Nature of the Threat: Why You Shouldn't Smoke Weed After Reading A History BookJul 10 '06 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line A look at the lyrics from "Nature of the Threat" by Ras Kass. History is quite a touchy subject. It is amazing how much people could argue or fret about something that has already happened centuries prior and which they cannot change. I cannot criticize those who do as I am a huge history nerd and have many a time debated over it. History has always been one of the main studies of mankind, and as time goes by, so will it. Before I get into this write-up, I just have to let all of you know: I am a big fan of Ras Kass. He is easily one of my favorite emcees and, in my opinion, the best thing to come out of the left coast. I disagree with some of his lyrics, but I can still respect his lyricism as well as his right to speak his opinions. That is what I value in a rapper like Ras Kass, in that they do not try to spit what the masses would want to hear, and perhaps no other song displays that mind-state as much as the underground classic “Nature of the Threat”. It is a famous track that attempts to cover world history closely, detailing the treatment of black people throughout it. I can certainly understand his intentions with this, but there were quite a few “facts” in here that he was criminally incorrect on, so I decided to review the song and point them out. Before I cover what this song did wrong, I’ve got to give my dap. Hats off to Ras Kass because making a song that is 7 and a half minutes long with no pauses or chorus is no easy task. You can completely loathe him for what he believes in, but damn it, this son of a bitch can write. Ok…let’s just get into it. “Let freedom ring with a buckshot, but not just yet First we need to truly understand the nature of the threat And a pale man walks in the threshold of darkness Roughly 20,000 years ago the first humans evolved with the phenotypical trait, genetic recessive Blue eyes, blonde hair and white skin Albinism apparently was a sin to the original man - Africans So the mutants traveled North of the equator Called Europeans later, the first race haters So here's the Devil's alpha to the beta Cause history's best qualified to teach one Quoting German philosopher Schopenhauer "Every white man is a faded or a bleached one" Migration created further mutation Genetic drifts, evolution through recombination Adaptation to the climate As the Caucus Mountain man reverted to that of a primate Savage Neanderthals, until the late Paleolithic age That's when the Black Grimaldi man came With the symbol of the dragon, fire and art Check cave paintings in France and Spain to the Venus of Willendorf” Bold statements about a period of history that has very little information of which we can be sure about. The afrocentristic theme of the song kicks off with him suggesting that those who were fair colored just left Africa as it was looked down upon to be lighter skinned. He also calls them “mutants”. Well that’s certainly a great way to seem unbiased. I can’t comment much because nobody knows for sure what really happened during these ancient periods. I don’t even get the point he was trying to make with the Venus of Willendorf. What I know about that statue was that it was found in present day Austria and that it is one of the oldest pieces of artwork ever found. Same goes with the Cave Paintings…is he suggesting that these were done by Africans? Hmm… "Around 2000 B.C. Southern Russians migrate in small units Those who travel West populated Europe” What the fuck? Russians? Sorry, but Russians don’t even exist until about 3 millenniums later. I think he means the Aryan tribes… “Those who went East settled in Iran, known as Aryans 1500 B.C. some crossed the Khyber Pass into India and created Hinduism, the first caste system, the origins of racism A white dot on the forehead meant elite The black dot - defeat; untrustable, untouchables They wrote the holy Vedas in Sanskrit That's the language that created Greek, German, Latin and English” Ah, the Aryans, of course. He’s right about the Aryans coming from the what is now known as Iran…but he is way off on the date. 1500 B.C? The Aryans had already long settled in India by then and the Indus Valley civilization was thriving by 3000 BC. Not so sure about the Caste System being the origins of racism, as all cultures have been known to have racial prejudice in some form or another. The line about Sanskrit is actually true, as modern theorists have hit some breakthroughs that lead them to believe that Sanskrit is the origin of the European languages (and