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This article written by Ryan Bassil, analyzes the recent spurt of religiosity found within the rap game. Found within lyrics and scenes within music videos, religious elements are being sprinkled into the hip hop world to better connect with their audience about topics that are usually not discussed among the religious community. Bassil notices the most clear religious symbolism most commonly found within rap is when the rapper depicts themselves as “modern-day deities” which is usually frowned upon by the religious community, because there could only be one God and to impersonate anything of that realm is deemed disrespectful. Another commonly discussed root to the elements of religion found in hip hop is Grandmaster Flash with his classic, The Message. This work is supposed to be the earliest found influential religious critique found in a rap song, and is clearly portrayed in lines like “God is smilin' on you but he's frownin' too.” A more frequently discussed contemporary artist found to use religious elements in their work is Kanye West, whose last work was, according to Bassil, “inspired in part by Paul the Apostle.” Kanye West has been the most notable rapper to use religion in their songs, which can be found in Jesus walks, his second to last album Yeezus, and his most recent project, The Life of Pablo. With these artists mentioned, they bring to the table new perspectives to the rap game, that were never there before. Bringing these elements to the table in their music, opens the artist up and builds a bridge of connection with the audience over topics and subjects that are normally taboo in the religious community like if God is really on our side or if he even exists. Questions related to this brings credibility to the table, making the audience more trustworthy of the rapper who is saying highly relatable information regarding their faiths. With the continual rise of religion within hip hop, artists are able to tie in the most important tool to use within music according to Bassil, “between the boasts is a simple message: we’re showing you who we are.”

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This article is a Q and A with Professor Monica Miller who is an expert on religion and popular culture, and is centered around the changing face of religion today, and the value of religion in hip hop today. Miller argues that shared diction and vocabulary does not necessarily mean the words have the same meaning. Her argument is sometimes artists know that religion sells will just throw it in their songs for added effect, and not because they pose questions about the spirituality itself. Despite the vultures that exploit religion, artists like Kanye West inspire Miller with lines and questions brought up about religion that normally wouldn't be brought up. This is clearly portrayed in Kanye’s song “No Church in the Wild” where the infamous chorus by Frank Ocean sings “Human beings in a Mob, What’s a mob to a King? What's a king to a God? What's a God to a non-believer who don't believe in anything? Will he make it out alive? Alright, alright, no church in the wild.” This except is a commonly used example to show questions those have about religion, but would never be brought up without the context hip hop provides. This excerpt is a social critique on the Churches hierarchy and authority and how it is powerless in “the wild”. This except ties in the concept of a changing face of religion, in this case a religion that tries to take advantage of God through abusing the power the Church. There is no doubt that religion is represented and found within hip hop, however what professor Monica Miller is proposing that not everyone is genuine in what they are writing about, and the spread of misinformation on religion can change the way people view and practice this religion. With artists like Kanye West providing substance to the rap game in the form of spiritual messages coded in rap bars, religion will be given a unique perspective out of the eyes of Mr. West, and not through the perspective of someone who is appropriating religion for sales.

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Similar to most hip hop and religion articles, this one starts at where contemporary listeners usually first started sensing religious elements in rap; Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks.” Thing is essential to hip hop during this time, bringing religion back into the realm of hip hop as well as solidifying Kanye West’s status as a rap icon. Although faced with doubts early on, West stayed true to himself and made music about what mattered most to him, the “Spiritual warfare over street violence.” Although Christian rap has been known was a nonprofitable subgenre of hip hop, Kanye West has been selling record numbers containing religious content, including his most recent project, “The Life of Pablo,” a self proclaimed modern day gospel album. Much like Wests earlier works, The Life of Pablo was doubted by many and proved everyone wrong with its content as well as its sales. The writer of the article Frank Guan continues by relating another Chicago artist Chance the rapper to Kanye West. Chance the rapper possesses religious elements, if not more, to his music like Kanye West, frequently talking about struggles and obstacles that are found within oneself, and among poverty stricken communities. These qualities are clearly seen in both artists last projects, Kanyes the life of pablo and chances coloring book. Both of these works serve as tools for guidance for those who are lost on their spiritual path, however both contain different means and meanings by how to do that. Chance on one hand appears to be more of a disciple of God, only speaking good things about God but still discussing controversial topics that are brought up occasionally with religion. Kanye West on the other hand goes as far to even claim himself as a God, in his song titled “I am a God.” Both using two totally different ways of spreading spirituality, the manage to get their messages across and to the audience that is going through similar situations. Whether its from Chance’s modest and catchy rhymes about Jesus, to Kanye and his self proclaimed God-like Status, religion will always be apart of hip hop for ages to come.

