Apollo Brown & Ras Kass’ Blasphemyis a bold philosophical collection of music. The album arrives amidst national racial tension after several instances of black men being killed at the hands of police. Of course, turning villains out of people considered “other” is not a new occurrence in America, and Ras and Apollo are seeking to provide a little context to that situation.
The album’s lyrics don’t pertain to police violence and racism exclusively. Religion is a major theme; specifically, inconsistencies within the texts, and the inherent violence associated with religious conflict (historically speaking). The title also begs you to look at what else in your life is a religion. The worship of money, power, government, respect, sex and love amongst other things are what most directly embody true blasphemic behavior, as defined by Ras Kass.
Ras’ is at his best on Blasphemy when he’s rapping about hypocrisy and sowing seeds with his lyrics. On “Deliver Us From Evil,” he raps: “They ask me if I’m Muslim cause I don’t eat swine / Nah, let’s call it kosher, my original culture / Cried what Hitler did to Jews by the Rhine / But two wrongs don’t make it right when you occupy Palestine / And white Christians, mission assisting the end times / Gon’ flip they wigs when Jesus the cast of Good Times / Black skin, big lips, hair full of dreads / Probably got his music bumping, why He can’t hear our prayers.” These bars are a tutorial in how to skillfully articulate big ideas. Ras once said that prison inmates and college students are his biggest consumers — or more generally, learned populations seeking knowledge. These lyrics are tailored for his consumers, though they are concise and thought provoking enough to affect anyone.
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Yet for all of his powerful moments on Blasphemy, Ras’ lyricism also comes up short on different parts of the album. “Too Much Of A Good Thing” immediately precedes “Deliver Us From Evil.” It’s a break from the rather heavy, seemingly tailor made for a Spike Lee film subject matter, dealing with his lady cheating on him with other women. Philosophically, spousal affairs are blasphemous by nature, but the track doesn’t have the impact of the other societal challenges he tackles on the LP. Partly because he never outlines which part of the intimate goings-on between he and the protagonist constitutes blasphemy.
Apollo Brown’s technique on the one hand is consistent, which among other things, means he is one hell of a crate-digger. More often than not, the listener can pick up the pattern by which he forms his beats, chopping and sampling accordingly. He’s conservative with his rhythms, but his vast collection of sounds is truly impressive, and malleable in many ways. “Strawberry” and “Deliver Us From Evil” have the same head-bob effect, while occupying different ends of the stylistic totem pole. From time to time he switches everything up, too. But it’s not always for the better. 4 Rax supplies the hook on “Roses,” and his voice wavers like an auto-tune track. Nevertheless, instances like these are few and far between.
Blasphemy solidly meets expectations, but has only a few transcendent moments. Tracks pertaining to race and religion hit home harder than those pertaining to narrower situations. At times, Ras and Apollo misplace their intent while in pursuit of lyrical and musical diversity. Content on tracks like “Too Much Of A Good Thing” and “Drink Irish” still fall under the umbrella of general blaspheming, but doesn’t quite achieve escape velocity within the overall narrative. All in all, the elements of analyzing one’s society through the medium of music, and the discussions of controversial taboos are what carry the album as a whole.
