Holy Intellect

By: Michael Muhammad Knight (excerpts from VIBE May 2008 Issue, pg. 88-93)

"We can never fall off," said Brand Nubian's Sadat X to Fab 5 Freddy, "cause this is God right here."

Filming a 1992 episode of Yo! MTV Raps in front of the Five Percenters' headquarters, Allah School in Mecca (aka Harlem, NYC), the dread locked Lord Jamar ran down the long list of classic Five Percenter MCs. It read like a hall of fame from the east coast's golden age: the World's Famous Supreme Team, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Poor Righteous Teachers, and Lakim Shabazz-rappers who used their considerable skills to espouse the street gnosticism of the Five Percent Nation. And it don't stop. Though condemned as heretics by Sunni Muslims and demonized by law enforcement, the Five Percenter movement 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 "appear a lot more intelligent than the other artists who were out there just rappin'." The Five Percenters bridged the gap between hip hop's humble beginnings and New York's long tradition of black Muslim consciousness.

Alternately known as the Nation of Gods and Earths, the movement began in the early 1960s with Clarence Edward Smith. 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. ... 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 Master" ...

"A true Five Percenter," remembers Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, "could sit on a stoop or stand out on a street corner and explain the tenets of the sect for hours on end-and be totally entertaining!" ... Gathering in a circle known as a "cipher," Gods would take turns addressing the group. Terms used to describe their teaching battles would enter into classic hip hop slang: "dropping science," "dropping knowledge," "dropping jewels." To praise something as "the bomb" goes back to Five Percenters verbally bombing each other with the lessons. Simmons describes the Gods of those days as "slick" and "smooth-talking," preaching "with as much flair as possible." But they also complemented their style with a highly politicized awareness born from the black nationalism of the 1960s. In its original use, "G" meant not "gansta," but "God." Rakim breaks it down in 1988's "No Competition.": "I'm God, G is the seventh letter made." Seven represents "God" in the Supreme Mathematics.

The Five Percent Nation's most urgent priority was not creating pious followers but empowering young people with self-respect.

Despite everything-the assassination of Allah, government persecution, and religious disapproval-the Five Percenters teach on. "The knowledge has helped our generation," insists RZA, who includes all races and walks of life among those touched by the culture. "Hip Hop brought these positive people together." As both hip hop and the Five Percent Nation continue to elevate and expand, reaching places beyond their originators' dreams, they travel together, one unimaginable without the other. "The Five Percent is now accepted all around the world," the RZA told VIBE. "It's going to continue to grow until that's 100 percent."