Background and career
John R. Austin II (born September 26, 1973), better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop supergroup The Hrsmn, along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt in 2014. He is also a member of the group Golden State Project (formerly known as Golden State Warriors) with Xzibit and Saafir. About.com ranked him No. 30 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007), while Pitchfork Media called him "one of the best rappers of all time".
John R. Austin was born on September 26, 1973 and grew up in Carson, California. In 1996, he and R&B and soul singer-songwriter Teedra Moses had twin sons, Ras and Taj, both of whom are founding members of the rap group Coast Contra. BMF Entertainment artist Barima "Bleu DaVinci" McKnight is Austin's cousin.
Ras Kass took his stage name from the legendary Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV whose name was Ras Kassa Mircha before he was crowned as an emperor. In 1991, he made his debut appearance on the single "Trick or Treat" by Wild West Corral alongside B.O.X., Ganjah K, Torche and produced by DJ Battlecat. Ras Kass sent waves through the hip-hop world with his debut independent single release "Remain Anonymous," earning him a Hip-Hop Quotable in The Source Magazine. Before his signing with Priority/EMI Records, Ras Kass began making guest appearances on several records and freestyles on numerous radio shows, further solidified the emerging lyricist's notoriety. Recorded guest appearances include Sway & King Tech's "Come Widdit" (feat. Ras Kass, Ahamad and Saafir) (Priority Records) and their "Wake Up Show Anthem '94" (feat. Ras Kass, Nas, Lauryn Hill, Chino XL, Organized Konfusion and Saafir), as well as Chino XL's "Riiiot" (American Recordings), and KeyKool and Rhettmatic's "E=MC5" (feat. Ras Kass, LMNO, and Meen Green) Up Above Records.
From a young age, Austin was influenced by hip hop music and inspired by a variety of emcees including Ice Cube, Rakim, Scarface, and KRS-One. His first album, Soul on Ice, was released in 1996. Taking its name from a book by Eldridge Cleaver, Ras addressed racial relations in the same manner, most notably with "Ordo Abchao" and "Nature of the Threat." The album was released on Priority Records, as was the follow-up, Rasassination, which featured beats from Easy Mo Bee and guest appearances by RZA, Twista, Xzibit, Mack 10 and Dr. Dre. Lead single "Ghetto Fabulous" featured Dre and Mack 10 and was pushed by a lavish video shoot. The album received generally positive reviews, and shortly afterward the MC announced his third album, Van Gogh.
During the recording of Ras's intended third album, Van Gogh, Priority Records merged with Capitol Records, which acquired the emcee's contract and his material. Initially near completion, the album was heavily bootlegged before any single or promotion could be prepared. In fact, the would-be single "Van Gogh" was even played on an episode of The Sopranos. Ras went back to work overhauling the project, procuring tracks from DJ Premier, Hi-Tek, and Dr. Dre and retaining songs from Rockwilder and Battlecat. Tensions arose during the re-recording, from budget restrictions to lack of promotion: Despite the fact that "Van Gogh" remained shelved the album's singles "Back It Up" and "Goldyn Chyld" received a decent number of spins on Los Angeles urban contemporary radio stations KKBT (The Beat) and KPWR (Power 106) during the course of 2001–02.
I would always tell Priority executives, "You give me a road kill cow and pair of scissors but you expect a pair of Air Jordans. It's not fair." Ironically, I would still somehow manage to make a couple pairs. Since 1999 Ras Kass has also been involved in MC supergroup The HRSMN, alternately called The 4 Horsemen, consisting of himself, Kurupt (of Tha Dogg Pound), Killah Priest, and Canibus. The Horsemen Project, a white-label CD of rough tracks of which a majority was intended for the official debut, was released - or rather leaked - in 2003. A decade of inactivity followed before the independent and self-distributed Historic EP dropped in 2014. A newly recorded track - Historic feat. Tragedy Khadafi - opening the compilation in question provided some proof the supergroup never parted ways permanently, but it took until 2021 before the official full-length debut LP The Last Ride became reality on Cre8yte Records, distributed by Fat Beats with M-Eighty and Ras Kass as executive producers. It contains 12 new tracks featuring guests such as Hus Kingpin, Tragedy Khadafi, Planet Asia, Phil Da Agony and Chino XL, as well as producers Twiz the Beat Pro, Omid G, Bronze Nazareth, Nikkle Plated and Anno Domini among others. In 2003, nearing the completion of his follow-up to Van Gogh, John Austin II and Priority disagreed over which was to be the lead single. Originally pushing "Goldyn Chyld," produced by DJ Premier, Priority executives decided to release the Dr. Dre-produced "The Whoop" instead, against the wishes of both Ras Kass and Dr. Dre. As he was finishing up Goldyn Chyld, Austin was pulled over in California and arrested for a D.U.I., marking his third; though sentenced to jail time, he was given an extension. Two weeks before the start of his sentence, Priority informed him of their decision not to put out Goldyn Chyld after all. Becoming a fugitive, Austin attained the master tapes to his project, recorded some music, and finally turned himself in to the police. During this time, he also had minor problems with producer the Alchemist, who sold Ras a beat that he later re-sold to rapper Jadakiss, which ultimately formed the basis for the track "We Gonna Make It".
