Last Time: Jay-Z - Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Next Time: End of the Year Blow-out 1998

Artist: Ras Kass

Album: Rasassination

Year of Release: 1998

Genre: West Coast Rap

Producers: Stu-B-Doo, Kiev, Twelve, Big Jaz, Ras Kass, Toxic, Easy Mo Bee, Flip

Tracks: 14

Year of Release: 1998

Date of Review: Dec. 13, 1998

LYRICS: 6

FLOW: 7

MESSAGE: 3

BEATS: 4

ORIGINALITY: 3

HYPE: 4

CONSISTENCY: 4

SCORE: 46%

Okay . . . I'm REALLY sorry about my promise in the Jay-Z review. I said I'd get around to reviewing Ras Kass, Canibus, Black Star, and A Tribe Called Quest before the year is over. Well . . . that ain't gonna happen, folks. You don't hate me now, do you? Hmmmmmmm . . . Well, I'm reviewing Rasassination now, and I'll make up the missing reviews with something special right around Christmas time for you, okay?

But, on with this review. I'm REALLY late on this one (it was supposed to come out about a week after the Lauryn Hill review), but let's just get on with it . . . Ras Kass used to be one of my favorite emcees of all-time. He was a really, really, ultra-dope West Coast rapper (easily my favorite emcee from that area, BY FAR). He first dropped some underground ish, like the singles "Remain Anonymous" and "Come Widdit." Everyone that heard the guy knew he had serious skills. In anticipation of his debut album, Soul on Ice, many predicted a classic that would be one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time.

Alas, it was not to be. As fate would have it, Soul on Ice fell short of a lot of heads' expectations. Nobody could front on the lyrics, as Ras Kass proved his superb skills hadn't dulled a bit, but the beats weren't up to the same level as the rhymes. Some of them even seemed a bit commercial, as if Ras had been pressured by his record label to move more units or something. Add that to a couple of dumb skits, and having Coolio (?!) of all people rap a verse on the album, you had a few heads thinking Ras wasn't quite what everyone made him out to be.

Not me, though. I wouldn't call Soul on Ice a classic, but it's certainly close to one. One song alone made the entire album great: Ras's 8-minute opus, "Nature of the Threat." To date, the song is one of my 5 favorite rap tracks of all-time. Who knows, maybe even second, just under Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R." Why? Well, you all know how much I love it when an emcee drops knowledge. That's all Ras Kass does on the song. No chorus, no danceable beat, nothing but KNOWLEDGE. I definitely don't agree with all the subject content of the song (a lot of it could be viewed as racist against whites), but to call the track anything but one of the greatest compositions of all-time is just ridiculous.

So, you had one PERFECT song, and then some other pretty darn good songs, as well. Superb rapping over beats that could have been better. The fact that the beats were disappointing is what initially got me excited when I first heard about Ras Kass's second album: I heard rumors that he was getting some top-notch producers, like RZA and Easy Mo Bee, to hook up his tracks this time around. So, I waited.

Then, I started hearing stuff about how Ras Kass purposely decided to sell out with his sophomore album. I definitely got made a little upset by this. I mean, how often does a rapper actually come out and say, "Yeah, I'm selling out"? Never. Still, I was guessing that Ras could pull a Biggie Smalls sorta deal . . . still come with amazing lyrics, even if he was going to try to appeal to a larger audience. My opinion was, "Damn, that's sorta wack if you ask me, but as long as he comes correct with his lyrics, which I know he will, and has some dope beats, I'll still love the album." I expected Rasassination to make it in my Top 5 albums of the year FOR SURE.

Boy, was I wrong . . .

The first thing I noticed about the album were the beats. They're bunk! Seriously, they sound like some watered down Westside Connection stuff. The best tracks on here sound like the worst tracks on some Tupac album or something. Not to dis either of those artists, but those sort of beats (except worse) just don't fit with Ras Kass. At all.

