‘Believe me, this pimp game is very religious’: Toward a religious history of hip hop

Abstract

In this essay I argue that by paying attention to the shifting religious references of various rap artists one can map a preliminary history of the religious dimensions of hip hop as it has evolved from the 1980s to the present. Specifically, in KRS-ONE's biography one is able to discern the same developments that have defined hip hop's religious history, more generally. While he has consistently attempted to critically situate himself in opposition to mainstream rap music, KRS-ONE's own religious biography pairs well with the shifting religious sensibilities articulated by several hip hop artists who have been most popular during the span of these same years. In mapping this history, I suggest, first, that religious diversity has more often than not been the rule of rap music, and second, that what appeared to bind these artists together was not a particular religious orthodoxy, be it Christian, Islamic or otherwise. Rather than specific confessional claims, it is the cultural repertoires of the African Diaspora and the experience of white supremacy in the United States, that offers some coherence to these otherwise heterodox spiritual musings.

Notes

 1. For two works that explore the efforts of scholars of theology and religion to engage the field of cultural studies see Davaney 1996, and Brown et al. 2001.

 2. For a sample of writing on the place of Islam in Hip Hop, see Cheney 2001, Floyd-Thomas 2003, Miyakawa 2005 and Knight 2008.

 3. MC Hammer. ‘Son of the King’, Feel The Power. Capitol Records, 1987.

 4. A Tribe Called Quest. ‘We Got the Jazz’, The Low End Theory. Jive, 1991.

 5. By now the reader would have realised that I am using the terms ‘rap’ and ‘hip hop’ interchangeably, and I will continue to do so throughout this essay. While I recognise the different definitions that continue to circulate regarding the purported differences between rap and hip hop, I am less interested in engaging this normative debate than I am with examining the ways in which religion figures in the music which both of these terms are used to reference. Additionally, that I use these terms interchangeably also reflects that my interests in this essay centre on the lyrics of the song performed by rappers.

 6. The term ‘post-soul’ is generally used to refer to the generation that came of age during the 1970s and 1980s. For a more detail explanation of the term see Neal 2002, and Nelson 2004. Additionally, here I am inverting the argument of Wilfred Cantwell Smith, who argues that all religions (cumulative traditions) share a common theological and ethical core (faith). In contrast, I am suggesting that it is the experience of racial subjectivity (not as an essence but a historical reality) that provides shared core of religious sensibilities that suffuse hip hop music. See Smith 1991.

 7. KRS-ONE. Spiritual Minded. Koch, 2002.

 8. I gathered this sketch of KRS-ONE's spiritual biography through an interview I conducted with his former personal assistant, Saideh Browne (3 March 2008).

 9. KRS-ONE used the term ‘edutainment’ to argue that hip hop should both educate and entertain. His fourth album with the group BDP took its title from this philosophy. See Boogie Down Productions 1990.

10. Two of the most significant of these works include Wood (1992) and Dyson (1995).

11. Eric B. and Rakim. ‘Know the Ledge’, Don't Sweat the Technique (MCA, 1992).

12. See West 2003; Cassidy, Leaning on the Lord; and Elliott 1999.

13. According to Robert Wuthnow, in the years since World War II American religious culture is more defined by the divide between right and left than it is by doctrinal differences and denominational affiliations. KRS-ONE's evolution from Islam to Christianity, and within Christian from Liberal Protestantism to Charismatic circles, seems to reflect the developments that Wuthnow delineates.

14. Creflo Dollar makes a cameo appearance in a music video: Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri. ‘Welcome to Atlanta’, So So Def, 2002. In a song recorded with G-Unit, 50 Cent raps, ‘I preach the sermon ‘bout the paper like Creflo Dollar.’ See G-Unit. ‘Poppin' Them Thangs’, Beg for Mercy. G-Unit/Interscope, 2003.

15. For a discussion of the prosperity gospel, and its appeal within African American communities, see Harrison 2005.

16. See ‘Money Coming’ at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = dFyMEnXDG4g and ‘Make it Rain’ at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = GerKpRw2nkE. The images in the Dollar's video – of dollar bills flying across the screen – mirror those of Fat Joe and Lil' Wayne. Noticeably absent in the Christian version are half-naked black women's bodies.

17. West 2003. West is among many mainstream hip hop artists who have included religious themes throughout their music. While West clearly works within Christian tradition, many other artists have drawn on variations of Islam (Sunni, Nation of Islam and Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths) and African-based religious traditions. Also, I use the language of ‘mainstream hip hop artists’ to distinguish such artists from the sub-genre of gospel hip hop.

18. See Wuthnow 1998a, 1998b.

19. West 2005. See ‘Jesus Walks’ videos. In Video One (the Church Version), West imagined himself inheriting the mantle of the Civil Rights Movement version of black Christianity, as he rapped while jumping around the pulpit, donning a black suit and thin black tie in the image of Martin Luther King, Jr. In Video Two (the Chris Milk Version) West made connections between the history of white supremacy in America and contemporary race politics, featuring images of chain-gangs of shackled black men, the Ku Klux Klan and burning crosses, and desert border crossings negotiating by white police officers and presumably Latino drug-runners. Meanwhile, dressed in all white slacks and a blazer, West rapped over a backdrop engulfed in flames. Finally, in Video Three (the Street Version), he seemed to poke fun of the Prosperity Gospel, while also performing the personal piety professed in the song's lyrics. Dressed shabbily in dusty jeans and a T-shirt, West is followed around by a stereotypical white Jesus, who puts money in his pockets, food in the refrigerator and provides physical healing for a friend on crutches. Yet this white Jesus is also contrasted with two black Christ figures, each adorned with a crown of thorns: the first an overweight, humorous character with permed hair, who playfully dances on the front lawn with neighbourhood children; the second, a thin and tall man with dreadlocks, who stands on the sidewalk, surrounded by gangsters, and stares with a sober demeanour into the camera. At the end of the video Kanye enters a storefront church, prays quietly in the pews and finally approaches the pulpit, to proclaim his own testimony (‘that's the way I need Jesus’).

20. Kanye West featuring Mase, ‘Jesus Walks: The Remix’. Roc-A-Fella Records, 2004.

21. West and Arabo's jewellery line was temporarily suspended when Arabo was indicted for money laundering. See Nancy Jo Sales. ‘Is Hip Hop's Jeweler on the Rocks?’ Vanity Fair, November 2006. http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/2006/11/jacob200611.

22. Paul B. Raushenbush. ‘Double Crossed By Religion: Ja Rule's new album “Rule 3:36” asks a harder question about “What If God Were One of Us?”’ on www.beliefnet.com/story/45/story_4551_1.html.

23. Ja Rule, featuring Ashanti. ‘Always On Time’, Pain Is Love. Def Jam Recordings, 2002.

24. Big Daddy Kane, ‘Pimpin' Ain't Easy’. It's a Big Daddy Thing. Cold Chillin'/Reprise/WarnerBros. Records, 1989.

25. Nas carried the cross in the video to the song ‘Hate Me Now’, (Columbia, 1999), which he recorded with Puff Daddy. Tupac appeared on a cross on the cover of his final album, Makaveli (Death Row/Interscope/MCA, 1996).

26. For one of the first academic discussions of gender and sexuality in hip hop, see Rose (1994).

27. More recent scholarship has complicated the ways in which women rappers engage questions of gender and sexuality in hip hop. See Perry 2004 and Sharpley 2007.

28. Remy Ma. Video Trailer for ‘Shesus Khryst’. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = LcNBP4DpR7c.