The Theological Sensibilities of Rap Music

1.
The
Hiphopcrypha:
The
Theological
Sensibilities
of
Rap
Music

2. Paper
#2
2
Introduction
An
ongoing
problem
that
plagues
the
discipline
of
theology
is
the
authority
of
sources.
“How
do
we
know
which
sources
are
more
authoritative
than
others?”
and
“Who
gets
to
decide
this?”
are
two
questions
that
easily
summarize
this
debate.
Biblical
scholarship,
too,
has
wrestled—and
continues
to
wrestle—with
the
authority
of
sources.
The
biblical
canon
itself
perfectly
illustrates
and
embodies
this
debate:
The
Protestant
Bible
is
a
collection
of
66
books,
yet
there
are
other
books
and
documents
that
were
not
canonized
in
this
process.
These
non-­‐
canonical
books
are
referred
to
as
the
Apocryphal
or
Deuterocanonical
books.
The
popular
conception
is
everything
that
is
not
canonized,
such
as
the
Apocrypha,
is
non-­‐authoritative.
Interestingly,
the
meaning
of
the
word
“Apocrypha”
does
not
suggest
such
a
distinction
between
authority
or
a
lack
there
of.
“Apocrypha”
is
a
transliteration
of
the
Greek
meaning
“hidden
things”
and
can
be
understood
as
a
body
of
sources
that
are
set
apart
from—and
even
compliment—the
established
canon.1
With
this
alternative
understanding
of
the
Apocrypha
in
mind,
I
would
like
to
use
it
as
an
analogy
to
describe
the
interplay
between
theology
and
the
cultural
resource
of
Hip
Hop.
Hip
Hop
originates
from
New
York’s
South
Bronx
where
African-­‐American
and
Latino/a
youth
gathered
around
the
local
party
music
scene
in
the
early
1970s.
DJs
(disc
jockeys)
and
MCs
(microphone
controllers)
would
entertain
large
crowds
of
people
during
these
block
parties
with
the
intent
of
bringing
neighborhoods
together
through
cathartic
music
and
dance.
Music
and
dance,
however,
are
not
the
only
expressions
of
Hip
Hop
culture
as
Hip
Hop
scholars
Monica
Miller
et
al.
are
quick
to
point
out.
In
addition
to
the
oral
(i.e.
rap
music)
and
physical
1
David
A.
Desilva,
“Apocrypha,
Deuterocanonicals,”
in
The
New
Interpreter’s
Dictionary
of
the
Bible,
vol.
1
(Nashville:
Abingdon
Press,
2006),
195.

3. Paper
#2
3
(i.e.
breakdancing)
elements
of
Hip
Hop
culture,
there
are
visual,
aural,
and
epistemological
elements
in
Hip
Hop
culture
through
the
mediums
of
graffiti
art,
DJing,
and
street
knowledge,
respectively.2
As
Hip
Hop
grew,
it
quickly
became
identified
as
the
political
voice
for
urban
youth
to
narrate
their
experiences.
Hip
Hop
survived
and
thrived
as
an
underground
sub-­‐culture
in
the
United
States
for
nearly
two
decades;
yet,
despite
its
humble
beginnings,
it
is
present
on
every
continent
forty
years
later.
Hip
Hop
is
a
cultural
phenomenon
that
is
worthy
of
more
academic
attention.
The
fields
of
anthropology,
sociology,
African-­‐American
Studies,
communications,
and
religion
have
given
some
attention
to
Hip
Hop
culture.
Critical
and
interdisciplinary
approaches
to
Hip
Hop
is
a
growing
discussion,
yet
few
scholars
write
extensively
on
the
subject.
Scholars
such
as
Michael
Eric
Dyson,
Tricia
Rose,
Anthony
Pinn,
Monica
Miller,
and
Daniel
White
Hodge
are
a
few
who
write
extensively
about
Hip
Hop
in
their
respective
fields.3
Needless
to
say,
this
is
very
new
and
groundbreaking
work
for
scholarship.
My
goal
in
this
particular
paper
is
to
join
this
burgeoning
conversation
on
Hip
Hop
and
use
it
as
an
authoritative
resource
for
theology.
Much
like
how
the
Apocrypha
is
set
apart
from
the
biblical
canon,
I
recognize
that
Hip
Hop
culture
is
set
apart
from
the
typical
Western
theological
canon
of
Augustine,
Aquinas,
or
Barth.
I
choose
to
celebrate
this
distinction
and
call
it
the
Hiphopcrypha.
I
am
not
making
an
argument
that
Hip
Hop
is
a
medium
with
untapped
potential
for
advancing
Christian
theology
exclusively.
Rather,
I
want
to
stress
that
Hip
Hop
is
a
hidden
resource
that
informs
and
critiques
Christian
theology
while
simultaneously
constructing
its
own.
In
this
paper,
I
seek
to
evaluate
2
Monica
Miller
et
al.,
“The
Hip
in
Hip
Hop:
Towards
a
Discipline
of
Hip
Hop
Studies,”
Journal
of
Hip
Hop
Studies
1
(2014):
6.
3
Some
of
these
scholars
go
as
far
as
desiring
the
creation
of
a
distinct
academic
discipline
called
“Hip
Hop
Studies.”

