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)
Interview With a Vampire
Ras Kass Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You want to talk to God? God never sleeps
[Chorus]
Ras Kass: Now what came first, the chicken or the egg?
God: Armageddon
Ras Kass: A arm a leg a leg a arm a head
Headin in your direction
Born of the flesh, what is perfection
[Ras Kass]
Inside my mother's womb, doomed to return to the tomb
Or was it from the dead I was raised?
All too soon to pay, on judgement day
Is this beginning or the ending
Died sinning, still winning, still grinning
This ending, verdict still pending, born pretending
Three-hundred billion men, women, and children
Deja vu, could be I'm dreaming
But we all ask for divine reason
While still breathing, and until leaving
Who?, What?, When? Where?, How?
But most of all why?
[God]
Why what?
[Ras Kass]
Do we live just to die?
[God]
The Book of Haden
Way before the after God pitting heads
No God for me, mathematically, in division
My decision was all inventions
I need not mention infinite dementions
But the human mind's flaw was limited comprehension
So while you try to travle to Mars and the stars
The God manifests through the entire universe
From the Sun, Moon, the Earth
I created man in my image and the black man was first
The scientific explanation, yea I made man out of dirt
[Ras Kass]
But how can a man be first, when its the woman that's giving birth?
[God]
Listen, single-celled organisms
The homosapien, the albanian
[Ras Kass]
What's that?
[God]
White people
[Ras Kass]
They keep the world separate and unequal
[God]
The teach you, right is wrong, wrong is right
Up is down
Teaches King Arthur's throne, is the planets that are round
[Ras Kass]
Can we really time travel, and is there life in outer space?
[God]
Wait, you knew all this in the first place
You tryin to get to God
[Ras Kass]
But, I've fallen from your grace
A billion paths to take, but which one is truly straight?
[Chorus]
[Ras Kass]
Can you walk across water or rise from the dead?
I heard he said he lived, and the son of man bled
[God]
It's a process, shit don't just happen, I create it
Everything you see, and shit you don't, son I made it, and waited
I'm the big bang theory and evolution
Been there, done that, from revolution to prostitution
The first and final solution
The quaran, bible, and vedas, is only tools
don't be confused when the medula oblagada do
[Ras Kass]
Oh, so revelations is Genesis
[God]
Three-sixty degrees are limitless
[Satan]
Shit, my motherfuckin nemesis
[Ras Kass]
Who is you?
[Satan]
Son, I thought you knew
Who else? Lucifer, the lie bearer stupid, the devil himself
He the creator, we all the creations, guess i'm eternal damnation
Got you bitches seaking your own salvation
Who taught you how to pray?
You read it in the book, look, your bear witness to Amen Ray
Every day when you say Amen, and then turn aroun
and preach worshippin false Gods, is an unforgivable sin
Yea the good book is like comic books, you take 'em too literal
I tricked you in to believin' the power to reason
Makes you able to live infinitely, in the physical
Guess I'm the pawn com lyrical
Basically I tell true lies in general, the yin and the yang
The player with a trillion years of game
[God]
He got you sellin your spiritual, for power, monery, and fame
I came out of tripple stage darkness, gave mortals my attributes
But even you may be a mystery God like the lockhead
A used sign to prove or disprove my existence
Tryin to align this, artificial intelligence, cloned in a space station
Tryin to build the tower of babylon
But you savages stake me, when I start erasin homosapiens
You lookin for an angel with wings
I'm 'a bring young niggas with a ak, fuck a alien
[Ras Kass]
So what you sayin is, you the one that created sin
[God]
What you call mother nature, was the nature of me
What you call evil, ultimately, was the force inside of me
Matter can't be created or destroyed it just changes shape
One God, many people, and many faith
And this is how I wanted to do 'em
[Ras Kass]
Wait, wait, hold up
Father tell me, who is God's son?
[Chorus] - repeat 2X
[God]
I be the Jesus to your Buddah, the Chrishna at your Junah
The big kahauna, Jehova Witnesses, suede pumas
Zuese, Pharaoh, Elohim, Saturn, Yaweh Jiah
Arastifa Rah, Allah, the most powerful
But then, only Adam and I
I'm the oceans, the trees, a bumble bee, and a glock
Earthquakes, how much money you ever take
The reason behind every mistake mankind continually makes
[Ras Kass]
Did God create man, or did man need to create God?
[Satan]
The answer is both, cause how mortals look at God is odd
[God]
You try to customize me to be comfortable
For what you want to do, and how you choose to act
The Roman Christians will tell you God ain't black
But to get something from nothing is physically impossible, that's a fact
[Satan]
Black is the combination of all colors
[Ras Kass]
White is the lack thereof
[God]
Darkness is beneath the ground, and in the skies up above
The clue, is that the true illumination is me, not illuminati
Cause I alone discriminate
Any who be believing they can rationalize our out reason me
Who created your creature, sutdent can never be greater than the teacher
Wether its Adam and Eve, or atomic chemistry
I'm the one true source of all energy
Who will evantually destroy every enemy when I see fit
I can't blaspheme my own name so when God damn it, so be it
[Satan]
that's called the wrath of God, but we gotta deal, I can chill
Fuck up the whole world, and in the end,
He'll still fulfill his plan, to return man to his original position
Nigga gave me some hooks, and said I gets to go fishin
[God]
I gave man doiminion over the Earth, to master the wealth
But most of my children don't have dominion over theyself
[Satan]
That's where I come in
Call it original sin
Well, who really gives a flying fuck?
