be an asshole, I'm asking an honest question.
As for Ras Kass, you say he spits venom against a system that had him locked up for years. The guy wasn't a political prisoner that was locked up unjustly, he's a fuckin alcoholic that KILLS PEOPLE WITH HIS FUCKIN CAR WHEN HE'S PISS DRUNK. And he continues to get DUI's, so he hasn't learned jack fucking shit.
People view your posts as ignorant propaganda because of the way you're always spinning shit like that. You're not fooling anyone, you're just making yourself look really pathetic.
Real talk. I am white myself too, and i don't really feel "special", in my opinion everybody is the same and deserves to get treated the same. But it's not like i forget where i came from though, unlike Bryan, i respect myself. 8)
+1
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I can respect the view that he has no racial pride, I may not completely see how he sees it but I ain't gonna call it pathetic... +1 jrome and infinite
-T
Bryan is white, and he professes to hate white people. I'm not saying he needs to stick w/ his race or anything, I'm just saying the kid has some serious issues with himself. For anyone to denounce an entire race is completely fucked, I don't care what race it is. The fact that it's his own just makes it bizarre. He claims to be this enlightened, free individual because he's muslim. But at the same time he's still white no matter how many Ras Kass or Dead Prez albums he listens to. He himself is proof that you can't stereotype a race, and you think of all people he'd realize that. But no, he propagates separation of people because he's a racist.
And Tanj I know you're a very peaceful and reasonable dude. Understand that Bryan isn't hated on because he's different, he's hated on because he's a radical bigot. And yo, to each his own but if he's spewing his bullshit I'm calling him out.