4. Paper
#2
4
Hip
Hop
culture,
through
the
medium
of
rap
music,
as
a
theology
of
liberation
as
it
relates
to
the
social,
political,
aesthetic,
and
existential
realities
of
the
African-­‐American
experience.
Methodology
The
theology
of
James
H.
Cone
is
an
influential
voice
in
constructing
a
distinct
Black
Theology.
Much
of
his
work
engages
African-­‐American
cultural
expressions,
such
as
slave
folklore,
the
spirituals,
and
the
blues,
as
a
particular
way
of
doing
theology.
While
none
of
his
work
directly
engages
Hip
Hop
culture,
I
believe
it
lays
the
foundation
for
including
Hip
Hop
culture
as
an
extension
of
Black
Theology.
Cone’s
theology
can
be
summarized
into
three
main
points.
First,
theology
cannot
be
separated
from
one’s
lived
experience,
social
context,
and
history.
For
Cone
specifically,
this
means
that
his
understanding
of
what
it
means
to
be
black
(in)forms
his
theology.
Cone
asserts
“that
there
can
be
no
Black
Theology
which
does
not
take
the
black
experience
as
a
source
for
its
starting
point.”4
This
is
a
crucial
and
necessary
component
in
understanding
Cone’s
theology
because
it
validates
the
particulars
of
the
black
experience
and
critiques
the
theological
tendency
to
punt
to
the
universal
human
experience.
According
to
Cone,
the
universal
human
experience
is
a
false
reality
and
cannot
possibly
transcend
the
language
and
social
context
of
a
people
group.5
Furthermore,
the
function
of
theology
is
not
to
explain
the
world
as
it
is
and
how
it
should
be
as
an
abstraction,
but
is
an
extension
of
lived
experience
that
is
dependent
upon
the
current
societal
realities
as
a
4
James
H.
Cone,
God
of
the
Oppressed,
Revised
ed.
(Maryknoll,
NY:
Orbis
Books,
1997),
16.
5
Ibid,
36.

