Ras Kass
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John Austin IV,(born September 26, 1972 in Carson, California), is better known by his stage name Ras Kass.
He released his debut album Soul on Ice in 1996. The album built up considerable hype through the release of several independent singles, including “Remain Anonymous” and “Won’t Catch Me Runnin’.” Soul on Ice saw little commercial success but was adored by the hip-hop underground, which appreciated both his sharp battle rhymes and his militant Afrocentricity. The latter also caused controversy due to the songs “Ordo Abchao” and “Nature of the Threat,” which were tracks detailing the history of white-on-black racism, the latter lasting for well over seven minutes and likely his best-known song. Some claimed that Ras was extreme to the point of racism against Caucasians.
Ras Kass made a big push to make sure his second album Rasassination was commercially successful. As well as securing guest appearances from Xzibit and the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, he received considerable assistance from superstar West Coast producer Dr. Dre, who rhymed on the lead single “Ghetto Fabulous,” the video for which was supported by an extravagant video shot on a luxury yacht.
The album contained some of his most intellectual material to date (“Interview With A Vampire,” a theological and spiritual exploration that featured Ras rhyming from the perspectives of God, himself, and the Devil) and occasionally addressed very personal subject matter (“It Is What It Is,” concerning his relationship with his mother). Despite the single, his album didn’t sell well.
He released his debut album Soul on Ice in 1996. The album built up considerable hype through the release of several independent singles, including “Remain Anonymous” and “Won’t Catch Me Runnin’.” Soul on Ice saw little commercial success but was adored by the hip-hop underground, which appreciated both his sharp battle rhymes and his militant Afrocentricity. The latter also caused controversy due to the songs “Ordo Abchao” and “Nature of the Threat,” which were tracks detailing the history of white-on-black racism, the latter lasting for well over seven minutes and likely his best-known song. Some claimed that Ras was extreme to the point of racism against Caucasians.
Ras Kass made a big push to make sure his second album Rasassination was commercially successful. As well as securing guest appearances from Xzibit and the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, he received considerable assistance from superstar West Coast producer Dr. Dre, who rhymed on the lead single “Ghetto Fabulous,” the video for which was supported by an extravagant video shot on a luxury yacht.
The album contained some of his most intellectual material to date (“Interview With A Vampire,” a theological and spiritual exploration that featured Ras rhyming from the perspectives of God, himself, and the Devil) and occasionally addressed very personal subject matter (“It Is What It Is,” concerning his relationship with his mother). Despite the single, his album didn’t sell well.
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Soul On Ice
Ras Kass
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Rasassination
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Institutionalized Vol. 2
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Van Gogh
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Shoutbox
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D0nzoe wrote:
western civilization means white domination
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Baseddoom92 wrote:
Soul On Ice is perfect.
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jay-z33 wrote:
Jack Frost is fuckin awesome!!!!!
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lucian_atcq wrote:
new EP: The Yellow Snow. http://raskass.fanbridge.com/campaigns/show.php?id=798732&sid=123432342
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jay-z33 wrote:
He deserve more listen!!!
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jmj540 wrote:
why couldn't this extremely talented cocksucker ever learn how to make another album as good as Soul on Ice?
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MyLazySundays wrote:
Dropped out of high school a year ago and have learned more in that one year, listening to guys like this, than I had learned my entire school career.
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mk741 wrote:
IN 96 I SUPPOSE ANYTHING GOES
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yazzamatazz wrote:
thank you for Nature of the Threat, one of my favorite songs
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MiloMiranovic wrote:
CAPITALISM IS ALL ABOUT PIMPS AND HOES
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Chingy314 wrote:
nigga razzy kazzy is underground legend...
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Pure_Greenwood wrote:
Van Gogh - simple great
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trillwave wrote:
soul on ice is an underground classic. it's a shame more people don't know about ras kass.
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Music-Ninja wrote:
V It's Great but the sound quality is piss poor.
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mrwhite5 wrote:
if you want real raw kass, search out the original demo tapes of soul on ice....they are raw as shit and are different cuts for the most part than the actual album. insanity. [2]. it's incredible how awesome the demo version of Soul on Ice was. High IQ and Core Audience are the stand-outs from that.
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ARIAMATIC wrote:
Ofcourse it does. The lyrics overshadow the production on every Soul on Ice track.
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mk741 wrote:
Soul on Ice's production definitely doesn't suck. I love the laid back West Coast production on tracks like Marinatin, Miami Life, and Anything Goes. At worst, Ras's lyricism overshadows the album's production (ex. The Nature of the Threat and the Evil That Men Do).
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ARIAMATIC wrote:
@ M741 Liquid Swords is better than Illmatic and Rip the Jacker is better than Soul on Ice. Nas is inconsistent, same goes voor Ras Kass. Soul on Ice is still one of the greatest albums lyrically. Production kinda sucks though.
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mk741 wrote:
I guess Ras Kass and Nas shared the similar fate of debuting with hip-hop masterpieces, and never quite reaching those staggering heights again. But at the end of the day, they're both respected as two of the greatest mc's to ever do it for giving the world Illmatic and Soul on Ice in the first place.
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JBionic1 wrote:
Ras is so nice that his lyrics go over the average radio listener's head. The person making the comment about Ras being racist can't accept the fact that he spits so much truth on Nature of the Threat track...it will ok man we all know that highlighting the historical racism from white folks has now been exposed! We know that hurts you that it hurts us but we are adults and we learn from the past mistakes no matter how bad they were; genocide, slavery, 9/11, etc. Peace!!!
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Recent Activity
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zimbohikurty, brand_nigga, Jstrada826 and 8 other people added Ras Kass to their libraries. Wednesday morning
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Nfeeltraita wrote about Ras Kass in The Riddle was the answer to Question. last month
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BigHoss619 added Ras Kass to BigHoss619’s library. last month
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KwiatekZ tagged Ras Kass with west coast and underground hip-hop. last month
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deaddogg tagged Ras Kass with ‘rap’. last month
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KwiatekZ tagged Ras Kass with underground hip-hop, west coast, rap and one other tag. last month
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EXtrez wrote about Ras Kass in Best Hip Hop Albums of 2011. December 2011
Related Journals
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The Riddle was the answer to Question
by Nfeeltraita |
27 Jan 2012
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Best Hip Hop Albums of 2011
by EXtrez |
29 Dec 2011
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by jensyao |
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