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What can you say about Ras Kass? You either love him or hate him — or you have no idea who he is. His debut, Soul on Ice, is a certified classic in the West Coast hip-hop underground, anchored by the eight-minute revisionist epic “Nature of the Threat” and “Sonset,” an indictment of New York hip-hop bias during the ’90s. Accusations of racism and label disputes grounded Ras’s career almost before it began, but when he’s on, he is as intelligent and bold a rapper as you’ll find, as evidenced by mind-bending tracks such as “Interview With a Vampire.” (GeedUp, ThaNumberTwo, Nasa, Victory Smoke, Dre Future, Whygee, Anxious Baby and Tre-Substance Abuse are also on this bill.)
