The hip-hop community was stunned with the news that, on October 12, 2024, Kaseem Ryan, known to the world as Ka, had suddenly passed away at the age of 52. The Brownsville native had just released, what tragically turned out to be his final recorded album, The Thief Next to Jesus, on August 19 to unsurprisingly acclaimed reviews and praise. Ka was heavily revered as one of hip-hop's most alluring writers. His style of writing was ghetto poetry-meets-hood sensei; A visionary that wrote from cold benches in Brooklyn throughout the darkest parts of the overnight. His way with words, from a lyrical perspective, was second to none. He had a way with wordplay that was imaginative and rivaling those of the likes of other magnificent lyricists such as E L U C I D, billy woods, Lupe Fiasco, or even his Metal Clergy partner, Roc Marciano. His delivery was faint, almost in a whisper tone. Flow was conversational, yet with a narrative pitch. As a producer, he was steeped mostly in atmospheric, gloomy, and dark production. Mostly sample-free, he approached his sounds with minimalism. Haunting, if not straight out brooding, undertones comprising of mainly guitar, strings, and piano chords along with drum-less patterns that you hear from the likes of Nicholas Craven, Preservation, Roc Marci, and, at times, Uncle Al himself. He truly was a gift among his peers within the underground. His discography also heavily reflects this. With one of the most unparalleled discogs in the game, it's hard to truly pick out which was his finest moments. In this list, we will make out the overall best of this bunch, but trust and believe, this wasn't easy to compile considering all of his works are outstanding. It goes without saying this is meant to be fun and promote discussion and maybe even some small debates, but as a whole, Ka's penchant for music is under-recognized by mainstream hip-hop, as his music was, and will remain, generational. With all this being said, let's begin.
12. Iron Works
Production: Yanedus
Guests: Los, Dugga
We begin with Ka's first solo album of 2008, Iron Works. The Brownsville emcee had a ruggedness about him that had become more focused than when he was a part of the group, Natural Elements, in the mid to late nineties. After he split from them, he became part of a duo as Nightbreed, and then faded into relative obscurity until GZA came along and scooped him to be a part of his highly underappreciated album, Pro Tools. The ferocity and no-nonsense within his delivery made this quite the return to the game for Ka. This album was packed full of hard rhymes and more than enough heat for this full-time NY Firefighter. Just from the starting cut, "DNA", you can tell he's not pulling any punches here. Hardcore rhymes over a mean beat by the album's primary producer, Yanedus, this is basically the structured premise for this effort: He continues with "I Know What It's Like", which has him coming from a first-person narrative of identifying with those that suffer on the streets and within poverty, while "365" is a hustla's anthem of sorts about getting to the paper by any means. However, he gets more light-hearted relatively speaking with the track, "Children", as he stresses the need for the hood to look out after our future and to have them be protected out here. Going into more innocent times in his life, he reminisces on some of the things that brought joy to him such as playing tag. Although one wishes we had more of these types of easy going cuts on here, but then we get back into the reality of things with cuts like the police awareness-cut "Mr. Officer", "Sunday To Sunday", and "Bully", where he lives and breathes the cold streets of BK and wasn't about to back down from anything or anyone. He hits a home run with "Patience", ass he spits as a wisened-up veteran that was trying to straighten his life up and make better decisions, but quick to let cats know he's still the one to cross or play with. Over excellent production, Ka struggles with the internal conflicts of letting things slide or confronting disrespect how he traditionally knew how to handle it. While Iron Works didn't break any new ground per se, it was definitely a hard rock street album and was seeped in authenticity. Of course, we would hear and see much finer efforts from him throughout time, but this was a dumb dope introduction to the world from legends like Biggie, Jay, Skyzoo, and others were made.