proving that the Aryans spread to Europe as well?) “Now the Minoans around 2000 B.C. Starts on the island of Crete, in the Agean Sea The Greek culture begins Western Civilization But "Western Civilization" means "White Domination"” What pisses me off is his assumption that only white people are racist. Obviously Western Civilization would be dominated by whites…it’s mostly white people! Just as Ancient China was “Asian Domination” and African cultures were “Black Domination”. What does Ras Kass expect? Civil rights in 2000 BC? “Myceneans learned from Kemet, called Egypt in Greek It existed since at least 3000 B.C. Creatin geometry and astronomy This knowledge influenced Plato, Socrates and Hippocrates Cause Imhotep, the real real father of medicine Was worshiped in Greece and Rome in the form of a Black African” The idea of the early Greeks taking their knowledge from Egypt is a mere assumption, as we cannot expect that an entire civilization started from mere borrowing. Besides, the Myceneans could not be a product of Egypt when there was already the Minoan civilization (which he mentioned, so he should know) that preceded them and who they eventually conquered. Plato and Socrates were two philosophers that were the first of their kind, I don’t see how much knowledge from Egypt could influence them for what they became known for. Imhotep is considered to be the first physician, but I’m not sure about how he was worshipped in Greece. I know that the Egyptians worshipped him so much that they eventually made him a God, but I don’t remember reading about him in Greece. “The word Africa comes from the Greek "Aphrike" meaning "without cold"; the word philosophy means "love of knowledge" Stole from first man, Greek power expands The first Greek fraternities band The word gymnasium is Greek for "naked" This was the place where adolescent boys were educated, and molested This was accepted because Greek culture was homosexual For example, Sappho trained girls on the island of Lesbos Hence, the word lesbian ” There are several suggestions on where the word “Africa” comes from, but I personally accept the same theory that Ras does. One of the more well-known points in this track is his accusation of Greece’s homosexuality. I really don’t see how a culture can be homosexual…because if it was – how would they pro-create and reproduce? I am well aware that bisexuality was prominent among men, but this was more of a fad for the prominent males, if you will. It was thought that women were inferior, so many of the important or intelligent men spent a lot of time together, and tried their hand at making love as well. Yes, I know, sounds strange…but I don’t think it was a naturally homosexual civilization. The point about the Island of Lesbos is true, however. “December 25th, the birth of Saturn A homosexual god, now check the historical pattern December 25, now thought the birth of Christ Was Saturnalia, when men got drunk, Fucked each other then beat their wife Fact is, it was still practiced, till they called it Christmas So put a gerbil on your Christmas list” How is Saturn a homosexual god when he considered to be the father of all the main gods in Greek Mythology. Doesn’t make sense to me. The rest just seems Ras Kass is trying to belittle Christmas for some “evil origins”. “The Hellenistic Era, Alexander the Great Conquers all the way to India leavin four successor states By the Fifth century B.C., R.O.M.E. succeeds to be the conqueror of Egypt and Greece But had the threat of the Black Phoenicians in Sicily The Punic Wars began 264 B.C. The Black general Hannibal and Carthaginian Peace In 146 B.C. Carthage fell after a six-month siege” 5th Century BC? By then the Romans had not even left the Italian peninsula. The Roman Principate only started in 31 BC. He’s right with the dates for the Punic wars…but he is wrong about those Phoenicians. Black Phoenicians? Is he serious? The Phoenicians were a Semetic people, meaning they were about as black as Saddam Hussein. They were typical Middle Eastern people. I guess having ANY color to your skin means that you are black, to Ras Kass. “Rome sold every citizen to slavery The first genocide of history And more bisexuality in sight; Julius Caesar was known as every woman's husband and every man's wife” First genocide of history? That term could be pushing it. Oh, and COME ON with the homosexuality! There are constant speculations of celebrities being gay today that aren’t true…how are we going to be sure of the sexual orientation of a man who lived before the birth of Christ? As far as I see it, the dude had relationships with women, and had a son…so