The second thing I noticed about Rasassination were Ras's lyrics. He's on some playa/rider B.S.! He's saying next to nothing on most of these tracks. His dopest punchlines are when he makes some reference to an R&B star or pop rapper, it seems. I honestly believed there was NO POSSIBLE WAY that Ras Kass could disappoint with his lyrics, EVER, but he completely proved me wrong.

It's not ALL bad, though. In fact, a few numbers here are actually worth listening to. "Ghetto Fabulous" is kinda cool, with Mack 10 and Dr. Dre rapping over that beat from the tango scene in Dre's "Been There, Done That" video. "H20 Proof" and "Wild Pitch" certainly have some worth, too. Unfortunately, these tracks are just songs that sound good on the surface; there's no depth to any of them.Party jams can be cool, but not from someone like Ras Kass. We have groups like EPMD for a reason, and almost no one would want someone like Ras Kass trying to go for the nonsensical route instead of doing what he does best, right? Big words and Illuminati references (which I'm really starting to get sick of, I have to admit) are sprinkled throughout, but most of the tracks amount to nothing more than odes to chillin' with the homeys or meaningless sex.

Except one, that is. One song on Rasassination shows the talent and intelligence of the Ras Kass of old. This track, "Interview with a Vampire," a captivating set of lyrics featuring Ras rapping alongside "God" and "Satan" (who are, in reality, simply Ras Kass's digitally altered voice). It contemplates the universe, religion, sin, and human life, making it possibly the all-around best Hip-Hop track of the year. It alone almost makes the entire album worth buying. It's really too bad Ras limits his intellectual appeal to just this one track. If he had a whole album full of tracks like "Interview," we'd have another Nation of Millions, for real.

This CD really pisses me off. It's so sad to see such a gifted lyricist like Ras Kass waste his talent on this crap. Especially since earlier this year, we were blessed with an underground white-label 12" of two new songs ("Understandable Smooth" and "The Business of Music") that showed a LOT of promise. Neither of those tracks appear anywhere on here. I'm ready to just say "F*ck Ras Kass." I need a new favorite West Coast emcee. Any suggestions? Certainly not Xzibit (he's tight, but not that tight). I don't think anyone from Hieroglyphics is consistently dope enough, either. Latyrx? I think I feel their entire vibe moreso than their actual rhymes, to tell the truth. Ice Cube? Ha, maybe 5 years ago. For now, it's a toss-up between Boots from The Coup and Aceyalone for my favorite Westsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide rapper, since Ras fell off so much (I'll have to see which is tighter, Steal This Album or Book of Human Language, before I make my final decision on who's the best in the west).

Seriously, Ras has set new standards for falling off. I'm going to go out on a limb and call Rasassination the most disappointing Hip-Hop album of ALL-TIME. It's not like some Public Enemy Muse Sick deal, where the effort was there, but the chemistry wasn't. He sold-out, blatantly and admittedly. I've heard some compare this album to the Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death, in that it's recorded by a great rapper blessed with skills that's trying to appeal to a wider audience. Don't buy into it; Biggie did commercial rap way better than Ras. Life After Death wasn't in the same league as the near-classic Ready To Die, but it was a cool album, nonetheless. Rasassination just ain't cool. Ras could probably be better likened to Nas. Nas's first album, Illmatic, was one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all-time.Then, he tried to go commercial on It Was Written and completely disappointed a lot of heads. But Nas never fell off nearly as much as Ras Kass did. It's sad, sad indeed . . .

But, you know what? There's some irony here, and not just in the title (which is very appropriate, as Ras Kass certainly shot himself in the foot). For all his efforts to make his latest album mainstream and commercial, it debuted at #62 on Billboard's Top 200, then quickly fell off the charts. Damn, he couldn't even sell out right! Seriously, this is probably because his flow is anything but marketable, and even over radio-friendly beats, most folks won't really get into Ras. I guess I should screw my "F*ck Ras Kass" attitude and just laugh at him instead.

---Steve Clark