The Immersion: Nas’ “Sly Fox” & a Political Hip-Hop Education Posted by DJ Dharmic X on 09/06/12 | Filed under The Immersion, Options

Listening to Immortal Technique not only changed my perspective on life and what it meant to be a human being in society, it also sharpened my political awareness, an important thing during a monumental 2008 Presidential campaign (granted, I was not old enough to vote).

That isn’t to say that I was woefully ignorant when it came to politics or world events before I came across Tech’s catalogue; even as a kid, I was paying attention to foreign affairs, and even digging a little deeper than most children. “Rockin a mothafuckin flag don’t make you a hero,” a line off “Cause of Death” resonated with feelings that I had in the immediate wake of the 9/11 attacks, as a 10-year old watching fellow Americans redirect their nationalist zeal towards people of Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu origin. Even at that early age I recognized that propaganda had sacrificed ideals of humanity.

But gradually, because of my need to assimilate, my recklessness allowed my mental sword to dull, to lose track of events that were going on. I had become apathetic until that 2AM epiphany. I woke up, began to clean the rust out of my system, and most importantly, began to read. As much as I could.

There was an album that followed The Third World which added to the political dialogue of the time--an album that has once again entered hip-hop spotlight--and that album was Nas’s "Untitled". "Untitled" was not my introduction to Nas; I’d already been blown away by tracks such as “One Mic” and “New York State of Mind.” But this album, regardless of the ghostwriting allegations, was a very powerful one, considering both the political circumstance and the commercial significance that Nas has (especially when compared to someone like Technique).



“Queens Get the Money,” was and still is a standout track off this project, a chilling introduction in stream of conscious fashion, but my favorite track off Untitled happens to be one of the stic.man-produced records, “Sly Fox.” A bass-thumping, fairly simple beat serves as the perfect beat for Nas to spit venom, a rant that was not only political for the Queens-veteran, but also very personal, coming in the aftermath of the controversy that Bill O’Reilly stirred up regarding the concert in honor of the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting massacre.

The song was a very cogent breakdown of media manipulation and bias, an issue that has been going even before the advent of television. As Nas put it, “They monopolize the news, your views, and the channel you choose.” But in making this analysis, he refuses to sacrifice or water-down the lyricism. “Sly Fox” still feels like a rap song, and not like a speech you’d hear at a political party’s National Convention or at a protest rally. Nas’s wit shines in lines like “I watch CBS and I see BS, tryna track us down with GPS, make a n... wanna invest in PBS.” This was a complete effort, a concept record that stays true to its concept throughout.

Nas never completely sold me on the merits of the candidate he endorsed in the 2008 election (the way I saw it, Barack Obama was really just the lesser of two evils, much like he is in this current election cycle, due to the record of the people he surrounds himself with, including his dim-witted Vice President), but through songs such as “Sly Fox,” he began to expose me to the perils of media and its dangerous brainwashing campaign. It helped me detect the biases and slants that run rampant in journalism in every medium. My awakening as a person continued, with hip-hop serving as a guiding light...


(DJ Dharmic X is the host of This Culture Never Dies, 11PM-1AM Saturday on wnyu.org. Fans and haters, can follow him on Twitter and check him out on Facebook.)

See Also: The Immersion: Going on a Death March With Immortal Technique