5. Paper
#2
5
reference.6
This
also
means
that
even
within
a
specific
group
of
people—for
example,
African-­‐
Americans—there
is
room
for
variance
in
experience
given
placement
in
history.7
Second,
Cone
believes
that
God
is
attentive
to
human
suffering.
In
a
broad
sense,
Cone
identifies
that
“[theology]
arises
out
of
life
and…reflects
a
people’s
struggle
to
create
meaning
in
life.”8
This
quest
for
meaning
making
is
not
an
exclusively
spiritual
quest,
however,
and
is
tied
to
the
social
and
economic
realities
of
the
oppressed.
Cone
vehemently
claims
that
a
“theology
that
does
not
emerge
from
the
historical
consciousness
of
the
poor
is
ideology.”9
Making
meaning
out
of
suffering,
and
the
process
of
liberation
from
suffering
caused
by
oppression,
must
be
physical
and
spiritual
from
the
perspective
of
the
oppressed.
Cone
best
demonstrates
this
interconnectedness
between
spiritual
and
physical
liberation
in
his
book
The
Spirituals
and
the
Blues:
An
Interpretation.
When
the
African
slaves
sing
about
going
to
heaven
in
the
spirituals,
for
example,
heaven
includes
both
a
transcendent
and
a
specific
geographical
location,
such
as
Africa,
the
Northern
United
States,
or
Canada.10
Finally,
the
cultural
expressions
of
African-­‐Americans
are
theological
in
themselves.
This
last
point
is
closely
linked
and
dependent
upon
the
previous
two
points.
Black
music,
according
to
Cone,
is
a
living
reality.
It
reflects
and
synthesizes
the
current
social,
political,
and
theological
issues
of
their
collective
experience
and
existence.11
Black
music
confronts
suffering,
racism,
and
economic
exploitation
in
its
music
as
an
act
of
resistance
to
white
cultural
domination
while
simultaneously
seeking
liberation
from
these
hegemonic
structures.
Cone
notes,
“Black
6
Ibid,
39.
7
This
variance
is
important
to
keep
in
mind
as
I
seek
to
engage
a
particular
aspect
of
African-­‐American
cultural
expression—Hip
Hop—at
a
particular
point
in
time—1970s
to
the
present.
8
Ibid,
39.
9
Ibid,
87.
10
James
H.
Cone,
The
Spirituals
and
the
Blues:
An
Interpretation,
(New
York:
Seabury
Press,
1972),
87-­‐89.
11
Ibid,
6.

6. Paper
#2
6
music…is
not
an
artistic
creation
for
its
own
sake;
rather
it
tells
us
about
the
feeling
and
thinking
[sic]
of
African
people.”12
Using
the
theology
of
James
H.
Cone
as
a
guide,
the
following
three
sections
of
this
paper
will
address
how
Hip
Hop
engages
social
context
and
urban
experience,
names
personal
and
systemic
suffering,
and
seeks
liberation
through
cultural
transformation.
I
will
also
draw
upon
the
work
of
rapper
Tupac
Shakur,
arguably
one
of
Hip
Hop’s
most
iconic
and
controversial
rappers,
as
an
example
of
how
the
culture
shapes
these
theological
concepts
directly.
Hip
Hop
Experience
While
both
Hip
Hop
and
earlier
forms
of
Black
music
confront
the
oppressive
forces
of
racism
and
cultural
domination,
it
is
important
to
keep
in
mind
the
particularity
of
these
forces
in
history.
A
majority
of
Hip
Hop
is
set
in
a
post-­‐Civil
Rights,
post-­‐industrial,
urban
United
States
context.
For
the
Hip
Hop
artist
and
its
urban
audience,
the
reality
of
living
in
the
hood,
or
the
ghetto,
is
the
necessary
social,
economic,
and
political
context
to
properly
understand
the
culture.
This
is
an
important
contrast
to
earlier
forms
of
Black
music,
which
primarily
come
from
a
rural,
Southern
context.
Hip
Hop
comes
at
a
time
when
the
overt
racism
of
slavery
and
Jim
Crow
have
been
replaced
with
the
hidden
racism
of
the
War
on
Drugs,
mass
incarceration,
and
the
ghettoization
of
African-­‐American
neighborhoods.
The
role
of
the
Hip
Hop
rapper,
then,
is
to
narrate
the
experience
of
the
hood
and
report
on
all
aspects
of
life.13
Rapper
Chuck
D
of
12
Ibid,
109.
13
Daniel
White
Hodge,
The
Soul
of
Hip
Hop:
Rims,
Timbs,
and
a
Cultural
Theology,
(Downers
Grove,
Illinois:
InterVaristy
Press,
2010),
25.

