God Hop Pt II

The Wit of C-Ray Walz

Peace,
I’m gonna drop my own personal profile shorts regarding certain Gods and Earths in the industry. I’m gonna drop why they are relevant to the industry AND why they are relevant in terms of representing the Nation in the industry. First up to bat is my man C-Rayz Walz, the Sun Cycle MC.

Now, I’m not to sure of his righteous name. I recall it as C Truth yet in his publishing listed is W.Shabazz. Get at my God if I’m not right and exact!

Just like Black people are not one monolithic group the Gods in Hip Hop are also not one monolithic group. One would think they were due to reporters focusing on specific Gods and Earths in the industy. Also reporters tend to ask the same questions if the person is representing the Nation.

One reason why C-Rayz is important is because even the average person who knows who the 5% on this poor part of the planet are don’t realize at first that C-Rayz is mathematically inclined even though one of his first singles, ‘Nann God’, was a righteous parody of the Trick Daddy song. Let me state it again, it was a righteous parody of a popular song. This in and of itself is unique as it had never been done before. In that song he blantantly exposed the masses to the fact that he studies degrees (120), utilizes mathematics, etc.. His partner in the song was an Earth whose MC name was MINDetect.

The way that ‘rap’ is postured to the masses nowadays is through a pseudo-thug ethic. Ironically, most of the people are far from representing the ethic in real life (I mean, let’s be real, how ‘thug’ can you be if you live in a mansion, drink ‘cristol’, and walk around with mad body guards?). Even the thug-ethic is presented monolithically so that if you want to ‘be a thug’ you can almost go through a checklist on what is needed. C-Rayz is hilarious because he comes from a textbook, thug in the making, background (his father was a notorious drug dealer, he was a stick-up kid, etc.) yet he is anything except average. He is that kid who makes fun of you instead of fighting you yet if you end up fighting he kicks your ass and STILL makes fun of you.

The sense of humor that he brings to Hip Hop is refreshing. Too many of the ‘gangsters’ take their selves too seriously, even the fake ones. Some describe him as a punch line MC yet he transcends beyond that in that he can craft whole songs that have punch lines in them. His cadence and voice signature is unmistakable also.

He has a lot of songs that are typical bragadocious MC songs yet he constantly hits on social commentary. It is so fresh though in that it doesn’t appear preachy. He has songs about being a father, single mothers, the decimation of the native Americans, his neighborhood, etc. Check him out…worth the while.

Discography
The Prelude (2001)
Singular Plurals (2003)
Lime Ligh: The Outroductiont (2003)
Ravipops: The substance (2003)We Live: The Black Sammuri EP (2004)