I vote Nation of Islam because in addition to its bizarre teachings it also has very strange origins. Its founder, Wallace Fard Muhammad, is one of the most enigmatic figures in American history; absolutely nothing is known for certain about him before or after his work setting up the NOI in Depression-era Detroit, and what's speculated or known inconclusively has a ton of inconsistencies.
Indeed, the Nation of Islam combined racial pseudoscience with liberation theology to engender a flamboyant religious alternative for black Americans who viewed Christianity itself as emblematic of racial oppression. While the original movement no longer holds societal relevance, an off-shoot sect, the Five-Percenters, gained notoriety among NYC-area African-Americans during the immediate post-Civil Rights Era. The Five-Percenters go a step further than the Nation of Islam, preaching the Afro-Asiatic man and woman are the Divine and Earth incarnate, respectively. In addition, followers believe 85% of the population lacks this knowledge of self, 10% knows however hides it, and it is incumbent on the 5% to preach these perceived truths.
Most notably, the Five-Percent Nation, or the Nation of Gods And Earths, wielded a primal influence on hip-hop music as a genre; Rap legends Rakim, Common, Talib Kweli, Black Thought, AZ, and a supermajority of Wu-Tang Clan members all profess adherence to its core tenets. Wu-Tang leader and renowned record producer RZA claims "About 80% of hip-hop comes from the Five Percent ... In a lot of ways hip-hop is the Five-Percent". Even non-believers such as regular G.O.A.T. nominee Nas frequently shout out Five-Percent beliefs. For example, he boasts "Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian: half-man, half-amazin" on
It Ain't Hard To Tell, the final track off his debut album (and acclaimed magnum opus)
Illmatic.
This association was not exclusive to boom-bappers during the genre's formative era; Joey Bada$$, a contemporary Brooklyn-native rapper who remains steadfast to traditionalist production, writes "I drop knowledge like a Five-Percenter" in
95 til Infinity. Furthermore, the colloquial "word" among youth to indicate agreement or assent, derives from the Five-Percent Nation teaching of "Word is Bond". Overall, it is impossible to write about the origins of hip-hop, and consequently a wide berth of modern American popular culture, without recounting the Nation of Gods and Earths' influence on its development.
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