I taught you how to blood suck, and ultimately self destruct
[God]
Know the ledge, wise the dome, do the data
I'm the alpha
[Satan]
I'm the beta
[Ras Kass]
And I'm omega
To be or not to be was man's question since conception
I think therefore I am, was man's perception
But the birth is the resurrection
The son of God, or God's son, that lights our entire spectrum
You got everlasting life, long as you got day and night
Illumination, not education, to bring the blind sight
And what you need to know is that you'll never know it all
I'm a lowercase g, son of the ever-living God
In the song, “Interview with a Vampire”, Ras Kass mixes biblical references with philosophical questions. The song illustrates the rapper talking to God and the Devil about the mysteries of life. Throughout the song, Ras Kass asks about human existence, good and evil, the concept of the son of God, and the meaning of life. The chorus asks “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” God responds with, “Armageddon.” The song also dives into the interpretation of Genesis, discussing single-celled organisms and how Black people were the first race created by God.
Ras Kass touches on the scientific and philosophical perspectives on life and creationism. Philosophically, he questions the meaning of life and the concept of existence. Scientifically, he juxtaposes God’s supernatural abilities to the simple fact that anything that can be created cannot be destroyed, it just changes shape. The song emphasizes that there are complex questions that mankind may never have answers to, but the beauty of life is that individuals "have to keep asking to keep breathing".
Overall, "Interview with a Vampire" is a deep and philosophical song that explores the complexities of life, good and evil, and the meaning of existence.
Line by Line Meaning
You want to talk to God? God never sleeps
God is always present and aware, as such, people should not think they can talk to him like he is just there to listen.
Now what came first, the chicken or the egg?
Questioning the origins of things and the relationship between cause and effect.
Armageddon
The end of the world.
A arm a leg a leg a arm a head
Referencing the 5% Nation that believes in mathematics being an important part of understanding God
Headin in your direction
A desire to be close to God
The riddle was the answer to the question
A reference to the idea that understanding is found in paradox and complicated riddles.
Born of the flesh, what is perfection
Questioning what is perfect when we are born with inherent flaws.
Inside my mother's womb, doomed to return to the tomb
Life is a temporary state until we return to where we came from.
Or was it from the dead I was raised?
Questioning whether there is life after death.
All too soon to pay, on judgement day
A fear of the consequences of one's actions being judged.
Is this beginning or the ending
Questioning where one is in the cycle of life and death.
Died sinning, still winning, still grinning
Acceptance of one's sins while continuing to live life.
This ending, verdict still pending, born pretending
It is not yet clear how one's life will end or how they will be judged.
Three-hundred billion men, women, and children
Acknowledgement of the vast number of people in the world.
Deja vu, could be I'm dreaming
The uncertainty of what is real and what is not.
But we all ask for divine reason
The pursuit of understanding and reason through God.
Why what?
God questioning what the person is asking.
Do we live just to die?
Questioning the purpose of life.
Way before the after God pitting heads
Referencing the idea that God created different belief systems and religions that contradict each other.
No God for me, mathematically, in division
Ras Kass does not align himself with any particular god or religion.
My decision was all inventions
God created everything.
I need not mention infinite dementions
There are many planes of existence and many forms of reality.
But the human mind's flaw was limited comprehension
Humans cannot understand everything.
So while you try to travel to Mars and the stars
Humans are constantly searching and exploring the universe.
I created man in my image and the black man was first
God created humans and the reference to the black man being first is a part of the 5% Nation belief system regarding the origin of humanity.
The scientific explanation, yea I made man out of dirt
A reference to the creation story in the Bible where humans were made from the earth.
But how can a man be first, when its the woman that's giving birth?
Questioning the idea of gender hierarchies and who should be considered first.
White people
A reference to the 5% Nation belief in the inferiority of white people.
They keep the world separate and unequal
The idea of inequality being perpetuated by a certain group of people.
Up is down
Questioning what is real and what is not.
The player with a trillion years of game
Satan referring to himself as the master of the game of life.
Know the ledge, wise the dome, do the data
A reference to the importance of being knowledgeable and aware.
But to get something from nothing is physically impossible, that's a fact
Humans cannot create matter from nothing.
Black is the combination of all colors
A statement on the beauty of diversity and how black is the culmination of all colors.
Darkness is beneath the ground, and in the skies up above
Darkness is a part of the universe and all around us.
The birth is the resurrection
The idea that death is not the end, but rather a transformation into a new form of life.
And what you need to know is that you'll never know it all
Acknowledging the limits of human understanding and knowledge.
I'm a lowercase g, son of the ever-living God
Satan acknowledging himself as a lesser being than the true God.
I'm the alpha, I'm the beta, and I'm omega
Satan acknowledging himself as a part of the larger cycle of creation and destruction.
To be or not to be was man's question since conception
The question of existence has been a part of human thought since the beginning.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Gzadilla
Underrated in the dictionary should have a pic of Ras Kass next to it
@tophermac9171
Underrated in the dictionary should have Underated from Pot Luck
@andrewelsayid8987
WORD! Chino XL too
@gregoryalbert7012
Sister you ain't lying.
@michaelbrantley2782
Without a doubt one of the greatest songs of all time in any genre.
@leonflamesofficial
Undeniable facts
@leonflamesofficial
No way...’Soul On Ice’ is dope, but ‘Interview With A Vampire’ is a masterpiece that no other MC could write and perform in that manner.
@gargenfluckgosphenspiels4849
One of the deepest songs ever, any genre.
@TheHumanBallsack
@Joel Villarreal 100% agree. Soul On Ice production by Bird was absolutely amazing, whereas the wack pop shit from Dre just made a mockery of the supreme talent that Ras possesses. 99% of people are sheep I swear..
@trentyates418
Cant nothin today beat this dope joint