"I am the beast I worship."
It’s a line that sticks. Even if you aren't a fan of experimental hip-hop or the aggressive, glitchy industrial sounds of Death Grips, you’ve likely seen those six words plastered across social media or etched into the back of a bathroom stall. It’s the centerpiece of the song "Beware," the opening track of their 2011 mixtape Exmilitary. When Stefan Burnett, known to the world as MC Ride, bellows that phrase, he isn't just rapping. He’s setting a manifesto.
Most people searching for the i am the beast i worship lyrics are looking for more than just a transcription of the words. They want to know why it feels so heavy. Why does a song that starts with a Charles Manson monologue still feel culturally relevant over a decade later? It’s because the lyrics tap into a raw, unfiltered version of individualism that borders on the occult.
The Manson Sample and the Setup
The song doesn't start with music. It starts with a voice. It’s a grainy, rambling recording of Charles Manson from an interview. Manson talks about "the game" and how he doesn't care about the world's rules. This wasn't a random choice by Zach Hill and Andy Morin (the producers). By using Manson, they aren't endorsing his crimes—honestly, that’s a common misconception. Instead, they’re using him as a symbol of someone who has completely exited the social contract.
When the beat finally drops, it’s a massive, distorted wall of sound sampled from Jane's Addiction's "Up the Beach." It feels like a tidal wave. Then Ride comes in.
The i am the beast i worship lyrics serve as the ultimate rejection of external authority. If you look at the first verse, he’s talking about "skulls of those who tamed the beast." He’s describing a mental state where he is both the deity and the follower. There is no god above him, no government below him, and no peer beside him. It’s total, terrifying autonomy.
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Breaking Down the Occult Imagery
A lot of the imagery in "Beware" is deeply tied to Hermeticism and Thelema, though Ride twists it into something much more violent and modern.
- The Black Shadow: He mentions being "clothed in a black shadow." This is classic Jungian stuff mixed with darker spiritualism. He’s embracing the parts of himself that society tells him to hide.
- The Triple Six: He references "triple six, five, forked tongue." While the casual listener might just see "666" and think "Satanism," in the context of Death Grips, it’s usually more about chaos and the destruction of the ego.
- Vultures and Carrion: There is a persistent theme of death and rebirth. He talks about vultures and "god of hell, fire." It’s a scorched-earth policy for the soul.
Why These Lyrics Hit Differently Today
You've probably noticed that "Beware" has a weirdly high "replayability" for a song that sounds like a panic attack.
In a world where everyone is constantly being tracked, nudged by algorithms, and pressured to perform for an audience, the idea of being "the beast I worship" is incredibly seductive. It’s the ultimate "f-you" to the digital panopticon. Ride isn't asking for likes. He isn't trying to be relatable. He is declaring himself a closed circuit.
Basically, the i am the beast i worship lyrics represent a form of radical self-reliance. When he shouts "I close my eyes and seize it / I clench my fists and beat it," he’s describing the act of taking control of one's own reality through sheer force of will. It’s an anthem for the disaffected.
The Performance of the Beast
If you’ve ever seen Death Grips live, the lyrics take on a physical form. MC Ride is usually shirtless, sweating, and looking like he’s in the middle of an exorcism. He’s living the lyrics. This isn't a "persona" in the way many rappers have a stage name. It feels like a genuine breakdown—or breakthrough.
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The lyrics are dense. They aren't meant to be read like a poem. They are meant to be felt like a punch. Lines like "To personal to be public" (intentional misspelling and all) emphasize that while we are listening to him, we don't actually know him. We aren't invited into his world; we’re just witnessing the explosion.
Technical Mastery in the Chaos
It’s easy to dismiss the track as just "noise," but the lyrical structure is actually quite sophisticated. Ride uses internal rhyme and alliteration to create a hypnotic effect.
"Gallop through the vapors, ghost of the great/
Slay the sacred, leave 'em vacant/
For the sake of the ancient, sacred/
Liquid gold, I’m the beast I worship."
Notice the repetition of "sacred." He’s reclaiming the word. He’s taking things that people usually associate with churches and temples and dragging them into the dirt. Or, more accurately, he’s making the dirt his temple.
The song doesn't have a traditional chorus-verse-chorus structure that you’d find in a pop song. It’s a linear progression into madness. The tension builds and builds, never quite giving you the "drop" you expect, which mirrors the feeling of a never-ending spiritual struggle.
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Common Misinterpretations
One big mistake people make is thinking this is a pro-religion or anti-religion song. It’s actually neither. It’s post-religion.
Death Grips often deals with the idea of the "Noosphere" or the collective consciousness. By saying "I am the beast I worship," Ride is saying he has disconnected from the collective. He’s not interested in your gods or your devils. He has created his own.
Another weird theory is that the song is literally about being a werewolf or a cryptid. While the lyrics are "beasty," that’s a bit too literal. The "beast" is the id. It’s the primal, uncontrolled part of the human psyche that we usually try to suppress so we can work 9-to-5 jobs and pay taxes.
Actionable Insights for the Listener
If you find yourself obsessed with these lyrics, you’re likely responding to the call for personal agency. To truly understand the i am the beast i worship lyrics, you have to look at how you cede power to others in your own life.
- Analyze your "idols." Who are you following? Whose validation are you seeking? The lyrics suggest that any worship directed outward is a waste of energy.
- Embrace the "unrelatable." Ride’s power comes from his refusal to be understood or "marketable." There is a lesson there about maintaining a private core that the world can't touch.
- Listen to the full mixtape. Exmilitary isn't just a collection of songs; it’s a sonic environment. Listening to "Beware" in isolation is like looking at one shard of a broken mirror. You need the rest of the tracks—like "Guillotine" and "Known for it"—to see the full picture of the "beast" they are describing.
- Read up on the samples. Understanding the context of the Jane's Addiction sample and the Manson interview adds layers of meaning to the defiance in the lyrics. It shows a deep awareness of counter-culture history.
The power of Death Grips lies in their ability to make you feel both incredibly small and infinitely powerful at the same time. The lyrics to "Beware" are the blueprint for that feeling. They remind us that at the end of the day, we are the only ones living in our heads, and we might as well make it a place worth worshipping.