Many moons ago, rap music was infl uenced by a NYC-based sect known as the FIVE PERCENT NATION OF GODS ANDEARTHS. From the Worlds Famous Supreme Team to Rakim to Wu-Tang Clan, the Gods sought to inspire and courted controversy. A look back at an eraand at the spiritual heart of East Coast hip hop itself.
"We can never fall off, said Brand Nubians Sadat X to Fab 5 Freddy, cause this is God right here.
Filming a 1992 episode of Yo! MTV Rapsin front of the Five Percenters headquarters, Allah School in Mecca (aka Harlem, NYC), the dreadlocked Lord Jamar ran down the long list of classic Five Percenter MCs. It read like a hall of fame from the East Coasts golden age: the Worlds Famous Supreme Team, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Poor Righteous Teachers, and Lakim Shabazzrappers who used their consider- able skills to espouse the street gnosticism of the Five Percent Nation. And it dont stop.
Though condemned as heretics by Sunni Muslims and demonized by law enforcement, the Five Percenter move- ment has thrived in various forms until the present day, due in large part to the sense of purpose and dignity that gods brought to the microphone. The music just sounded really intelligent, with some of the terminology that they used, said 50 Cent in 2006.
They studied their lessons, so they speak a certain way, he said, causing Five Percenters like Rakim to ap- pear a lot more intelligent than the other artists who were out there just rappin. The Five Percenters bridged the gap between hip hops humble beginnings and New Yorks long tradi- tion of black Muslim consciousness. Alternately known as the Nation of Gods and Earths, the movement began in the early 1960s with Clarence Edward Smith, a decorated Korean War vet who joined the Nation of Islams Harlem mosque under its minister, Malcolm X. As Clarence 13X (the 13th member named Clarence to drop his slave name), he became absorbed in study of the mosques secret Supreme Wisdom Lessons.
In these tran- scribed dialogues between Elijah Muhammad and his teacher, W.D. Fard, who established the fi rst NOI mosque in Detroit in 1930, Clarence was taught that images of God as a white man in the sky were only a trick of the devil. There is no mystery God, read the lessons. Rather than waste time searching for someone who did not exist, Clarence learned to recognize himself and all black men as living gods. As the best knower among the Gods, Fard was elevated to the status of Allah.
In 1964, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam amid bitter political conflicts, causing a schism among Harlems Muslims. Hewas gunned down the following year. The FBI, which closely monitored the Nation of Islam, considered Clarence to have followed Malcolm after the split; but despite their mutual respect, Clarence couldnt relate to Malcolms Sunni Islam, which rejected the idea of black gods and white devils. He soon found himself in a no mans land. While loving Elijahs lessons, he was on the outs with the mosque.
The reasons given are varied, but Clarence might have been frustrated by the strict codes of conduct. To register in the Nation of Islam meant no music, no drinking or smoking, no gambling, no girls, wearing bow ties, and standing on corners selling newspapers. Clarence was concerned that the most vital truth of the teachingsthat the black man is godwould be lost on those who couldnt conform.
Leaving the Nation and losing his X, Clarence went to pool halls and corner dice games to share the secret lessons freely with teen hustlers, dropouts, and throw-outs. Drawing up his own self-styled message, Clarence taught that reefer referred the mind, while shooting dice revealed the mathematical properties of the universe.
According to the lessons, 85 percent of society remained deaf, dumb, and blind to the truth, having been deceived by the slave-makers of the poor, the 10 percent. That left only a sliver of humanity, a mere five percent, to liberate the minds of the masses. Clarence told his young disciples that they were this messianic Five Percent, poor righteous teachers bringing truth to all the human families of the planet Earth. You are gods, he said. And for the street kids, he was no longer Clarence; they called him Allah. This offended New Yorks Sunni and NOI camps alike, but the Five Percenters evolved their own understanding of Islam. Allah read his new name as an acronym for Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head, signifying the divinity of man, and he broke down Islam as I Self Lord And Masterplacing Five Percenters beyond the rules and regulations of the mosque.
Declaring that Five Percenters were no longer Muslims, Allah/Clarence instructed them to drop their Islamic names and take on hismaking all Five Percenters their own Allahs, no longer dependent on Clarence or any self-proclaimed prophet.
