Rebel MC message prevents the existence of "the trope of race as family". Instead, Gilroy states that the London hip-hop culture allows for a healthy competition between African-American and Caribbean sounds to gain exposure. Rebel MC Michael Alec Anthony West (born 27 August 1964 in Islington, London), better known as Rebel MC, is an English jungle producer and toaster. He has also used the aliases Conquering Lion, Congo Natty, Blackstar, Tribe Of Issachar, Lion of Judah, X Project and Ras Project. "Conquering Lion" is an abbreviation for "The Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah", one of emperor Haile Selassie's many titles.
Lion the lion was linked with the fertility goddess Ishtar and the supreme Mesopotamian god Marduk. The theme of the royal lion hunt, a common motif in the early iconography in West Asia, symbolized death and resurrection; the continuation of life was ensured by the killing of a god-like animal. In some stone reliefs depicting the Royal hunt of lions, the lion's divinity and courage are equated with the divinity and courage of the king. The Lion of Judah is the biblical emblem of the tribe of Judah and the later Kingdom of Judah. Lions are frequently mentioned in the Bible;