11. Grief Pedigree
Production: artist
Guests: Roc Marciano
After the underwhelming commercial response to his otherwise impressive debut, Iron Works, Ka came right back sat us with his sophomore album, Grief Pedigree, which was arguably as rough, yet a bit more wise and even more observant. His pen game stepped up more and his imagery, while still laced with brutal visions of the stressed-out survivalists' nature of Brooklyn, contains a bit more inner reflections and jewels for the those who's shoes he's been in. The album starts off very strong with the cuts "Chamber" and "Cold Facts", as he quickly establishes that he's no game out in those Brownsville, BK streets, but also gives everything context as to why there's such a need for him to be the way that he is. On the cut, "Decisions". Ka wrestles with constant scenarios of which route is the best route, even if they're both lose-lose scenarios in what could be regarded as the most intriguing track on the album. Meanwhile, on "Up Against Goliath", we hear him facing obstacles that are seemingly insurmountable, but he finds ways, most with his chrome four-fifth, to overcome them. A survivalist by any means, Ka has no problems stating how he defeats these giants. With "No Downtime", the production is slightly more upbeat, as we hear Ka go in about how the ghetto is always on edge and is often times draped in paranoia. He manages to get his first of several collabs with Roc Marciano on with the quite dope, "Iron Age", in which we hear a match made in metal heaven. These two are kindred spirits on this cut and set the tone for all other future collabs between them into becoming the Metal Clergy (how dope would it have been to get a REAL version of their unreleased album, Piece Be With You). While other bumpers such as "Collage", "Vessel", and "Born King N.Y." also do a bunch of service here, Grief Pedigree was another step forward in the reborn career of Ka. This arguably picked up where Iron Works left off, but with slightly more maturation in it much like Scarface's transition from the full maniacal, psychotic nature of Mr. Scarface Is Back to the almost as deranged yet slightly more introspective The World Is Yours. Ka was getting his feel back under his feet, and as we would see with the third album, The Night's Gambit, the amount of conceptual and lyrical brilliance he would tap into hadn't even been reached yet. Regardless, Grief Pedigree was a block bumper and got his underground buzz increasing steadily.
10. 1200 B.C. EP
Production: Preservation
Guests: Roc Marciano
After a wonderful, yet highly atmospheric, outing with The Night's Gambit, Ka followed that up the next year with a collaborative effort with west coast DJ/Producer, Preservation, to deliver the EP, 1200 B.C. Ka's morbid, yet stripped back and minimalist, production was super prevalent on The Knight's Gambit, and it is somewhat continued here, as Preservation is traditionally known for similar styled production with gloomy, and at times, eerie, overtones. With this five track EP, each track is highly meaningful with moments of grim visuals of death, despair, and hopelessness. After the intro, we have the vivid "Still Heir", which has Ka painting depressing images of the previously mentioned outlines. The streets of Brownsville weren't kind to Ka, as he eloquently, yet painfully, details in this equally dreary sounding cut. On the cut "Years", he rhymes about how he was a real one out in the streets, but he's wiser now. However, it would be foolish for one to think that, because he's elevated himself, that he won't smack fire out of you if you cross him. Meanwhile, on the cut "To Hull & Back", he makes no apologies for his upbringings and what he did and witnessed coming up in the game, but also realizes how it could've costed him his life at times. The transparent nature of his lyrics is refreshing, but also serve as lessons in what to do and not to do out here in the streets. He collabs with Marci on "Fall of The Bronze" for an insightful look at how they were the dirtiest of the dirty if need be and how they were never afraid to let them thangs ring out. As one would expect, Marci conjured up images of Nino Brown meeting up with Pretty Tony in one man, while Ka was more of a chess player and more strategic. Always ahead of the game and filled with survivalist wisdom to self-preserve in the hood. With spoken intros before each track, he gives insight going into the cuts and lets us in on what would be in store for us as listeners. For an EP, 1200 B.C. was packed with highly dismal, yet captivating, melodies from Preservation, as well as equally compelling imagery from Ka. A master storyteller, Ka pulled no punches here with what he was painting, and one could only imagine how a full-length of this magnitude would've been like. Later, they would collab again for the Days with Dr. Yen Lo project, but this was a hell of an introduction into their excellent working chemistry.