7. Paper
#2
7
Public
Enemy
demonstrates
this
informative
role
of
rap
music
when
he
proclaims,
“Rap
is
black
America’s
CNN.”14
Anthony
Pinn,
a
prolific
scholar
in
the
field
of
African-­‐American
Religious
and
Humanist
Studies,
notes
Hip
Hop
came
at
a
vulnerable
time
in
Black
religious
conscience,
too.
He
argues,
“[the]
religio-­‐cultural
dominance
of
the
black
church
was
called
into
question
as
an
organizing
life
framework”
along
with
“the
limited
impact
of
the
civil
rights
movement”
around
the
time
of
Hip
Hop.15
Daniel
White
Hodge
agrees
with
Pinn
and
names
this
as
the
“post-­‐soul
matrix.”16
In
the
“post-­‐soul
matrix,”
Hip
Hop
responds
as
a
critical
voice
to
the
previous
generation’s
religiously
infused
soul
music
and,
consequently,
the
Black
church.
Hip
Hop
emerged
not
only
as
a
social
and
cultural
alternative
for
African-­‐Americans,
but
as
a
religious
and
theological
one,
too.
Tupac
Shakur
illustrates
the
paradox
of
what
makes
Hip
Hop’s
religiosity
so
theologically
progressive.
In
an
interview
with
Vibe
Magazine
in
1996,
Tupac
responds
to
a
reporter’s
question
about
his
views
on
religion.
He
starts
by
asserting
his
belief
in
God,
yet
names
his
skepticism
towards
organized
religion’s
attempt
to
control
people
through
the
Bible
and
other
moral
codes.
He
poignantly
claims,
“If
God
wrote
the
Bible,
then
I’m
sure
there
would
have
been
a
revised
copy
by
now…’cause
a
lot
of
shit’s
changed,
and
I’ve
been
looking
for
this
revised
copy
[but]
I
don’t
see
it.”17
He
then
expresses
his
frustration
with
organized
religion’s
denial
of
his
and
other
marginal
people’s
experience
in
the
hood
as
religious.
The
theology
of
14
David
Thorpe,
“Chuck
D,”
BOMB
68,
Summer
(1999),
bombmagazine.org/article/2251/chuck-­‐d.
15
Anthony
Pinn,
Embodiment
and
the
New
Shape
of
Black
Theological
Thought,
(New
York:
New
York
University
Press,
2010),
123.
16
Hodge,
Soul
of
Hip
Hop,
63-­‐71.
17
Vibe
Magazine.
“V
Exclusive:
Tupac
Shakur—The
Lost
Footage,
pt.
VI,”
Vibe.com
video,
6:00,
October
1,
2009,
http://www.vibe.com/article/v-­‐exclusive-­‐tupac-­‐shakur-­‐lost-­‐footage-­‐pt-­‐vi.

8. Paper
#2
8
Tupac
Shakur,
along
with
a
considerable
stream
of
Hip
Hoppers
before
and
after
him,
recognizes
God’s
work
is
intimately
attached
to
the
experience
of
God’s
people
as
an
ongoing,
contextual
revelation.
The
experiences
of
God’s
people
that
Tupac
and
other
Hip
Hoppers
narrate
is
primarily
experiences
of
suffering.
Hip
Hop
and
Suffering
The
voice
of
Hip
Hop
readily
identifies
as
the
voice
of
the
oppressed.
As
I
referenced
earlier,
the
social,
economic,
and
political
conditions
which
give
birth
to
the
Hip
Hop
conscience
are
namely
systemic
oppressive
realities.
Hip
Hop’s
identification
as
the
voice
of
the
oppressed
often
reflects
a
disenchantment
with
United
States
government
and
the
dominant
white
American
worldview.
Hip
Hop’s
narration
of
United
States
history
is
critical
of
any
logic
or
rhetoric
that
suggests
an
equitable
nation-­‐state
where
justice
always
prevails.
Hip
Hop
exposes
this
weak
logic
and
rhetoric
through
both
personal
narratives
and
a
retelling
of
history.
In
one
of
his
earliest
songs,
“Words
of
Wisdom,”
Tupac
utilizes
the
latter
strategy
with
a
robust
racial
lens:
Pledge
allegiance
to
a
flag
that
neglects
us
Honor
a
man
that
who
refuses
to
respect
us
Emancipation,
proclamation,
Please!
Lincoln
just
said
that
to
save
the
nation
These
are
lies
that
we
all
accepted
Say
no
to
drugs
but
the
government’s
kept
it
Running
through
our
community,
killing
the
unity
The
war
on
drugs
is
a
war
on
you
and
me
And
yet
they
say
this
is
the
Home
of
The
Free
But
if
you
ask
me
it's
all
about
hypocrisy18
18
2Pac,
“Words
of
Wisdom,”
in
2Pacalypse
Now
(1991).

