Hip Hop and Snake Oil

Once upon a time there was an expressive and grass roots form of music that emerged from the streets of urban areas across America. This music was called hip-hop and its culture was centered on the lyrical mastery of emcees. Now, hip-hop has become a body of phony individuals — mostly male — that prefer to indulge in make believe rhetoric that is fostered by ignorance and a poor understanding of history. One example is the incessant reference to the "Illuminati," a secret and historical organization that many artists have no understanding of or ever read about.

Historically, the word is of Greek origin and was a reference to all who submitted to Christian baptism. Those who were baptized were called "illuminati" or "enlightened ones.” The Alumbrados, a mystical 16th-century Spanish sect, were among the societies that subsequently adopted the name illuminati. Finally, it was employed to represent a secret society founded by Adam Weishaupt who desired to replace religion with rational thought.

In concert with groups like the Council of Rome, the Bilderburgers, and the Trilateral Commission, the illuminati’s single aim was to acquire wealth, power and influence, while developing a "New World” order free of religion. The easiest way to accomplish this goal was via the United States, its Constitution, world wars and world governmental organizations, in order to have total control of global monetary systems.

The query remains how does this concept relate to modern hip-hop music and the artists that proclaim their affiliation with this society? For starters, artists from Waka Flocka to Jay-Z do not understand what illuminati was about. Their knowledge appears to be in the form of metaphorical symbolism. Are these artists atheists socialists, or fascists as the organizations founder, Dr. Weishaupt? Are they working behind the scenes to take over the world secretly, or connected to the Knights Templar?

I suggest they are not. For these artists the term is just a tool to make money. Artists such as Jay-z, Lil Wayne and Nas are merely puppets used by the illuminati. Moreover, the rappers use the Illuminati as a form of snake oil, just to sell more records. The fact is that if you ask any one of them about the history behind the illuminati, they would not be able to tell you jack — maybe with the exception of Tupac Shakur.