9. The Thief Next to Jesus
Production: artist
Guests: N/A
We had always known for Ka to incorporate bits of spirituality themes and concepts into his gritty, yet masterful, penmanship and imagery. His 2020 album, Descendants of Cain, was quite the shining example of this, with the album revolving primarily around the consequences of Cain's actions, figuratively, and how they resonate within his life and within his Brownsville, Brooklyn streets. Taking it a few steps further, Ka delivered, what would ultimately be, his final recorded album in The Thief Next to Jesus. Although it's not one hundred percent clear if he's for or against Jesus Christ, he definitely believes in his historical presence in a context. He, once again, parallels the betrayal of Jesus' friend and fellow disciple, Judas, to modern day Christianity and how hypocritical and deceiving Black Americans can be within the sector of spirituality. Over mostly old Gospel samples and church hymn reworkings, Ka pulls no punches with where his views are coming from and how they put a black eye on the overall essence of what spirituality entails. He starts the album off going after rappers and their typical, bland subject matter on "Bread, Wine, Body, & Blood", but does so in such eloquent manner that you would think he moonlighted as a hood preacher himself. In what would turn out to be somewhat eerie prophesy, he examines his own mortality on "Borrowed Time", but also breaks down what he feels the aura of organized religion is about and it's interesting to hear. Also, on "Collection Plate", he expresses his skepticism of religion from his days of growing up, while on "Soul & Spirit", he cuts through the messages of Gospel music and their meanings to show how faith is often wasted by waiting. His view of challenging religion is especially controversial on other cuts like "Cross You Bear" that examines violence and hurt Black Americans face and the soulful crooning sample of "Hymn & I" has him illustrating the pain, struggle, and strife he's seen and observed and how it's gotten him jaded. It's not hard to hear his awareness of his internal struggles with how Christianity virtually lied to him, but how he chose to opt for an inner spirituality to keep him guided and together. He verbally admonishes Christianity with events such as slavery being condoned and even justified amongst our people on the very heavy "Tested Testimony" and "Lord Have Mercy" appears just as bluntly examined with his subsequent Agnosticism in full display. Maybe it's cathartic that he writes and spits about how he felt the idea of organized religion and Christianity is a farce as he suddenly left this existence on October 12, but with The Thief Next to Jesus, Kaseem Ryan gave us his honest soul about the concept of it all with no flinches or back-peddling. Regardless of his views of Christianity, Jesus Christ, spirituality, or the like, this remains as his swan song on wax, and he left us with one final powerful performance of a man that bears his transparent mind and soul for the masses, regardless of one views and opinions. His views could be seen as disrespectful, or even blasphemous to many within the Christian community, but to those that know Kaseem the man, or just Ka the artist, they know he could care less either way. We just hope that his soul is, in fact, in a far better place as he left us with one final stellar gift for us to grow with.
8. Woeful Studies
Production: artist, AniMoss
Guests: Chuck Strangers, Joi
Out of the blue, Ka dropped a double-sided project for his fans through his website in the form of Languish Arts and Woeful Studies. Some have called it a double album with different titles. others have stated it as different albums that he decided to drop at the same time. Neither is necessarily wrong here, but both albums were fantastic when they dropped. While both sound relatively the same in terms of bleak, stripped-back melodies, as well as both being autobiographical and dense in texture, both albums have their own unique aura about them, albeit barely noticeable. While Languish Arts, the first to drop by minutes, was a grim, yet conscientious, inward look at how he survived the cold, brutal street of Brooklyn by way of necessity, Woeful Studies appears to be on the same track, only with Ka feeling the remains of that need to survive and how it affected him the older he got. The album starts off with the seemingly desolate sounding, "We Not Innocent", which is a bleak look at him making it within the harrowing streets of Brooklyn, and the impact it caused within him hustling day to day, even at the expense of his morality. With the cut, "I'm Tired", he details how much he's had to overcome since childhood, but how he's clearly over being the underdog in his story. Make no mistake: this isn't a pity party he's throwing, but we all get tired of the bullshit and still have to be considered strong out here. Ever the soldier, Ka proceeds on with the stellar "Obstacles", in which he overcame these perils in his life, but just because he got around them doesn't mean he got over them, as he clearly states in the chorus. He illustrates his plights of overcoming, and the residual effects of the damage on other excellent cuts such as "Eat", "Reap", and "We Hurting". The grudge-sounding "My Only Home", clearly has him depicting the raw bitterness he still has within him highlighting his Brownsville community and what he saw and got exposed to, but does so in such a meticulous, poetic way that is difficult to tell where his emceeing begins and where his actual, true to life feelings end. It can be argued that Woeful Studies is more vivid in brooding narrative therapy than Languish Arts, but Languish Arts excels more in the lesson learned department. Either way, Woeful Studies is a look deep inside Ka, in all its remorseful, resentful, yet firm, approach in how unfiltered those cold streets are, and how even if you survive, you struggle to exist at times.
