Will the NOI ever regain a presence in mainstream rap?
- Thread starter maxamusa
- Start date
The_Hillsta
Neva missin a beat
You right bruh, that shyt fukked off everything, killed radio. Out here in the Bay you would hear Paris, Kam, Poor Righteous Teachers, PE, Cube, Wu, X-Clan, Brand Nubian, Askari X.....
Kam, Paris, Wise Intelligent, Sadat X, still putting out music. Of course cats ain't gonna see it in the mainstream, shyt was deaded decades ago. But there's a lot of shyt we ain't gonna see anymore. Current state of hip hop is just a reflection of what's happening in the street and households when I comes to "Us."
Majestyx
Duck Season
Divino is 5% also
raz fresco from toronto
allah preme/a.p. da overlord from upstate
k solar and mylo mu from LA.
born from LA
Roc, Rome Streetz, Mach, Knowledge the pirate are either 5% or adjacent.
5% dont consider the quran a holy book, there are not agnostics in the nation of gods and earths
straightcash
All Star
What regions are they from? Or are you saying they're all LA born?
I find that misleading even if technically true. Five-Percenters display the Quran in their music videos and even distribute the Quran personally. Busta Rhymes did a video with the Quran in it not long ago, in which he pays tribute to Fard Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad and Clarence 13X. I've heard RZA describe in interviews incidents where he gave someone the Quran.
Maybe that's a cultural component rather than theological. Technically, the Five-Percent Nation was founded as a non-religion and is meant to be above religion. However, because of the Nation of Gods and Earths' roots as a splinter from the Elijah Muhammad-era Nation of Islam, they went on to develop a strong relationship and alliance with the NOI, especially under Louis Farrakhan.
Hinduism is technically based on the Vedas but most Hindus actually associate with the Ramayana and Mahabharata primarily. That second example is how Hinduism is actually practiced by the people. Likewise, the Nation of Gods and Earths doesn't technically have a canon of Holy Books, but in reality the Quran is the one that has always been the primary Holy Book associated by Five-Percenters culturally. Additionally, just like the NOI, the Five-Percenters also revere The Supreme Wisdom Lessons and the Message to the Blackman in America by Elijah Muhammad.
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Whips-n-Chains
Chi
Unfortunately, it's unlikely to happen again at a mainstream level. Is 5% Nation still big in NYC in 2020s?
Majestyx
Duck Season
Mylo and K solar from inglewood area.
Born Allah is from LA, i dont know him personally, so i dont know where he's from exactly
I dont have the time right now, but what rappers that claim to be 5%, and who the ACTUAL 5% are, many times are not one in the same. I call a few of these cats "adjacent". which is cool, but they not in the nation like that.
straightcash
All Star
The FBI labelled Five-Percenters as a "gang" in 1965. That's why several prison systems actively suppressed them and made it illegal for them to preach or proselytize. They're deemed "security risks" or "threat groups" and have less rights and privileges. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut prisons and many others considered NGE illegal.
NY prisons started cracking down on Five-Percenters hard in the 1990s. That's why you saw the Blood numbers go up while the NGE numbers went down in the prison system and, subsequently, in the streets.
It's only in 2004 that NGE followers in NY prisons got the right to practice their beliefs/philosophy after the courts affirmed their right to freedom of religion. By that point the damage was done. NGE is still restricted in other state prisons; I don't have the list of which ones consider it legal or illegal.
The Source |Connecticut Prisoner Says State Won't Let Him Honor God Free From Religion
Connecticut Prisoner Says State Won't Let Him Honor God Free From Religion
thesource.com
Inmates Are Free to Practice Black Supremacist Religion in New York, a Judge Rules (Published 2003)
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald rules that members of Five Percenter black supremacist group incarcerated in New York's prisons are entitled to same religious freedom as any other group and must be reasonably accommodated by state; case was brought by convicted murderer Intelligent Tarref Allah...
