I recently came across an article about the 5% Nation and its place in the rap world and thought some of you might be interested in seeing what beliefs some of the core of the original NY hip-hop scene (Busta Rhymes, Wu Tang Clan, Nas, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane) are espousing. I was really unaware of the origin and specifics of this particular sect.
Read the article. Some choice quotes below the fold.
Seven is the number of perfection. It stands for the seventh letter of the alphabet, G, and for God. (Five Percenters originated the homeboy expression, "'sup [what's up], G?"; originally "G" stood for God, not gangsta.) According to Jah-Z-Allah, keeper of the 5% website, "The God sees in cycles of 7 colors of the rainbow and hears in 7 cycles of notes on the musical scale."17 According to Farad's lessons, the Original (Black) Man has 7 1/2 ounces of brain, the (white) devil, only 6 ounces (Farad, Lost Found Muslim Lesson No. 2).
The 85% are those without the knowledge, the mentally blind, deaf and dumb who are bent on self-destruction. The 10% are the bloodsuckers of the poor, those who have knowledge and power but who use it to mystify and abuse the 85%. The 10% include the "grafted" white devil (created, according to Farad's teaching, by the evil scientist Yacub approximately 6000 years ago) as well as the orthodox Muslims and Christian preachers who preach that god is a "spook" or a "mystery god."
To hear my people been lost for over 400 years
And they tried this mystery God
And all they got was hard times
--Brand Nubian, "Ain't No Mystery" (In God We Trust)
The 5% are the poor righteous teachers who preach the divinity of (black) man, the god who is "manifest" (not a spook, not a mystery god) and who will save the 85% from destruction.
I realize you could fill the entire internet with the bizarre beliefs of this or that religious sect, but I thought this one was particularly interesting given the potential impact of these artists on pop culture and because I generally enjoy the work of a lot of these folks. I wonder though how much other fans actually take to heart?