9. Paper
#2
9
Tupac’s
experience
with
suffering—which
is
both
personal
and
collective—gives
him
the
prophetic
insight
to
expose
the
myth
of
a
nation
where
everyone
lives
freely
and
equally.
His
lyrics
not
only
reveal
feelings
of
structural
neglect,
but
also
structural
favoritism.
The
perpetuation
of
this
suffering
vis-­‐à-­‐vis
structural
neglect
can
lead
to
ontological
anxiety
and
the
threat
of
non-­‐being,
according
to
Darrell
James
Wesley.
In
his
article
“Let
the
Redeemed
of
the
Lord
Say
So,”
Wesley
identifies
Hip
Hop’s
response
to
suffering
in
line
with
a
larger
African-­‐American
spirituality.
This
spirituality
emerges
from
the
constant
threat
of
non-­‐
being—e.g.
marginalization
and
poverty—and
offers
creative
responses—e.g.
rap
music
and
breakdancing—as
a
source
of
liberation.
This
creative
process
of
the
recreation
of
the
self
and
the
community
amidst
the
constant
threat
of
non-­‐being
is
what
Wesley
calls
radical
ontology.19
Wesley’s
concept
of
radical
ontology
is
a
helpful
insight
into
what
makes
Hip
Hop
such
a
potentially
transformative
art
form.
I
use
the
word
“potentially”
because
not
all
examples
of
radical
ontology
in
Hip
Hop—specifically
rap
music—are
transformative
or
constructive.
In
fact,
there
is
a
considerable
stream
of
Hip
Hop
music
that
is
highly
problematic
in
its
lyrical
content
and
ideology.
While
this
paper
will
not
address
these
issues
in
great
detail,
it
is
crucial
to
recognize
the
nihilist,
violent,
and
misogynist
tendencies
in
Hip
Hop
music
and
culture.20
The
work
of
Anthony
Pinn
is
also
a
helpful
addendum
to
Wesley’s
concept
of
radical
ontology.
Pinn
is
correct
when
he
asserts
the
centrality
of
the
body
when
it
comes
to
experiencing
and
expressing
suffering
through
musical
production.21
This
is
an
important
addition
to
Wesley’s
work
because
it
insists
the
cultural
productions
that
emerge
from
19
Darrell
James
Wesley,
“Let
the
Redeemed
of
the
Lord
Say
So,”
in
Urban
God
Talk:
Constructing
a
Hip
Hop
Spirituality,
ed.
Andre
E.
Johnson
(Lexington,
MA:
Lexington
Books,
2013),
67-­‐69.
20
For
a
more
detailed
analysis
on
the
problematic
aspects
of
Hip
Hop
see
Tricia
Rose’s
work
in
The
Hip
Hop
Wars:
What
We
Talk
About
When
We
Talk
About
Hip
Hop
and
Why
it
Matters.
21
Pinn,
Embodiment,
101.

10. Paper
#2
10
ontological
anxiety
cannot
be
simply
reduced
to
expressions
of
transcendence
nor
escapism.
Hip
Hop’s
theology
of
suffering
pragmatically
integrates
the
realities
of
systemic
oppression
and
suffering
with
the
presentation
of
the
body
and
an
acute
awareness
of
its
finitude.
Michael
Eric
Dyson
attributes
this
to
Hip
Hop’s
hyper-­‐awareness
to
the
immanent
reality
of
death
due
to
intense
suffering.22
This
translates
to
a
very
porous
view
of
life
and
death.
One
example
of
this
porous
relationship
between
embodied
life
and
death
is
Tupac’s
appropriation
of
heaven
and
hell.
In
an
interview
with
Vibe
Magazine,
he
claims
that
hell
already
exists
in
the
violence
of
the
streets,
in
jail,
and
in
the
burning
sensation
of
gunshot
wounds.
Inversely,
heaven
exists
when
one
does
what
is
right
and
can
go
to
sleep
at
night
with
a
good
conscience.23
According
to
Tupac,
neither
heaven
nor
hell
is
a
fixed,
eternal
reality.
Rather,
one
can
experience
both
heaven
and
hell—and
oscillate
between
the
two—over
the
course
of
a
lifetime.
Hip
Hop
and
Transformation
Hip
Hop
culture
and
rap
music
desire
for
the
transformation
of
self
and
community.
As
I
mentioned
earlier,
Wesley’s
framework
of
radical
ontology
is
the
creative
process
of
recreating
the
self
and
the
community
through
cultural
production:
this
is
the
first
layer
of
Hip
Hop
transformation.
Rap
music
achieves
this
on
a
primary
level
by
sampling
and
layering
sound
clips
from
previous
songs
from
various
genres.
Rap
music
recreates,
or
remixes,
how
these
sounds
were
once
heard
and
invites
the
listener
to
conceptualize
it
differently.
The
art
of
remixing
and
layering
is
parallel
to
the
phenomenon
of
intertextuality.
Furthermore,
this
layering
process
is
22
Michael
Eric
Dyson,
Holler
If
You
Hear
Me:
Searching
For
Tupac
Shakur,
(New
York:
Basic
Civitas
Books,
2006),
Kindle
edition,
ch.
7.
23
Vibe
Magazine,
“Lost
Interview
pt
VI,”
Vibe.com
video