7. Days With Dr. Yen Lo (with Preservation as Dr. Yen Lo)
Production: Preservation
Guests: N/A
As previously mentioned, Ka and producer, Preservation, are a sharp combination together. Their aforementioned collab album, 1200 B.C., was a fabulous outing and was as atmospheric as anything you'd ever hear from Ka. The two go a slightly different route musically with their effort, Days with Dr. Yen Lo, which is a character from the unbelievable thriller of 1962, The Manchurian Candidate. As one could imagine, the theme throughout the album is taken from the aforementioned novel, in all its intrigue and harrowing description of virtual brainwashing within society. The unique part of the album lies within the album titles. The titles are effectively different numbered days and the significance of those days through narration of soundbites and eloquent lyricism. Preservation comes through as before with moody, dense production that fits the occasion, and Ka's vivid penmanship display as anxiety, fear, paranoia, and anguish, much like The Manchurian Candidate itself does. Starting things off is "Day 0", in which we get the feel of this sense of paranoia and escaping it, but it definitely gets more trippy and darker as the "days" go by. As evidenced by "Day 3", "Day 22", and "Day 13", Ka is on a mission to unpack his need to take down the forces that are causing him to be this anxious while being fully aware of the obstacles being placed in his way. On "Day 93", Ka is on the run with seemingly no recollection of any atrocity he has done, as based off the introductory soundbite that introduces this "day". That's a big part of what makes this album distinctive amongst Ka's collection. The intro soundbites to ever track leads into Ka's imagery of his words. Another great example of this is "Day 81", in which he and his Metal Clergy partner, Roc Marciano, are guys that are seemingly on the run. As Marci is very in-your-face, unapologetic in his stance, Ka is more cerebral in his approach. He's more calculating, and they are the perfect yin and yang with this cut that starts off with a soundbite warning about "Antisocial and self-injurious behaviors". With other cuts like the fake, underwhelming emcee indictment, "Day 777" and the mind fuckery of "Day 912", Ka and Preservation embody the far-reaching aspects of what The Manchurian Candidate explored to do: keep one compelled to the very thought of what paranoia, psychotic behavior and fear are presented to be seen as with this album. The character, Dr. Yen Lo was a manipulative and cold hypnotherapist that was able to have men think and believe whatever he wanted them to. With Days with Dr. Yen Lo, Ka & Preservation explore what it would be like under his spell, only within the context of the damp, brooding streets of Brownsville and his take on the rap game in general. Whether Yen Lo in this aspect of this album is the character in the movie/novel, these A&Rs and record execs, or social media and the current climate of our society and cultural norms, we are all hypnotized in some sort of way. These two artists are just ballsy enough to tackle it in such a creative and outstanding way.
6. Languish Arts
Production: artist, AniMoss, Preservation
Guests: Chuck Strangers, GonetoHeaven, Joi
As was mentioned earlier in the review of Woeful Studies, in 2022, as a surprise to his fans, Ka released not one, but two albums at the same exact time. Two albums that are filled with introspection, personal lyrics, and teachings that way penetrate the mind and the soul with his hood sage aura. The first one was Languish Arts, an album that relies less on conceptually heavy themes involving literature, Greek mythology, or a game of chess. This is just a virtual diary into the mind of a man that has seen so much within his life that it has him battling himself over right for humanity and right to survive. The opener, "Full Cobra", is a heavy listen in itself. Over a sad, yet inviting, guitar loop and his traditional drum-less production, he expresses his pain and struggle in such poetic fashion that it's almost astounding how the words come within him. One standout is the confessional, "Forgive Me", in which he courageously explains the means behind his actions growing up in those Brooklyn streets. Over some of the melancholiest production on the album, which is quite constant here, Ka puts it all in perspective just based on the hook where he says, "If I ever pulled on you and said gimme, forgive me." Moments like these are way more the rule than the exception across both Languish Arts and Woeful Studies alike. He continues his depth into explanations rather than excuses on other tremendous tracks like "Ascension", "No Reservations", and "Touche". The gems from "Ascension" alone are compelling, plus with his unapologetic, yet humble, brag of making it out the slums is to behold. The album closes with the excellent "Last Place", as Ka wraps up this look into his personal triumphs and tragedies with a chip on his shoulder dissecting his battles with poverty, the streets, and schoolmates' ridicules. To say Ka is quite the orator on Languish Arts is an understatement. There's nothing needed for him in conceptual mannerisms. He just spits from the heart with a brooding elegance about him that was second to none in hip-hop. This was a truly outstanding moment.
