Meg Wilkinson
April 19, 2002
The Rhetorical Position of Prophet:
Nas's Criticism of America's Poison
The hip-hop artist Nas (real name: Nasir Jones) has proclaimed himself a prophet in some
of his previous songs, and he assumes this persona once again in the 2001 song What Goes
Around.1 Though he does not expressly refer to himself as a prophet, his pessimistic tone about
the present and warnings about the future recall the tradition of Biblical prophets, many of whom
were supposedly called by God to respond to the corruption of society. Nas assumes a religious
rhetorical position to attack American society's ills and those who cause them, and in true
prophetic form, he also attacks organized religion itself. At the same time, he undermines his role
as prophet in a variety of ways. The contradictions within himself he allows to show
paradoxically strengthen the social criticism of the song. By displaying the problems with even
his own claims to authority, Nas pushes the listener to question all sources of power whose views
he or she may have uncritically accepted.
Throughout much of What Goes Around, Nas concerns himself with identifying the
sins of American society, which are all labeled poison. The structural use of the word
poison emphasizes the extent of American culture's failings in two ways. First, its incessant
repetition semantically poisons the song, mirroring the poisoning of society with evils.
Second, Nas's application of the word to a large variety of concepts, not all of which would
necessarily be considered negative by many people, reveals to the listener a world in which
1
Lyrics can be found at: http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/nas/still/whatgoes.nas.txt
1
poison is more widespread than he or she may have imagined. For example, calling ecstacy
and cocaine poison is not very controversial, but calling medicine poison is much more so.
Using the label for both ties them together as two similarly bad things. Thus, Nas uses concepts
that are conventionally seen as evil to expose the evil he sees in other concepts that would not
normally be considered so. His use of the word poison cements the listener's sense of society
as disturbingly (and in some cases unexpectedly) riddled with ills. It seems that it's all poison.
Of course, by subsuming so many things under the label of poison, Nas risks
alienating some potential audiences. A listener who agreed with some of his uses of poison
but not others could dismiss the song entirely. For example, a politically conservative listener
would probably agree that illegal drugs are poison, but would disagree that the education
provided by American schools is poison; it is hard to imagine such a listener feeling any
ideological affinity at all with Nas, even though they might agree on some issues. However, Nas
does not target audiences whose beliefs are so different from his own as to make them disregard
the song. In general, as a predominantly urban, African-American, and young medium, hip-hop
appeals to a segment of the population that is willing to see mainstream culture challenged.
When Nas raps, This is my level, fuck if it get you mad, he can be seen as dismissing that
imaginary audience that would dismiss him. His level is hip-hop with its particular way of
communicating, and if it completely alienates a particular listener, then he does not want that
listener anyway.
Nas applies the word poison to things for which his intended audience is not directly
2
responsible. Rather, this audience is a victim of poison, whether it be literal (such as drugs) or
mental (such as the white standard of beauty). This is not to say that Nas is completely
sympathetic to the people he wishes to reach. As victims of poison, they themselves perpetrate
society's evils. For example, he raps about men who abandon their children: Knowin' dudes
that's neglecting they seeds/Instead of takin' care of 'em they spendin' money on trees. Again,
drugs appear as a social problem to which these men too fall victim. Seeds, children, are
replaced by trees, marijuana, unnaturally distracting fathers from that which needs to be
nurtured. However, though Nas may be partially understanding about how drugs helped cause
these men to forget their children, he knows they will suffer the consequences of their actions: I
pray for you, deadbeat daddies/'Cause when them kids get grown it's too late for you/Now you
old and you gettin' shitted on. Prophets often challenge their audiences with their message,
because their purpose is not only to expose evil but to encourage their listeners to feel
responsible for their part in it. But, while Nas uses the present tense to warn delinquent fathers of
their fate, emphasizing this fate's menace, he also leaves open the possibility they will reform
before it's too late, before their children grow up. There is hope in the prophet's message. His
warning of future calamity, if it is heeded, will eventually lead to a better world: as he rapped
earlier in the song, It may get worse but we'll get through it y'all/Be strong.
However, Nas is a problematic prophet. Traditionally, prophets were mouthpieces for
God and did not claim any credit for what they said. In contrast, Nas does not refer to God or any
other outside authority as the author of his message. For example, when he raps, It's all
scientific, mystic, you know the Earth and the stars/Don't hesitate to say you heard it from Nas,
3
he sets himself up as the interpreter of larger forces, not a passive vessel through which they
communicate. However, certain contradictions in what he says create the opposite sense, that his
authority as a (more-than) prophet is open to question. For example, when he addresses other
rappers at the end of verse three, his use of the word poison becomes inconsistent in meaning.
After claiming, Rappers only talk about ki's [kilograms of cocaine], it's all poison, he then
addresses them directly and says, You ain't poison. In the space of a line, poison goes from
being something negative (drugs/the glamorization of drugs in hip-hop) to something positive
(being a real MC). Braggadocio is an important part of hip-hop, with rappers taking shots at
other rappers and boasting about their own skills. In this context, you ain't poison implies that
Nas is poison (that is, he possesses something that makes him better than other rappers). He
could easily have phrased you ain't poison into you're all poison and avoided this
contradiction. Why, then, does the prophet railing against poison suddenly claim he himself is
poison?
Like the people he both sympathizes with and condemns, Nas can also be seen as both
victim and perpetrator of society's poison. His status as such becomes clearer when one
examines other points at which he associates himself with poison. For example, he
acknowledges his role as the victim of poison when he raps, Schools where I learned, they
should be burned, it is poison. The educational system has transmitted poison to him, to the
point that he [overstands] the mental poison others experience: he experiences it, too. And he,
too, engages in activities that can be understood as poison, such as [slaying] bitches, a
vulgar way of saying he has sex that undermines his other expressions of outrage at male
4
mistreatment of women. The listener wonders at Nas's suitability as a guide of behavior in the
face of this contradiction.
Nas's violent side also calls his moral authority into question. One example of this
violence is when he calls himself George Bush killer 'til George Bush kills me. The line's
structure recalls the Biblical idea of an eye for an eye: maybe Nas's desire to kill the president
can be justified because the president (as a symbol of the oppressiveness of American society) is
in some sense trying to kill him. In addition, the Old Testament and other religions such as Islam,
murder can be morally acceptable if one murders unrighteous enemies. However, violence shows
up yet again when Nas raps, Who want beef now, my heat shall anoint them, plaow. Perhaps
one could argue that heat is not meant literally here (in the slang sense of gun). Rappers
also use heat to describe their lyrical skills (e.g. bringing the heat would be rapping well).
So, when Nas threatens to anoint (a religious word that recalls his prophetic status) his
detractors with heat, he could just mean that his song will answer them. Nevertheless, this
repeated use of violent language calls Nas's status as a morally pure prophet into question,
especially when set in opposition to the first verse, in which he decries violence in his
neighborhood. Nas's perpetration of poison reveals itself in his choice of murderous words.
The shakiness of Nas's authority carries with it the threat that the listener will disregard
what he has to say completely. Perhaps he is a false prophet. However, the contradictions in
the position he takes in What Goes Around also have the potential to emphasize the severity
of American society's problems. Even he, an authority alternative to the culture's powerful
institutions and mores, finds himself affected by America's poison. His contradictions can
5
thus become an aid to the listener in recognizing the more important problems at work in society
at large. By assuming the rhetorical position of prophet, Nas pushes his audience toward a more
critical view of American society and themselves.
6