John Austin IV,(born September 25, 1973 in Carson, California), is better k… Read Full Bio ↴John Austin IV,(born September 25, 1973 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.

Ras Kass' third album Van Gogh was originally intended for release in 2001. However, the nearly-finished album was leaked onto the internet months before the release date. It received excellent reviews,but the bootlegging caused his label Priority Records to push the release date back twice before the record was eventually shelved indefinitely. This further worsened the relationship between the label and Ras Kass, which was already strained due to disputes over several things, including the level of promotion Ras was being given, and the alleged block of the Columbia/SME Records release of his supergroup Golden State Warriors' debut album. The unreleased Van Gogh album even featured the lyrics "Fuck Priority Records, like Prince I'm writing SLAVE on my cheek" (this was later fulfilled as Ras Kass appeared in popular hip hop magazine XXL with SLAVE written on his face).

The relationship between Ras and Priority reached breaking point when the label also shelved the intended Van Gogh replacement Goldyn Chyld, an album that featured tracks from Van Gogh as well as new material. The indefinite postponement was due to a dispute over the lead single: Ras wanted to release the DJ Premier-produced title track, while Priority wanted a Dr. Dre-produced track, against the wishes of both Ras and Dre. This prompted Ras to launch a Free Ras Kass campaign (supported by an on-line petition and T-shirts) to gain his release from his contract with the label.

In February 2004, Ras Kass went on the run from the authorities after a warrant was issued following an arrest for reckless driving. He then gave himself up during Memorial Day Weekend in May of that year. While incarcerated, he organized the independent release of a mixtape titled Re-Up, which featured himself and other artists. Priority Records unsuccessfully attempted to block this release. In the 2004 song "Rise of the Machines," (which featured Ras) Vinnie Paz, front man of the hip-hop group Jedi Mind Tricks showed where he stood on the issue by saying the words Free Ras Kass on the track. In July 2004, Ras filed a lawsuit against Priority Records, Capitol Records, and EMI in protest to his treatment by the label and claimed breach of contract in an attempt to have the mixtape nullified. Ras was denied his release from his recording contract with Priority/Capitol/EMI Records in January 2007, even though Priority was absorbed by Capitol during 2004.

The HRSMN was collaboration between four emcees: Canibus, Ras Kass, Kurupt, and Killah Priest. Together the group released one album called The Horsemen Project during 2003 on Think Differently Music/Proverbs/Babygrande Records. Since that release, fans wait for another album. Although some members of the group kept calling it the Four Horsemen, Canibus always had the idea to add more people and form some kind of hip hop supergroup. A lot of names have been mentioned in the past, such as Pharaohe Monch, Kool G Rap, Pac-Man, Young Zee, Chino XL, Royce Da 5'9", Journalist, Lyrisick, Common, Rakim, Pace Won, Keith Murray, Vinnie Paz, Lonnie B, Danja Mowf, and Crooked I. None of these emcees were made a member of the group (though some artists on this list were featured on tracks)

Ice Age
Ras Kass Lyrics

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[Ras Kass]
Ay how come you won't gimme no pussy tonite?
Aight well shake the spot then, you think you special
I hear your car keys jinglin, get the fuck out
El Drex what you want to do, Shai dog what you want to do?
Kurupt what the fuck you want to do?
Nigga is you a rider nigga?
Is life fucked up

[Kurupt]
They let the gangstas in this muthafucka
Ice Age

[Ras Kass]
I ride for my homeboys (2X)
Nigga its all about the money
Its all about the chips
Lets get rich, what? what

[Kurupt]
With my new Tiny Tim, try again
Up against the full wind, I'm an alien beast
Generate, penetrate, bust shots
Then fled, quick sick in the head
Rippin motherfuckers to shreds
Facsimilies, don't know, friend or foe
Elusive nigga this exclusive, conclusive evidence
Your vision is short range
Rearranged, restructured, recomposed and decomposed
Disassembled, dismembered, reconstructed, polished
Perfected, demolished rejected, fo sho
Like I'm supposed to know this nigga
I ain't neva seen him before --- my life
Bitch ass nigga, who tha fuck you supposed to be?