he was straight. “Spartacus Revolt, a slave rebellion that lost Where 6,000 slaves was nailed on a cross Cross? Aw, sh1t! Jesus Christ! Time for some-act-right Christians get your facts right Cause Christ was not his name That's Greek for "One who is anointed" Yoshua Ben Yosef was his name, do Christians know this? So who do you praise, do you know his name? Or do you do this in vain? Accepting the religion they gave slaves to behave Peep the description of historian Josephus "Short, dark, with an underdeveloped beard was Jesus" He had the Romans fearing revolution The solution was to take him to court and falsely accuse him After being murdered by Pilate how can it be these same white Romans established Christianity” This is probably my favorite part of the song, bar none. He is quite deadly and accurate in this one. Yoshua Ben Yosef was really Christ’s name, something a lot of Christian followers seemed to have miss from all their Bible study. Citing Josephus’ description is significant, as it shows that Christ is not how we commonly picture him to be, the white man that the Europeans would draw him as. As well as the interesting piece that it was Pilate’s own people who would spread Christ’s religion. “Constantine would later see the cross in a dream In his vision, it read "En Hawk Signo Wonka": "In this sign we conquer" - Manifest Destiny In 325 he convened the Nicean Creed And separated god into three Decided Jesus was born on December 25th and raised then on the third day is a myth Plus to deceive us Commissioned Michelangelo to paint white pictures of Jesus He used his aunt, uncle, and nephew Subconsciously that affects you It makes you put white people closer to God” The parts about Constantine and Nicean Creed are true…except I’m not sure that they decided that his birthday would be on December 25th. Also, Constantine commissioning Michaelangelo? They lived about a 1000 years apart…so it’s highly doubtful. “True indeed, fuck it, Jihad In the eighth century Muslims conquered Spain, Portugal and France and controlled it for 700 years They never mention this in history class cause old faiths are threatened when you get the real lesson” It’s true that they ruled those areas, but was it for really 700 years? I’m guessing Ras Kass had a horrible history class, because they always did mention the power of the Islamic conquests in my school. “Moors from Baghdad, Turkey threatened European Christians Meaning, the white way of life; hence the Crusades for Christ On November 25th, 1491 Santiago defeats the last Muslim stronghold, Grenada King Ferdinand gave thanks to God for victory And the Pope of Rome and declared this date to forever be A day of "Thanksgiving" for all European Christians .. Now listen, when you celebrate "Thanksgiving" What you are actually celebratin is the proclamation of the Pope of Rome Who later, in league with Queen Isabella sent Cardinal Ximenos to Spain to murder any blacks that resisted Christianity These Moors, these black men and women were from Baghdad, Turkey And today, you eat the turkey, for your "Thanksgiving" day as the European Powers destroyed the Turkeys Who were the forefathers of your mothers and fathers Now fight the power, you bitch-ass niggas!” This is the part where Ras Kass is most remembered for going absolutely LOONEY. Baghdad, Turkey? What was he smoking? Baghdad is in Iraq (then known as Mesopotamia)…separate of Turkey (which wasn’t even called Turkey until the 20th Century. It was known as the Ottoman Empire, Mr. Ras Kass). In any case, the Moors were not from Baghdad but from North Africa. Granada was actually defeated on January 2nd, 1492, and this doesn’t have the slightest relation to the American Holiday of Thanksgiving. “Now around this time, Whites started callings us Negroes That's Spanish for black object meaning we're not really people but property, and the triangle trade begins - they seize us Queen Elizabeth sends the first slaves on a ship named Jesus” Now this is pretty hard to refute, and those first 2 bars are some of the most famous ones from this song. “Stealin land from the indigenous natives Gave them alcohol to keep the Red Man intoxicated Whites claim they had to civilize these pagan animals But up until 1848 there's documented cases of whites bein the savage cannibals, eatin Indians In 1992, it's Jeffery Dahmer They slaughtered a whole race with guns Drugs, priests and nuns 1763, the first demonic tactic of biological warfare As tokens of peace, Sir Jeffery Amherst passed out clothin and blankets to the Indian community Infested with small pox, knowin they had no immunity Today it's AIDS, you best