Divine sensei speaks to hip hop artists, entertainers

By Richard B. Muhammad - Editor | Last updated: Jun 23, 2015 - 10:56:05 AM

Min. Farrakhan spoke to members of Atlanta’s Hip Hop Community June 21. On his left is rapper 2 Chainz and on his right Young Thug

ATLANTA - The man rapper Kanye West referred to as “sensei,” meaning a highly respected master teacher, spent time with hip hop and entertainment figures sharing wisdom and asked for their help in promoting the 20th anniversary gathering of the Million Man March with its demand for “Justice...Or Else.”

A main room at Tree Studios in nearby Norcross, Ga., and an overflow room were packed, with popular artists 2 Chainz and Young Thug listening as Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan delivered a passionate argument about the need for Black America to step boldly forward and for rappers to understand and use their power to uplift their suffering people.

Birdman also known as Baby, co-founder of Cash Money Records and Min. Louis Farrakhan.

Rappers are the leaders of youth all over the world and can reshape the world by shaping the thinking of young people and God wants rappers to help bring in a new reality, said Min. Farrakhan.

The Minister, 82-years-old, told artists and music industry professionals there was no more important group he could speak to and thanked Mali Hunter of Tree Studios, his grandsons and others who made the meeting happen.

In these tough times, God is not pleased with well-meaning elders tied to the enemy—the White power structure—and who believe Blacks cannot live with White people, the Minister said. And with the recent murders of nine Blacks in a Charleston, S.C., church and police brutality and killings across the country, a day of decision has arrived, he added.

Whites may want to keep Blacks under their feet but God himself has declared Black people are his people and God will fight the enemy for us, said Min. Farrakhan. Blacks must also stop killing and degrading one another at the time of their divine rise or suffer great loss, the Minister warned.

Whether you believe it or not God is using four great judgments—rain, hail, snow and earthquake—to destroy America, he said.

The Bible also prophesizes about this day, a day of war and rumors of war, a day of earthquakes, a day of children killing parents and parents killing children and a day of betrayal, the Minister observed. The audience sat silent and focused during much of his Father’s Day talk, applauding at times and laughing—but for much of the time the mood was introspective.

2 Chainz sat on a couch in front of the Minister and Young Thug sat a little further back to the powerful freedom fighter’s left.

Successful rap artists are left wondering who is trustworthy as close friends become enemies as fame grows, he said. But record company execs, an external enemy, use internal weaknesses to feed envy and disunity, the Minister said.

Record companies promote “beefs” to drive record sales, create buzz to make money at the expense of our artists and our community, he said. Artists are like modern sharecroppers, always owing record companies who push artists to deliver negative and demeaning messages, the Minister said.

The result is at this critical time, we cannot unite and it is almost as easy for us to kill one another as it is for our 460-year-old enemy and the main killer to destroy us, the Minister observed.

Min. Farrakhan speaking to members of Atlanta’s hip hop community at Tree Studios.

On October 10, 2015, we will return to Washington on the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March, which drew nearly two million men to the National Mall in 1995 for a day of peace and brotherhood, the Minister said. There was no crime, no fighting, no cursing “but a human sea of peace,” he said.

The U.S. government, city government and the Supreme Court shutdown and the president left town in 1995, the Minister noted. But under the Mall were caverns filled with troops and they expected to slaughter Black men and broadcast the slaughter to the world, he said. We didn’t ask anyone to come armed to the march, Min. Farrakhan stressed. Weapons aren’t needed, he said.

“Firing the cannon of our unity will stop every plan the enemy has,” said Min. Farrakhan.

Blacks are in a worse condition now than 50 years ago, some with more money but we are poorer in spirit and unable to pool money to use as a weapon for liberation, despite getting over $1 trillion a year out of the U.S. economy, Min. Farrakhan said.

Minsiter Farrakhan with rapper 2 Chainz

“The time is out for weak leadership ... those who can be bought out,” said Min. Farrakhan. It is time out for fear that chokes out action and that brings a generational divide between youth and elders, he said.

The Justice...Or Else gathering is not a frolic, but requires a serious-mind and commitment to be free, said the Minister. Power is not going to concede anything without a demand backed by power, the power of economic withdrawal as Dr. Martin Luther King stated, the Minister stressed. He called for a Christmas spending boycott and rejecting pagan customs in the name of Jesus. The fiery leader continued, “how long can we be like this and pass on a legacy of cowardice to our children? At a certain point we have to make a decision for life.”

There is corruption in the music industry with execs pushing filthy music, promoting Black on Black violence and disrespecting woman, the Minister observed. Some of you pay deejays to play your music, he said.

This hour requires the mind of a soldier and an understanding that there is a war against the Black community, he said. “You ain’t no soldier unless you soldering for your people and community,” the Minister said.

Religion taught to us by the slave master and selective Bible passages were used to make us docile and unwilling to fight for our own lives, said Min. Farrakhan. No one kills more than God or hates like God, so to forgive the killer of the Charleston 9, who has not asked for forgiveness nor repented is not what is required, he said.

“If you hate what deserves to be hated, you are loved by God,” he said.

Rapper Big K.R.I.T. (King Reserved In Time) was impressed and touched by the Minister’s words. People listen to hip hop to find out what is going on, he said. It’s time to get the knowledge, stop the violence and stand against injustice, he said.

Big K.R.I.T. tried to learn the music industry early and understand how to keep creative control, own master recordings and have a good team that supports him.

Music is shifting with everything happening in the world, said Troshia Reeton, a songwriter and talent manager. It’s time for leadership and to try to shift what is going on in America, she added. “Music can change the world. That’s what music is all about,” she said.

Minister Farrakhan pictured here with rapper Young Thug.

Sometimes things need to be laid out so you can see what is happening, Ms. Reeton said. She believes there can be a campaign to make negative trends change.

The Minister was right on point, said songwriter and producer Sean Johnson, who is better known in the industry as “Joe Blow.” Min. Farrakhan is saying a lot of things younger artists need to hear, said Mr. Johnson, who learned from hip hop artists in the 1980s. Artists are making more money now, have clothing lines and more influence, added Mr. Johnson, who manages Isaac Hayes III and has worked with groups including the Ying Yang Twins in the past. “We got the power way more now than before. You have a platform use it,” he said. “It’s time for young brothers to wake up and put a message in the music.”

Young Thug was struck by the Minister’s explanation of Christmas and its pagan roots and the truth about Jesus, he told The Final Call. It was “so simple, so honest, so plain,” said the rapper. “The negativity I was thinking about doing I’m not going to do,” he said.

The Final Call