5. Orpehus vs. The Sirens (with AniMoss as Hermit & The Recluse)
Production: AniMoss
Guests: Citizen Kope
As The Night's Gambit was thematically based within the mind of a chess grandmaster when it came to surviving in the streets, and Honor Killed The Samurai was effectively in the theme of the downfalls of someone that lives by ancient Bushido code, we see Ka exploring Greek Mythology and applying to modern day hood existence with his collaborative effort with very dope LA-based producer, AniMoss, as Hermit & The Recluse. Their debut album, Orpheus vs. The Sirens is a stunning effort that has each of the ten tracks named as a different chapter of this story. In Greek mythology, Orpheus was a famous poet but was also a prized musician. His voice was able to outshine the deafening wails of the Sirens, but not without a fight. The first cut on the album, "Sirens", is a sonically stimulating and hypnotic epic gem that contains one of the sweetest string sequences one will hear as Ka lets us all know that he's in fact Orpheus, and he's aware of the struggles to come, but that he'll ultimately defeat them all. He delves even further on "Orpheus", as he personifies the ancient story of Orpheus surrounding how he mistakenly looked behind him, despite being told to not do so until he and his wife reached Hades. This mistake caused him to lose his one true love, and Ka similarly looks back at his past and reflects on how much his past affected him day to day. Also, on "Golden Fleece", he compares the prized hair of Colchis that the King could obtain as a sign of power and control to that of modern-day glory and respect. With each passing chapter, you're entrenched in the story he tells, from a hood journalist perspective to someone that suffered battle scars in the field, his imagery within Greek culture and its mythology is stuff to admire and be sharply impressed by. Such is the case of "Companion of Artemus", which is a parallel to being someone that's constantly on alert for the corrupt and shiesty much like Artemus' dog within Greek mythology, and "Atlas" reflects this as well, as Atlas was famous for holding the Earth up, while Ka feels he has the world on his own shoulders only in figurative fashion. To say Ka and AniMoss crafted a mesmerizing album here is cutting it too loose. These two artists shined wonderfully with Orpheus vs. The Sirens and with production that very well matches the typical sounds Ka is known for rhyming over, mixed with stellar storytelling, one never made Greek mythology in hip-hop sound more outstanding.
4. A Martyr's Reward
Production: artist, Preservation, Navy Blue
Guests: Navy Blue
Following up the mesmerizing Descendants of Cain, Ka delivered A Martyr's Reward, which is more of a personal reflection of his upbringing and struggles in the streets with lessons for those that need the proper guidance. He's willing to suffer for others so that they won't go through what he had gone through. That's arguably the common element throughout this album is his relative sacrifice. After a great intro cut, "Everybody Cut", we get into "I Need All that", which is more venomous than we've heard in past Ka fashion. Clearly aggravated about how the culture has been practically characterized and mimicked, Ka expresses how he wants back what the culture is truly about: Authenticity. That's one thing that Ka is about, and he shows it more in other dumb dope cuts such as the wisdom-based "PWH", the melancholy-sounding "Subtle", and "Like Me". The gems he drops within this album are virtually non-stop, while also bringing forth his own experiences and transparency. It's clear he has a mission to be the sacrificial lamb amongst his people in order to prevent them from either going through what all he has gone through or to school them on what lies ahead at the rate their lives may be going in. The standout is that he does so as more of a scholar who's been in the trenches more so than someone who is looking from the outside in. He collabs with another excellent orator in Navy Blue with the two-part cut "We Livin/Martyr", in which Navy comes through with a simply tremendous verse, it's Ka once again with the standout verse of the two, in which he indicts White AmeriKKKa and how their oppression helped make him see the world as he ended up seeing it, including the police. With "Martyr", he spits jewels on how he's done it all, so we won't have to. He finishes with "Having Nothing", in which he details how it was being in the streets that were poverty-stricken and what he had to do to maintain. Ka paints himself as martyr in A Martyr's Reward, but not to brag about it. He drops knowledge and shares his own grim survivalist testimonies of making it out the slums, even if battle scars rear their ugly heads all the time within him.
