Ras Kass’ Soul is Still on Ice, but his mind is burning brighter than ever.
Ras Kass Set the Standard for Rap Lyricism. Years Later He Still Bears the Brunt of the Art Form's Weight.
It’s popular nowadays for rappers to liken themselves to artists especially Pablo Picasso and more recently Jean Michele Basquiat, but there are few if any who would be honest enough to equate their musical impact to that of artist extraordinaire Van Gogh. Celebrated by his peers and shunned by the world at large, West Coast emcee John R Austin II, professionally known as Ras Kass, still feels the weight of the comparison years after the industry decided not to release his art.
Twenty-seven years after his heavy release, Soul on Ice, Ras is just as skilled as he was then and equally as cynical. Hopeful, reflective, and unapologetic, his newest interview is one of his rawest reflections on hip hop fifty years after its inception.
Raised between Watts and Carson California, Ras saw both sides of the coin which included the ills of the inner city and equally the suburbs whose spaced-out homes fostered a condition of separation in its citizens.
“I lived in Carson my entire life, but my formative years were in Watts. That’s where my friends were and I played and stayed during the summer. “
For Ras, leaving Watts after seventh grade to move to Carson left him with a different set of issues as he struggled to adjust to the religious and social conditions around him. Attending school at a Catholic school left an indelible mark on his spiritual and cultural mindset.
“As bad as my dad thought Watts was for me, I hated Carson. I told my dad I didn’t understand these people. They were animals. It was more space and money, but they weren’t necessarily more sophisticated.” says Ras.
The lack of closeness he felt with his peers and community in Carson pushed him inside and fed his inner drive to learn about the world at large and write about it.
Rap was in the periphery, but it wasn’t until KRS- One’s You Must Learn that he firmly decided to rap. “I didn’t pay much attention to rap at first, I heard it and didn’t really listen. KRS-One You Must Learn really resonated. It hit differently and that’s when I said I want to rap.”
Inspired to pursue the craft, Ras initially had to work through the realization that his content was heavy and often went over the heads of his peers who sought a more simplistic sound.
“Around 9th grade, I started to let my friends know I rap. They said I was wack, but I realized I wasn’t wack they just liked dumber rap. By then DJ Battlecat discovered us and I knew I wasn’t wack. I was just thinking more complicated than what they were on, says Ras.
Once he worked through his feelings, he combined his knowledge and extensive vocabulary with intense practice and soon built a local reputation in Carson for his skill. Two of Ras’ peers, Curtis Daniels III, and pro footballer Bob Whitfield, worked with Ras after finding out about his talent and created Patchwerk Studio, which served as the home base for his demo.
“Bob, Curtis and I were from Carson and one of the neighborhoods in Carson is called the Patch. We named it Patchwerk because in Bob’s words, we were going to be brothers from the Patch doing work.
Ras’ demo eventually led to a record deal with Priority Records and from there, praise from publications such as the Source who gave him hip hop quotable for his song, “Remain Anonymous”.
“It’s the baby created by my talent, Curt’s vision, and Bob’s money, says Ras.
Equipped with a label and knowledge from time spent in college, the correctional system, and his own studies, he released the meteoric album, Soul On Ice, a thirteen-track nod to the controversial book by Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, in October of 1996.
Soul on Ice
Exposed to the book while in juvenile hall, Ras viewed his album like the book with his collection of songs being created in the way Eldridge’s collection of essays were arranged to represent the vast range of emotions.
When asked about the book and how it influenced his debut, Ras said,
“Soul on Ice" isn't a linear book. It’s his take on the moments in his life that he was ashamed of and proud of and I felt the honesty. Soul on Ice the album is a mix of happiness, hood shit, realism and me dealing with all of my facets in snippets as well. I took the book and applied it to myself.”
Nature of the Threat became the album's standout song and was praised and vilified for its honest and piercing analysis of the world following European exploration. For Ras, the song had a visceral effect on his career.
”I always thought my honesty would be a strength. It made me hard to market though. I don’t regret it but maybe my listeners collectively weren’t deep thinkers like me.”
The lack of commercial success he experienced coupled with the label politics he experienced with his third and fourth albums only amplified his anguish and pain. Forced to fight for his freedom from a deal he signed without proper legal representation at eighteen, Ras credits the combination of label politics and artistic competition as impediments to his success.
In spite of it all, Ras has stayed the course, releasing several mixtapes, songs, and projects like 2019’s Soul on Ice 2, all in an effort to reinvent himself for a growing audience. Just last year, Ras lent his voice to the LA Galaxy soccer team,
In addition to his solo career, he’s currently serving as a mentor to his twin sons, Ras and Taj, who are both members of the burgeoning rap group, Coast Contra. Even though Ras wants more out of life, he’s grateful for what he has and eager to release more music that could better the conditions of people like him around the world.
“I have compassion for everyone’s plight. I don’t have it as bad, but mine is hard on me. I’ll do my part and I have decided I will be who I am.