It's 1996, a turning point in music. Stacked high above your combination CD/cassette deck in heavy rotation are numerous hip-hop classics like 2Pac's All Eyez on Me, the Fugees' The Score, Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt, and Nas' It Was Written. If you're like us here at County Grind, you dug deeper than just the mainstream and pulled out backpacker classics like Heltah Skeltah's Nocturnal, Ghostface Killah's Ironman, and, last but not least, Ras Kass' Soul on Ice.
From the minute Ras emerged on the scene among the often-bubblegum raps dominating airwaves, he stood out as one of hip-hop's most talented lyricists. One listen to the critically acclaimed track "Nature of the Threat," and you realized -- hip-hop doesn't have to be about busting gats and banging hoes. Rather, hip-hop, if done right, can explore issues like religion, homosexuality, the government, and even the history of Western Civilization, as evidenced all over Soul on Ice.
Since then, Ras has continued to release critically acclaimed albums, from 1998's Rasassination to 2010's A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I Dream About Spittin). His thoughts and beliefs have evolved -- but one thing has remained the same -- Ras Kass can rap with the best of them. On the eve of his return to the Fort Lauderdale area to perform at Green Room's Brown Bag Wednesdays, County Grind caught up with Ras Kass for a candid interview.
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