[Hook:]
'cause niggaz I grew up wit threw up shit
On sum I don't give a fuck shit
Makin enemies duck shit
I'm on some make a million bucks quick
Money gone! Quick get a duck sick trick
Not the one to fuck wit
My dyke bitch pimpin on some Nike Flight shit
Ludicrous iron mic shit..stab yo cold heart wit a ice pick
Tha Ice age!..Ice Age (2X)
Stab yo cold heart wit a ice pick

[Ras Kass]
Now Ben must be either pampered or crushed
To regulate, relegate and delegate power
Nigga touch sumtin, touch no one and die slower
You drain your battery you barely talkin like Teddy Ruxpin
See that's whattup nigga I don't give a fuck
Spit some shit so nasty it will make Lil' Kim blush
As if a 98 Bentley didn't tempt me
To lay bullshit up in dis 60
But consequently my conscience didn't permit me
I'm one third black man, one third Jackie Chan and one third sand
Shitftin across the surface of tha land
Golden state warrrrior!!
Let my nuts hang like niggas in nuiscance
So why uou givin groupies all your lucci?
I've been known for fuckin hoochies in Suzukis
And slippin bougie bitches roofie
Loved yet feared severe yet loved
The full time titan, fightin 3 million over night thugs
So get your hand out your rectum cause you can't stop shit
Don't rock shit,
studio hustlaz claim they got more ki's than a locksmith
What part of the game is this, overtime
Gimme the mic, the money the pussy and the order
The more the overpopulated, get fucked and ovarie-copulated
So all you chumps on some you owe me and apology shit
Suck your apology out my dick!

Hook
[Ras Kass]
We all pawns in the game, but every pawn got his personal chess board
But how many pieces can you afford?
We got reason to believe you a traitor
In 20 words or less Webster's definition of a playa hater
The reason why you hate me so bad is cause you love me too much
But don't like yourself enough
And homey that's it, your hands probably got callouses
from the way you be swingin on my dick
That's why your main squeeze want to fuck me for free
Slit the finger on my monkey then she dropped to one knee
If she playin wit her pussy, she can suck on my D
Then you can CUM wit ME..until you P H see!

[El Drex]
They want to know where Drex is, he's out fuckin in Texas
I'm iller than AIDS so you don't really want to catch dis
Drivin in a Lexus wit niggaz that drive reckless
I was thinkin murder back when Melle dropped "The Message"
Money bossin', see-me-arson, worse than Stone Cold Steve Austin
John Gotti, drinkin notti, pullin holes through your body
West coast silly bitch, East coast silly bitch
I ain't Big Willie bitch, Drex gona kill a bitch!

[Kurupt]
Is that my cash ya got?
Is that my hash ya got?
I hate to make you take yo shit off my man
But I don't think you know who the fuck I am
Analyze so what's the analysis
You startin bonfires, I'm burnin down palaces
See I know maniacs, arsonists with pyromaniacs
Multi braniacs

Fades:
Ice Age, Kurupt! Biaaaaatch!

Overall Meaning

The song "Ice Age" by Ras Kass is a raucous declaration of gangsta pride, featuring verses from Kurupt and El Drex. The song begins with an exchange in which the singer asks why his partner won't give him sex tonight and then insults her by saying "you think you're special." This is followed by an assertion of gang loyalty and a declaration that "it's all about the money...let's get rich." Kurupt then takes the mic and unleashes a series of angry verses about being a gangsta in a world gone wrong. He exhorts listeners to join him in the "Ice Age," a metaphor for the cold, brutal world of the streets. Meanwhile, Ras Kass continues to stoke the flames of male bravado, telling his rivals that he is a "full-time titan" and a "golden state warrior," before delivering the song's famous chorus: "stab your cold heart with an ice pick, Ice Age!"

Overall, "Ice Age" seems to be a song about toughness and survival in a world where the deck is stacked against you. The lyrics are full of references to violence ("bust shots," "ripping motherfuckers to shreds"), but they also suggest a certain resilience and defiance in the face of adversity. The song's many allusions to sex and money suggest that these are the twin obsessions of the gangsta lifestyle, but also that they are ultimately empty and unfulfilling. Despite its stark nihilism, "Ice Age" is a powerful statement of identity and purpose, a call to arms for anyone who feels trapped or oppressed by the world around them.

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JORMA KAUKONEN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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