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This article I chose written by Allisha Dunham, begins discussing the element of religion represented in hip hop. she goes in depth and explains the “disrespectful content” that some may find when listening to music. This “disrespectful” content includes artists discussing topics of doubting God and misrepresentation of God, by putting his and Jesus name upon album covers and in controversial, explicit songs. Misrepresentation can be seen with the prime example of a rolling stone cover on Kanye West. The picture showed West posing as Jesus Christ, and had his face bloodied with the iconic thorn crown sitting on his head. Being named “Passion of Kanye West”, this articled revived much backlash for the portrayal of Kanye West as Jesus and deemed disrespectful by some members of society. A more recent controversial religious incident in the rap world came from the rapper Meek Mill. Although the content of the song was not the issue with the song “Amen”, a song appreciating all the obstacles and virtues God has placed before him in life, the controversy stems from the music video. In the music video the majority of the controversy comes from the two strippers that can be seen hanging from a cross. Although the song is about appreciating God, the video content caused problems for meek mill when a local pastor from Philadelphia start a boycott of the song for the disrespectful images of the holy cross. With religion being discussed and brought up in communities that need it the most, sometimes subjects questioning the spirituality all together will rise as well as feelings of angst and despair as they face social issues that only lower-class members of society face. The point is, the term disrespectful is subjective, and still shouldn't be used as a reason to hinder greater conversations about how we as humans handle the pressures that society puts upon us. In a world with those hit by poverty and other involved social factors, exploring religion and spirituality can only be good thing for a culture, despite the rare misrepresentation. Sometimes you have to step on someones toes, to get to the bottom of things.

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This article discusses the recent growth and rise of Religion as a subject in recent rap projects. Although artists have incorporated their faith in rap since early as Grandmaster Flash and the furious five, in their most notable song of “The Message.” Artists like Tupac during the golden age of hip hop used religion in their music, which offer an extra struggle that we can all relate to. Messages of Tupac songs would ultimately leave you with meanings of do the right thing, and being a good person. Going in to the more modern era, the artist Kanye West has been found to be the predominant artist who uses religion in their music. Although Tupac was more diverse and contained variety in his spirituality like involving himself with buddhism and islam, Kanye West is clearly more of a Christian based God, when discussed among his songs. West often dwells into a deeper meaning of spirituality like why are we here and what do we do with the power given to us. The last three artists named all came from three different generations, but all contain the same thing of opening up about religion and their spirituality. Spirituality in hip hop has been around for ages, evidenced by Grandmaster Flash, and is heavily used to lean on for support those in the hip hop industry going through personal struggles and are in need of guidance. The writer of this article Michael Heal puts it perfectly when he says religion “is not just a trend within hip-hop culture, but something already embedded into mainstream culture.” This stands out to me because everyone believes religion is something new being brought into the “lawless” and “gangsta” life style, when in actuality it has been around for years and has been an essential part to hip hop the past generations. Although Kanye west does bring new elements of religion into hip hop, like questioning the power and authority of God, religion has always been a factor in hip hop, and will remain a contributing piece to the hip hop world.