Know you are Allah, he told a young student, who would rename himself Allah B; never deny yourself of being Allah, even if the whole world denies you...its your own doubt that can stop you from being Allah.
"We can never fall off, said Brand Nubians Sadat X to Fab 5 Freddy, cause this is God right here.
Filming a 1992 episode of Yo! MTV Rapsin front of the Five Percenters headquarters, Allah School in Mecca (aka Harlem, NYC), the dreadlocked Lord Jamar ran down the long list of classic Five Percenter MCs. It read like a hall of fame from the East Coasts golden age: the Worlds Famous Supreme Team, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Poor Righteous Teachers, and Lakim Shabazzrappers who used their consider- able skills to espouse the street gnosticism of the Five Percent Nation. And it dont stop.
Though condemned as heretics by Sunni Muslims and demonized by law enforcement, the Five Percenter move- ment has thrived in various forms until the present day, due in large part to the sense of purpose and dignity that gods brought to the microphone. The music just sounded really intelligent, with some of the terminology that they used, said 50 Cent in 2006.
They studied their lessons, so they speak a certain way, he said, causing Five Percenters like Rakim to ap- pear a lot more intelligent than the other artists who were out there just rappin. The Five Percenters bridged the gap between hip hops humble beginnings and New Yorks long tradi- tion of black Muslim consciousness. Alternately known as the Nation of Gods and Earths, the movement began in the early 1960s with Clarence Edward Smith, a decorated Korean War vet who joined the Nation of Islams Harlem mosque under its minister, Malcolm X. As Clarence 13X (the 13th member named Clarence to drop his slave name), he became absorbed in study of the mosques secret Supreme Wisdom Lessons.
In these tran- scribed dialogues between Elijah Muhammad and his teacher, W.D. Fard, who established the fi rst NOI mosque in Detroit in 1930, Clarence was taught that images of God as a white man in the sky were only a trick of the devil. There is no mystery God, read the lessons. Rather than waste time searching for someone who did not exist, Clarence learned to recognize himself and all black men as living gods. As the best knower among the Gods, Fard was elevated to the status of Allah.
In 1964, Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam amid bitter political conflicts, causing a schism among Harlems Muslims. Hewas gunned down the following year. The FBI, which closely monitored the Nation of Islam, considered Clarence to have followed Malcolm after the split; but despite their mutual respect, Clarence couldnt relate to Malcolms Sunni Islam, which rejected the idea of black gods and white devils. He soon found himself in a no mans land. While loving Elijahs lessons, he was on the outs with the mosque.
The reasons given are varied, but Clarence might have been frustrated by the strict codes of conduct. To register in the Nation of Islam meant no music, no drinking or smoking, no gambling, no girls, wearing bow ties, and standing on corners selling newspapers. Clarence was concerned that the most vital truth of the teachingsthat the black man is godwould be lost on those who couldnt conform.
Leaving the Nation and losing his X, Clarence went to pool halls and corner dice games to share the secret lessons freely with teen hustlers, dropouts, and throw-outs. Drawing up his own self-styled message, Clarence taught that reefer referred the mind, while shooting dice revealed the mathematical properties of the universe.
According to the lessons, 85 percent of society remained deaf, dumb, and blind to the truth, having been deceived by the slave-makers of the poor, the 10 percent. That left only a sliver of humanity, a mere five percent, to liberate the minds of the masses. Clarence told his young disciples that they were this messianic Five Percent, poor righteous teachers bringing truth to all the human families of the planet Earth. You are gods, he said. And for the street kids, he was no longer Clarence; they called him Allah. This offended New Yorks Sunni and NOI camps alike, but the Five Percenters evolved their own understanding of Islam. Allah read his new name as an acronym for Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head, signifying the divinity of man, and he broke down Islam as I Self Lord And Masterplacing Five Percenters beyond the rules and regulations of the mosque.
Declaring that Five Percenters were no longer Muslims, Allah/Clarence instructed them to drop their Islamic names and take on hismaking all Five Percenters their own Allahs, no longer dependent on Clarence or any self-proclaimed prophet.
Know you are Allah, he told a young student, who would rename himself Allah B; never deny yourself of being Allah, even if the whole world denies you...its your own doubt that can stop you from being Allah.