3. The Night's Gambit
Production: artist
Guests: Roc Marciano
Following up his very dope Grief Pedigree album, Ka dropped The Night's Gambit, which was easily darker than his previous efforts. This one is a bit colder in feel. The type of feeling you get when it's a winter's night and there's a fog out that's only a mile or so in visibility. It's a gripping album that starts the momentum of his docile, dense tone with solemn subject matter and lyricism. With this album, he operates in the mindset of a chess master. An observant hood reporter that just so happens to be injecting wisdom and profound insight in terms of the streets, spirituality, and wisdom. Right from the jump, the cut "You Know It's About" is the best type of opener for this album, as we get Ka setting the narrative of what is sure to be a gritty, unfiltered look into the streets from where he came, only in an elder statesman form. The production is less about drum patterns and more about minimalizing strings, guitars, and chords to give it an atmospheric feel and then some. In fact, all of his albums are atmospheric and brooding in texture, thus giving them nocturnal feels and hazy imagery. This album sparked the start of his ongoing trend. Thematically, as was aforementioned, this reads of a grandmaster; One who has perfected the game of chess and applies the essential strategies necessary to survive and thrive out here in these streets. Dissecting elements such as religion, betrayal, poverty, and resilience. Take "Barring The Likeness" for example. Ka spells out how he tried to be kind individual growing up, but the streets and his surroundings made it that much harder to be as such. Over a morose beat, Ka delves into how this way helped him maintain. On the cut, "Knighthood", Ka comes off as a veteran goon that kicks his version of gems of how to not only make it in the ghetto, but also as someone who still gets his hands wet in the game and proud of it. Much like Nas in "NY State Of Mind", Ka is like a hood reporter that got caught up in the same streets that he's seen take under so many and does an exemplary job taking you in his world. Meanwhile, on "30 Pieces Of Silver", he delivers caution to those hustling and keeps their friends around. He brings up Judas in this cut, which as we all know, he turned against Christ just like one of your friends could do the same for the right situation or price. His ability to bring any narrative into an effective story even when talking about his hip-hop skills is just art. When you consider cuts like "Peach Akhi", the assertive "I'm Ready", and the Biblically inclined "Jungle" are tracks that are illustrative and yet intriguing to where you're hung off every sentence that comes from him like a highly gifted orator. Of course, he has to have the mandatory cut with Metal Clergy partner, Roc Marci, "Soap Box", which is a rugged track worthy of the caliber Metal Clergy can deliver. The overall feel of The Night's Gambit is one where Ka is a master strategy emcee. This is a somewhat haunting album that is more focused on being a survivor and the sacrifices one has to make in order to do so. Ka delivered a fantastic album that set the tone for the next several albums of him to come.
