Jewelz

Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Blackstar. The track, as Kweli alludes to in the opening verse, is based on the 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison. The book, among various themes, focuses on how the black communities standards of beauty, values and morals are set by white American society.

The entire Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color album is a nice piece of sonic work by the Minnesota Rhymesayer. The title track along with Letter to my Countrymen are examples of Ali's more overt political statements on the record.

The Mighty Mos Def now more commonly known as Yasiin Bey points out what some would call proof of the New World Order as he pontificates on the commodification of H2O. Or more plainly, 'Water used to be free but now it cost you a fee because its all about getting that cash money!!'

Brother Ali flips Common's "Sweet" by taking out the beef and adding veggies and vanilla extract instead.

On "My Philosophy," KRS let us know he's down with a vegetarian diet passing on "goat or ham or chicken or turkey or hamburger." On "Beef" you start to understand why as he details the specifics on how meat gets to the supermarket and ultimately your plate.

Tribe members espouse on the elimination of pork and eggs from their diet so they can keep the LDLs down and the HDLs up as the hook drives home.

Usually dead prez is throwing up the proverbial middle finger to the system but you can't be revolutionary and gangsta if you aren't taking care of the mind, body and soul. For this track they take a quick break from their normally political raps to tell you 'true wealth is good health.'

The "Nature of the Threat" is considered by many to be Ras Kass' magnum opus off of his debut album Soul On Ice. In it Ras Kass basically spits verses encyclopedia style documenting the evolution of man and the origins of racism.

Brand Nubian's goal is to motivate, build and elevate the deaf, dumb and blind through verse.

As Talib Kweli states at the beginning of the record the song is a take off of Nina Simone's similarly titled "Four Women." Nina Simone was a spirited singer, pianist and activist whose songs like "Mississippi Goddamn" made her music the soundtrack for the civil rights movement. Kweli and many others like Mos Def, Kanye and Common regularly name drop her in lyrics or as an influence to thei

Back in the early 90s Ice Cube was far from the guy you see in Coors Light commercials and big screen comedies today. He was the self proclaimed "Ni--a Ya love to Hate."