believe it's man made Cause ain't a damn thing changed.. let me explain…” This is true for the most part, though I haven’t read about the colonists practicing cannibalism (aside from the Donner Party). Also, I’m not a huge fan of conspiracy theories, so naturally I’m a bit skeptical of the idea that epidemics are created by the government. “Now since people of color are genetically dominant and Caucasoids are genetically recessive and Whites expect to be predominant, meaning survive as a race then they simply must, take precautions That's why they're worried about their future now Cuz by 2050, almost all the Earth's population will be brown, then black, so understanding that, whites counter-react (I'm sayin.. man.. them fools ain't nothin but a teaspoon of milk in the world color majority) So they created a system to force blacks into an unnatural position That re-enforces the position of natural inferiority In addition, created guns and developed the ethnocentric view that God justifies every fuckin thing they do” It’s a pretty bold prediction that in 50 years nearly everyone will have a darker skin pigment. Not to say it’s impossible, but the chances are slim. We’ve had civilization now for at least 10,000 years, and 2/3rd’s of the world still isn’t black. I don’t see the racial proportions changing that soon. “Condition people to perceive whites' culture as civilized and every other culture considered primitive - not true! Racism is the system of racial subjugation against nonwhites in every areas of human relation Entertainment, education, labor, politics Law, religion, sex, war and economics” Ok, so this once again is pretty outrageous. Basically he suggests that only white people are racist, and the underlying theme of racism is to see whites as civilized and others not. Well…nowadays this is pure bullshit, so I wont even comment for modern times. To go along with past times…of course there was an ethnocentric view for whites, and we know that because we are an English speaking country, so we read from white people. Why hasn’t he thought about the fact that the Far Eastern peoples (who kept themselves isolated from the world for centuries, especially Japan) may have also seen themselves as superior. Hell, I’m sure natives of African empires would also see any white visitors as “lesser people”. Why? Because they are different. To suggest that only a Caucasian person can be racially discriminating is IN ITSELF quite a racial discrimination “See blacks were 3/5ths of a man with tax purposes intended You think you're Afro-American? You're a 14th amendment and a good nigga Jews don't salute the fuckin swastika but niggaz pledge allegiance to the flag that accosted ya” Ok, so this is ill. This is very on-point and deadly. While considering the American Flag to be the equivalent of the Nazi swastika may be pushing it, the overall idea is understood. The first 3 bars of that might be the best lines in the song, honestly. “They never teach about the break of islands like Jamaica But before slaves came here whites would take a pregnant women, hang her from a tree by her toes Slice her stomach with a knife and let the unborn baby fall to the flo' And stop an unborn child in front of all the slaves to inbreed fear, so they'd be scared and behave and not rebel more Understand all whites must be perceived as potential predators I paraphrase historian Ishakamusa Barashango "Understand that regardless of the lofty ideas ingraved on paper in such documents as the Constitution or Declaration the basic nature.. of the European American white man remains virtually unchanged".. so check This is the nature of the threat” Well that anecdote about cruelty is true I guess, but newsflash: White people are not the only culture to be vicious. The second half of that is a perfect wrap-up to this rather biased song. Citing Baroshango about white people, how appropriate. Let’s get an afrocentric writer as our “unbiased source”. It’s the equivalent of citing David Duke about African-Americans...stupid. But of course, Ras Kass wouldn’t care. So, about a handful of historical inaccuracies and biased anti-white comments…but you know what? I still listen to this song all the time. Now THAT is an unbiased stance, because despite the fact that he displays some touchy opinions here, I can still appreciate Ras Kass’ skill as a rapper. Oh God…it’s like 3 AM, I’m way too tired to think of a nice conclusion. I’m going to have to cut this short, sorry. Oh yeah, and peace to Dayo (Balogun), whose review of Nas’ “I Can” prompted me to write this sooner. I’m out, ~M  |
| Read all comments (22)|Write your own comment |
