Ultimately, Black Jesuz would not be above them he would sin and do whatever is necessary to survive in the ghetto like they do. A Tribe Called Quest’s main objectives were to promote “personal awareness, social consciousness, and the challenge to seek a Supreme Being.” A Tribe Called Quest urged its listeners to find their place in the universe and develop a spiritual …show more content… In “Black Jesuz” from Still I Rise, Tupac searches for a saint out there that “smoke like we smoke, drink like we drink,” thus, living the same lifestyle and feeling the same pain as gangsters.

Q-Tip raps, “put out fires with a 40 ounce” and pauses before completing the line with “of water.” A Tribe Called Quest plays on the negative bias that most listeners would imagine a black male drinking a 40-ounce of malt liquor rather than water.

In their album People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, A Tribe Called Quest’s insightful messages are especially evident in their song “Youthful Expressions” that sheds light on the lack of voice given to black youth. Two of the group's members, Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, are both Sunni Muslims. This voicing of social issues in lyrics challenges the “more facile, materialistic, and thuggish elements… of mainstream rap music.” A Tribe Called Quest is a Hip Hop group praised for offering an alternative sound in the 1990’s as West Coast Gansta Rap started to come up. Nevertheless, Nas is thankful for his haters because that means “ God has given him enough conviction and material possessions to incite …show more content… Muslim rappers as a whole are commonly praised as being more “conscious rappers,” which implies they are especially attentive with making their lyrics meaningful and remaining aware of social issues. Nas uses this imagery to bring to light that Jesus’ crucifixion mirrors his own crucifixion in the world of media and haters. The video was so controversial at the time that some Youtube versions even had to have disclaimers. Nas’ portrayal mirrors the crucifixion of Jesus.

Nas depicts himself as bloodied and battered walking through a crowd of hecklers as he wears a thorny crown and carries a cross.

Show More In his album I Am…, Nas also has a song that touches upon religious imagery called “Hate Me Now.” The song’s Christian influence is not portrayed through the lyrics but through the imagery in the music video.

Nas hate me now lyrocs