2. Descendants Of Cain
Production: artist, Preservation, AniMoss, Roc Marciano
Guests: Roc Marciano
One of the most ingenious ways of Ka's imagery and concepts is how he brings various types of literature and parallel them to his own life. With 2020's Descendants Of Cain, he harkens back to the old tale of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis in the Good book. The story revolves around jealousy. Cain killed his brother Abel out of a jealous power struggle. Ka uses bits of this story to convey his studies of sociopolitical concerns and how they affect the ghettos and the streets. This is among his darkest albums from a stylistic point of view, but out of the dark comes an album that is as fascinating as it is alarming. The opener, "Every Now & Then", is an excellent introduction to show the internal struggles he faces daily, or at least within the context of the album. The poetic nature of his rapping is so next level just in terms of eloquent imagery alone, especially within this album. He uses a Biblical verse for the hook of "Unto the Dust" to tremendously illustrate his view on violence and aggression in the streets throughout the cut. The bullet-ridden blocks that smell of gunpowder are disturbingly detailed in raw fashion to make his point clear. The personal nature of cuts like "The Eye of a Needle", "Patron Saints", and the superbly written "Land of Nod" are exemplary cuts that show Ka's nature of being unapologetic with his descriptions of hard living, while making it as poetic as anything Langston Hughes would do. He hits a particularly outstanding paramount with "Solitude of Enoch", as he wonderfully compares himself to the son of Cain when he was sentenced to living in the land of Nod. Over a melancholy guitar and minimal to no drums, Ka depicts how he rose from this land where Cain killed Abel. His depiction of how he nearly killed his cousin because of him getting threatened and other grim experiences growing up are very commonplace around this and most albums from him and this cut was as tough to absorb as it was to root for him. What Descendants of Cain does is presents Ka as one of the most inventive emcees ever and does so in such an amazing way with his comparisons that involve literature and other concepts that are vital and important. This is brooding, uncomfortable at times, and incredibly breathtaking in texture.
1. Honor Killed the Samurai
Production: artist
Guests: N/A
One year after dropping the unbelievable collab with Preservation, Days as Dr. Yen Lo, he decided to dive deep into conceptual mode again with the astonishing, Honor Killed the Samurai, which mostly uses principles, interludes that convey samurai codes, and ethics that could easily be reinterpreted within the streets of today. Much like Ka's highly observant nature with the likes of the aforementioned The Night's Gambit, he comes off as a storyteller that knows about the grime in the streets very well and uses his experiences to spit wisdom with such insight, you would swear he was a full sensei in another life. He also struggles with these same codes in today's world. Take the very highly brooding sounds of "$", which has him examining today's fascination with riches of the legal tender more so than how it can be used for good, but also realizes money can result in power, as well as necessity. Perhaps the best way of putting how the album is an observation in dichotomy is the opening track, "Conflicted". This is Ka realizing how he has to go against his own principles at times just to make it out here, even at the expense of his perceived conscience. He cleverly illustrates his duality on other intriguing cuts such as the rob-to-eat ode, "Illicit Fields", "Just", and "Destined", which is possibly the only glimmer of hope here in this album as he shows his hunger to rap himself out the ghetto. While other cuts like the morbid, ominous sounds of "Mourn at Night" depict the brutal realities of growing up in the hood and studying the ways of the streets, Ka goes about his commentary as a veteran showing his war wounds, while also acknowledging that some of the ills are a part of the game even when it stinks. Ka is arguably at his written, illustrated best with Honor Kills the Samurai. The internal struggles with honor and peace versus survival and necessary evils are prevalent all throughout here. It can relate to anybody in any given situation and circumstance. With this epic project, sometimes being the villain is essential just to make it one more day.
Folks, this is a tough one. None are necessarily great, as we've had a difficult year with the likes of Fatman Scoop, Chino XL, DJ Mister Cee, Enchanting, Rich Homie Quan, Boss, BeatKing, Foolio, and Brother Marquis of 2 Live Crew all leaving us. With Ka, we've lost one of the game's most brilliant writers and storytellers. While we as fans may have lost Ka, the rapper, emcee, storyteller, exquisite producer, and artist, his wife lost Kaseem, her husband. their children lost their father. His fellow firefighters in NY lost their captain (who was one of the first responders reportedly during the 9-11 attacks). This is a huge loss all around and the tributes are pouring in from all over the place, remembering just great of a talent he was and how much of a friend and mentor he was to others. Our hearts go out to all those deeply affected by his passing. It's unknow if he left any music behind, but as for this tribute, we compiled some of his best songs throughout his highly acclaimed career to get a better sound of just how special he and his music was, and how influential his legacy is and will be to come. To Kaseem Ryan, God bless you, thank you, and we will forever salute you, king. Salute, and rest in eternal power!
Here are some songs to commemorate the career of Kaseem "Ka" Ryan (1972-2024)
We Living/Martyr feat. Navy Blue
