Jay Z is catching flack for wearing a diamond-encrusted neckless that features the Five Percenter symbol. The New York Post pointed out that Jay Z wore the necklace during a night out with Beyoncé and supported a “radical group that believes whites are devils.”
However, the Post did little to research why Jay Z would wear an emblem that represents the Five Percenters.
Jay Z and other rappers (mostly from the New York area) have a long history with The Five Percent Nation. Started in 1964, the Five Percent Nation was created by Clarence 13X (Clarence Smith), who was a member of The Nation of Islam and studied under Malcolm X.
Clarence 13X taught the ideology that 10 percent of the population controlled 85 percent of the people who were “blind to themselves and God.” The other 5 percent were considered “Poor Righteous Teachers” and were unaffected by the 10 percent who were in control. The Five Percenters also believe that the black man is God and black women are the “Earth.”
Its overall mission was to add a sense of confidence and self-awareness to disenfranchised blacks.
The group’s teachings spread throughout the New York area and influenced many young blacks in the inner city. As a result, it also became a primary influence for rappers who came up in the ’70s and ’80s.
Elements of hip-hop such as the freestyle cypher derived from the Five Percenters who would gather in a circle and listen to a speaker “drop science.” Similar to a sermon or Khutbah (Islamic sermon), “dropping science” was called “building in the cypher.”
The consciousness of the Five Percenter teachings would eventually be heard from artists such as Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Poor Righteous Teachers, A Tribe Called Quest, AZ, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and Jay Z. The teachings became a way of life and an intricate part of hip-hop culture.
Jay Z may or may not be an active member, but he and other rappers respect what it means to hip-hop. The Post and other media are clueless about the origins of the Five Percent Nation and its connection to hip-hop.
Because if those publications would have taken the time to research Jay Z’s lyrics, they would have known that he has referenced the Five Percenters in his raps for nearly 20 years.
But they used race as a way to disparage the Five Percenters and Jay Z without fully understanding why he would choose to show support in the first place.