The Five Percenters: Racist Prison Gang or Persecuted Religion? -- Jonathan Moore
Prisons offer plentiful and self-contained opportunities to explore the limits of American religious freedom. One recent case involves the clash between prison officials in South Carolina and a group called the Five Percenters.
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straightcash
All Star
Appreciate the perspective. But I'd imagine guys like Busta, Rakim, Guru and members of Wu Tang, Brand Nubian and Poor Righteous Teachers were legit Five-Percenters, or are you just being strict in your interpretation about who you consider in or out?
You study The Supreme Wisdom Lessons and the Message to the Blackman, correct? What books do you study?
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Awesome Wells
The Bobby Womack of Crack
Nah. Unfortunately.
Because when the Nation was out there, and you saw the FOI everywhere, rappers were super heavy into knowledge of self and righteousness. Rappers being on that type of vibe isn't good for labels, so they made sure to kill that whole movement. The influence on peace and standing together was at its peak at the time, and that kind of unity doesn't work well for the people running these companies. There's no money in that.
They want the rappers dumb and ignorant. And acting up. Exactly what we see today. When FOI was rolling with MC's, you would see MF's scared to do anything stupid because just the presence kept things chill. Like Showbiz once said, "Peace to FOI, 'cause they got the skills that make brothers who act ill wanna chill". These labels are not in the business of black empowerment. They make way more bread off the destruction. And the idiots today play right into that theme and narrative for them.
Because when the Nation was out there, and you saw the FOI everywhere, rappers were super heavy into knowledge of self and righteousness. Rappers being on that type of vibe isn't good for labels, so they made sure to kill that whole movement. The influence on peace and standing together was at its peak at the time, and that kind of unity doesn't work well for the people running these companies. There's no money in that.
They want the rappers dumb and ignorant. And acting up. Exactly what we see today. When FOI was rolling with MC's, you would see MF's scared to do anything stupid because just the presence kept things chill. Like Showbiz once said, "Peace to FOI, 'cause they got the skills that make brothers who act ill wanna chill". These labels are not in the business of black empowerment. They make way more bread off the destruction. And the idiots today play right into that theme and narrative for them.
Mac Ten
Class of 97 !!!
Khalid Muhammad is dead and rappers these days are too spineless to stand for anything… they don’t wanna alienate their cac fans. Those same fans that get a wet dream when a rapper talks about murdering a black man.
The movie Bamboozled done came to life mane.
I don’t think Nas would release Untitled nowadays. Folks are too vapid and slow.
The movie Bamboozled done came to life mane.
I don’t think Nas would release Untitled nowadays. Folks are too vapid and slow.
I think it was French or fat Joe.....one of those guys can't remember....were explaining how modern record deals now for rappers have been restructured in the event of a rapper being killed.
They claim the record labels now have life insurance policies basically(to pay out the labels; not the deceased) if their "investment" dies.
They will continue to profit off their "investment" after the body turns cold.
The "investment's" family.......well
Mastamimd
Ain't shyt
Awesome Wells explained it better than I could for the most part
When were they most present?
And the people of the Coli would like to see evidence of this, as well.
Almost all conscious rap and conscious rappers are NOI influenced in some capacity
NGE comes from it and was strong in the NYC streets in the late 80's early 90's right before the Blood thing popped off.
Rakim, Kane, Brand Nubian.... even Ice Cube was down and pushing their messages on "Death Certificate".
Then what some would call a race war popped off in Rikers and some of the street dudes who were NGE ended becoming Blood affiliated. Those principles and codes can get in the way. Watch Half A Mil's documentary for a good example of how the street NGE dudes ended up co-mingled with the Bloods and how it doesn't mix well. That made NGE look weak to street dudes. Then there were hardcore NGE members who weren't in the streets, and didn't like how folks like Rae & Ghost were representing 5%, but couldn't DO anything about it.
As a kid I can say this was around the time when it went left
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