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— by Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes and Bridget Bland
Artist: Ras Kass
Representing: Carson, California
Mixtape: Institutionalized
411: While Ras Kass was in California's Corcoran State Prison (he was released in December after serving a total of 19 months), he vowed to make one of the finest albums ever. He now says he's on his way after writing more than 100 songs — songs you won't hear on his street LP Institutionalized. Ras is saving those goodies for his official album (he's sitting on tracks produced by Dr. Dre, David Banner and Jazze Pha, among others), which he says should drop in early 2006. He's waiting to be released from his Capitol Records contract so he may find a new recording home.
"We're right at the end [of our litigation]," Ras said. "It seems like everything is amicable. We'll part ways, and that's that."
Ras isn't speaking about what label he may sign to, but he did insist that fans picking up Institutionalized are copping his newest — and some of his rawest — material. These are all records he's written since he's been home.
"My [official] album is written and it's sitting there," he said. "I have a 20-song album that's my real album, and it's impeccably written. Right now I'm just feeding the streets and just enjoying what I do. I did this just so n---as could get a feel of where I'm at."
Where he's at is on the top of his grizzly. Lyrically, Ras has to be considered among the top 10 MCs today. According to Ras, there's no question — he's a top dog.
"I don't think I ever went nowhere," he explained. "No disrespect, but Tupac is dead, rest in peace. Ice Cube is a movie mogul. So tell me, who really is the king of the West? When you ask these n---as in the street, it really didn't matter whether I was in prison or not in prison. These n---as in the streets in L.A. will tell you the hardest n---a in the streets of L.A. is Ras Kass."
Joints To Check For:
- "Life and Bullsh--." " 'Life and Bullsh--' [is about] witnessing some of the things I witnessed in [prison], where you ain't necessarily guaranteed you gonna live to the next day," Ras said. "You have to be on your P's and Q's and not be f---ing up. Prison is just a microcosm of the real world. It goes into the haves and have-nots and goes into race.
"[The song is about] me looking at somebody losing their life in an instant and thinking about what we place value on. A lot of people place value on bullsh--. There's nothing wrong with having a Bentley and having money, but sometimes just breathing and having another day to fight again is important."
- "Air Em Out." "I love that record," Ras said. "That was me airing it out, getting sh-- off my chest. That was like a '[Proceed With] Caution Part 2' to me. It's just letting cats know I'm the same n---a."
- "My Apology." "It's a real a--hole record," he said. "I'm talking to a couple of people per verse. It's two verses. It's a lot of symbolic sh-- on there, it's ... specific to one person. They'll get it when they get it. Then, of course, the second verse sounds like I'm talking to a female — which I might be. But at the end I say I'm talking to this particular company, which I was."
Don't Sleep: Other Notable Selections This Week
- DJ Clue's Fidel Cashflow Part Two
- Rapid Ric's Getcha Weight Up
- 50 Cent and Whoo Kid's G-Unit Radio Part 14: Back to Business
- DJ Smallz's Southern Smoke 14: The Champ Is Here
'Hood's Heavy Rotation: Bubbling Below The Radar
- "Touch It" by Busta Rhymes
- "Check Cleared" by Mase
- "1, 2" by Slum Village
- "Future Thugs" by Redman featuring Ghostface and Ludacris
- "Robbery" by G-Unit
- "Unpredictable" by Jamie Foxx featuring Ludacris
- "Extravaganza" remix by Jamie Foxx featuring Kanye West and Ludacris
- "I'm in Love With You" by Razah featuring Fatman Scoop
Celebrity Favs
"New Jack City" was recently released as a two-disc special-edition DVD, and the king of OGs, Ice-T, says he would love to be involved in a sequel to the film — but only if the dough is right.
"I don't really know," Ice said recently about the possibility of a follow-up to the 1991 classic, which also starred Wesley Snipes and Judd Nelson. "Back in the day, they wanted to do a "New Jack City 2." The way they were going to do it is that Nino [Brown] didn't die. You know when Nino got shot in the chest? He was going to go to ICU and be alive. We were going to do something from there.
"We were going to go after the cartel and deal with some undercover stuff along those lines," he added. "But at that time, I got into trouble. Everybody was scared to mess with me because of 'Cop Killer.' Warner Bros. didn't want to touch me, nobody wanted to touch me. Now Wesley has gone off to do his thing and become a big star. If we do the [sequel] they're gonna have to pay me a lot of money. The last movie, we got paid scale."
The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground
Three 6 Mafia family member Project Pat was recently released from prison, so his appearance on three songs off of the Mafia's Most Known Unknown is leading fans to believe that Pat recorded tracks just in time to make the album. But Pat had his verses laid before he even went to jail.
"Pat is on the new album, but the stuff I had was old verses that he recorded before he went to jail," Juicy J explained. "He recorded an album and a half before he went to jail. It sounds like 2005 material, and we was listening to it like, 'We ought to take [his vocals], chop this up and put this on our album.' "
Rest assured, Project Pat is recording new material soon. As soon as Three 6 Mafia get off their promo tour, they'll be producing Pat's next album, already titled Crook by the Book: The Feds Story.
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Serius Jones at Fight Klub in the Bahamas
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Underground MC Serius Jones says he's gladly accepted the battle rematch proposed by Jin. On August 22, Jin came out on the losing end against Jones during a session of Fight Klub in New York for a $10,000 purse. Last weekend, Jin won the annual Mixshow Power Summit Fight Klub rap battle in the Bahamas and took home 50 Gs. Jin offered to put up $10,000 in a face-off with Serius the same night. Serius, who was also in the battle but eliminated in the second round, was so heated at his loss that he'd left the venue and could not accept the challenge.
"I went back to the hotel. I was real distraught," Jones, who lost to British MC Professor Green, explained. "I couldn't believe this crowd is so [weak]. Just because he's from the U.K. and overseas it makes what he says that much hotter? I said let me get out of here, because I don't want to go to jail in the Bahamas."
Jones said when he heard about Jin's challenge, he came running back to the venue and approached Jin personally, telling his lyrical foe that he wanted to up the ante to $20,000. No date has been set. Jones said once he's done with Jin, he's officially retiring from battling and focusing on making his album.
For more on the role of mixtapes in the music industry, check out the feature "Mixtapes: The Other Music Industry."
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Photo: MTV News
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