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This link takes you to a XXL page, a notable hip hop magazine, where it gives you a list of the top 7 most religious rappers on the scene right now. This list shows me two things, one the continual growth of religion in hip hop, and the success that comes with bringing religion into your music. These artists mentioned are probably within the upper echelon of the rap game, having artists like Kanye West and Chance the rapper who are on top of the hip hop world after their most recently released works that were critically acclaimed and were both gospel-esque. The topic of religion within hip hop has been a popular one for certain reasons, like how it is taboo to speak anything bad of religion or its community, so when rappers do it the audience is able to relate to the song that elaborates perfectly on religious topics that they normally wouldn't discuss. The list produced by XXL contains rappers Dee-1, Lecrae, Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, Kevin Gates, Sir the Baptist, and Andy Mineo. These artists all have the religious flare within their music, which captivates the audience with their controversial topics like what do we do when faced with difficult situations regarding power, or what people do in situations that define them as good or bad people. The use of religion is primarily used in rap to get their subliminal message across, of being better than the world we live in today. The topic of corruption and misuse of power that the church possesses isn't meant to bring the religious system down and terminate them, but to inspire and motivate those looking to be a better person than those who aren’t, and thats how we make a difference in the world tomorrow. You don't have to go out and save the world, but making a commitment to yourself to be a good person is all you can do in a world that is trying to bring you down. That is why rappers who bring religion into the mix are so highly acclaimed, because they have the courage to speak on issues that matter to the community.

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This article discusses the change in use of religion in contemporary rap today, and how it can be seen as disrespectful to the religion. The writer states “Through this transformation the traditional religious use of themes such as God, The Bible, The Cross and Jesus Christ has taken a completely different turn from religious things used to worship, and respect the African American religion to things that can be seen as disrespectful to African American religion through hip-hop music.” To elaborate on this, rappers today have been seen using religion symbols and asking theological questions that can be seen as disrespectful to the religion such as wearing upside down crosses or asking the question of does God really exist. Existential questions like this are found within modern rap and further analyzed with social critiques usually regarding street violence, poverty, and discrimination. This article later goes on to discuss the Kanye West classic “Jesus Walks” and how West discusses “the relationship Jesus has with individuals whom are seen to be far from the religious calling.” In a time of little religious connotations found in rap, this hit song managed to open the hearts of fans and have them ask themselves questions about religion that they normally would not think about. Kanye West however would be revered by some due to his self portrayal as a messiah, or prophet. Numeral incidents like this can be pointed out by west, but the most notable one would be his album titled Yeezus, a play on words of Jesus and his own nick name Yeezy. Kanye has received backlash from various comments relating to Kanye stating he was of God like status. Despite the controversy, I believe Kanye West has explored realms of rap where no one has been and made it popular to rap about. Questions of is God really with me, the pressure that comes with the attention he receives, and the responsibility of trying to be a better person and use the power he has for good and inspire people with hope.

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This article first discusses the most recent grammy awards, specifically on rapper Kendrick Lamar. The writer goes into depth on why Lamar’s success has been skyrocketing and he brings up the point “Spiritual content is having a bit of a moment in hip-hop, with everyone from Chance the Rapper’s tender jubilation to Lecrae’s social justice-tinged message.” The topic of spiritual content has been one of the many talked about subjects in contemporary rap. Various rappers use spirituality as a tool to build a connection with the audience that makes their music more meaningful to who ever is listening. Kendrick Lamar demonstrates this to its full extent, using articulate rhymes to pose theological questions pertaining to Christian beliefs. Tyler Huckabee continues with “Lamar asks the sorts of questions you’re not supposed to ask in church, and although that makes the Christian beliefs he espouses difficult to categorize, it, in turn, makes them more important.” This excerpt illustrates Lamar’s ability to highlight certain topics not usually spoken about and usually considered taboo within a church community. This ability helps Lamar connect with the audience by guiding them and having a conversation about something that they are usually left in the dark on. With Lamar’s deep social critique and legendary flow, his music is difficult not to love. An excerpt from Lamar’s song pride perfectly conveys a textbook lamar bar; “See, in a perfect world, I’ll choose faith over riches/I’ll choose work over b——, I’ll make schools out of prison/I’ll take all the religions and put ’em all in one service/Just to tell ’em we ain’t s—, but He’s been perfect.” This bar shows Lamar’s deep concern for social injustices within the community involving the prison system, materialism, and even the religious institutions. Kendrick Lamar is able to tie in multiple social factors in a way where he appears to be preaching them out to the crowd listening. Through his inept ability of story telling along with his religious elements, Kendrick Lamar is definitely a proven, once in a generation artist.

