The Five Percenters: Islam, Hip-hop and the Gods of New York

Sensationalized and reviled as black America's Hell's Angels, The Five Percenters (also known as the Nation of Gods and Earths) began as a cluster of outcasts from the Nation of Islam's Harlem mosque in the 1960s. Led by a man named 'Allah', the Five Percenters originally believed that all black men were gods. From their marginalized beginnings, their history has been charged with drama: the war between Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad, the Attic prison revolt, Brooklyn turf gangs, the 1980s crack empires and now counting high profile hip-hop stars such as RZA, Rakin and Lord Jamar among their members. With unrivalled insider access to the movement's elders, oral tradition and community literature, Knight reveals the hidden reality behind the myths, rumours and hearsay, and explores the origins and development of this misunderstood community.