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This piece I have chosen discusses hip hops transformation from being viewed as culturally insensitive to being regarded as a “subject of study” of “black cultural priorities and expression of social and political factors.” Within the past couple of decades hip hop has manage to gather enough momentum from being critically frowned upon by society and mass media to an exploited art which is now streamed everywhere. Many contributing factors effected this, but in this article I will be discussing the religious influences upon hip hop and how that played a hand in making this genre universally appealing. A key point made by the author Christopher Driscoll made was regarding how people can view hip hop as a religion when he says the genre is “a modality of religious or spiritual expression—or at the least, a starting point for exploring the varied dimensions of the religious within hip hop culture.” To elaborate on his claim, he is establishing a connection between hip hop and religion as a form of expression, asking and exploring themes that are taught in various forms of religion, such as violence, love/lust, and the basic concepts of whats right and wrong. Through hip hop, people can find inspiration and motivation, the same way people look to religion for guidance. Hip hops transformation is prime example of cultural growth, with how it gained universal appraisal not even 50 years after its formation. It has became on of the leading genres out of all the worlds music today, despite rooting from controversy early on.

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In this piece, themes of religious participation and theologies are pointed out and analyzed in the hip hop world. The article describes the subliminal change that happened back in 2016 in the rap genre, a value of religiosity was developed among artists. The writer first begins in the year 2016 and discusses a key pivotal point in hip hop where religion found its way as a new central theme to incorporate in rap music. This moment was before Kanye West dropped his album “The Life of Pablo”, which already has religious connotations stemming from the name that draws inspiration from the apostle Paul. Kanye West performed the headliner to his album, Ultralight Beam, for the crowd of the SNL show, alongside Chance the Rapper who is featured on the song. Chance, who already is known for incorporating religious themes into his music, performed the song with Kanye West which contained various lines and interpretations of religion and what it means to the artists. This song marked a crucial point in the history of rap, which made it mainstream to discuss controversial statements regarding religion in their music. Stereotypically, rap is generically referred to as gang cultured and hurtful towards society, when in actuality topics of contemporary social issues are frequently discussed. However, what Kanye West had previously explained was that speaking of God in the rap game was almost of a taboo for a while. This is shown on his song titled “Jesus Walks” when he says “They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus. / That means guns, sex, lies, videotape / But if I talk about God my record won't get played, huh?” This quote is him going in depth about the issues he saw within the music industry that regulated rap at the time, which would blackball specific songs on the radio if they contained “explicit content”, in this case it would be varying opinions on God. This was not strictly a religious issue however. This is a lack of emotional outlets for young minorities brought upon them. These people in power wish to exploit the young rappers of tomorrow by making them rap about things that they know people will listen to, sex, drugs, and violence. With continual push of artists like Kanye West and Chance the Rapper, the future generations will be able to rap about their beliefs on theology whether they agree with it or not.

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Lately we’ve seen many debates and discussions over who you should vote for in the upcoming presidential elections. A interesting factor to consider is the religion of the candidates. Many consider religion to be irrelevant to a candidates platform while others consider it to be a crucial piece of information for those running. This relates to what we are learning in class because we took a poll in class to see if we thought that religion was an important thing to know about the candidate, and many of us answered it did not matter. 

Personally, religion isn't as big as a deal to me as it is to others, however that does not mean it is irrelevant. I believe the religion of a candidate is desired information that voters deserve to know about the candidate, but should not let that be the deciding factor of who they vote. Religion could reflect how the candidate would respond to situations and how they look at different social issues, but besides that it could have no relation to their platform at all. 

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Trump Announces Running Mate / via