11. Paper
#2
11
an
inclusive
act
inherent
in
the
music
itself,
according
to
Robin
Sylvan.24
It
is
a
way
to
include
other
musical
styles,
voices,
and
cultures
together
into
a
larger
conversation.
A
secondary
layer
of
how
Hip
Hop
actively
strives
for
transformation
is
through
the
lyrical
content
of
rap
music.
Similar
to
layering
and
remixing,
rap
lyrics
often
borrow
from
symbols,
images,
and
metaphors
from
a
pre-­‐existing
culture.
One
of
the
more
controversial
examples
of
this
would
be
the
use
of
the
word
nigga
in
many
rap
songs.
Due
to
the
growing
prevalence
of
Hip
Hop
and
rap
music
around
the
globe,
it
is
easy
to
see
how
many
people
would
choose
to
blame
Hip
Hop
for
perpetuating
a
negative
image
for
African-­‐Americans
with
its
frequent
use
of
the
word.
Hip
Hop
certainly
carries
this
as
part
of
its
baggage;
however,
some
artists’
reclamation
of
the
word
see
it
as
an
act
of
liberation
and
defiance.
Referring
to
the
debate
of
the
n-­‐word
and
its
usage,
Michael
Eric
Dyson
insists
that
“what
we
are
called
and
what
we
answer
to
is
a
deeply
political
matter.”25
Tupac
is
among
the
more
explicit
in
his
lyrics
when
it
comes
to
the
political
advantages
of
reclaiming
the
word:
When
I
say
niggas
it
is
not
the
nigga
we
are
grown
to
fear
It
is
not
the
nigga
we
say
as
if
it
has
no
meaning
But
to
me
It
means
Never
Ignorant
Getting
Goals
Accomplished,
nigga26
Tupac
manages
to
deconstruct
two
approaches
to
the
n-­‐word.
The
first
is
its
use
as
a
derogatory
term
to
describe
a
lack
of
intelligence
or
place
in
society.
The
second
is
using
it
as
if
it
has
no
meaning
at
all.
The
former
continues
a
life
cycle
of
subordination,
while
the
latter
fails
to
acknowledge
the
struggle
of
African-­‐Americans
throughout
history.
Tupac’s
resolution,
then,
24
Robin
Sylvan,
Traces
of
the
Spirit:
The
Religious
Dimensions
in
Popular
Music,
(New
York:
New
York
University
Press,
2002),
213.
25
Dyson,
Holler
if
You
Hear
Me,
Kindle
edition,
ch.
6,
para
6.
26
2Pac,
“Words
of
Wisdom,”
2Pacalyspe
Now
(1991).

12. Paper
#2
12
is
to
repurpose
the
word
in
order
to
promote
the
industrious
and
resilient
virtues
he
values
for
his
people.
A
tertiary
layer
of
Hip
Hop’s
commitment
to
transformation
is
its
conception
of
the
world.
What
makes
Hip
Hop’s
worldview
so
unique
is
that
it
does
not
draw
distinct
lines
between
what
is
secular
and
what
is
sacred,
nor
does
it
reside
in
one
realm
more
than
the
other.
Instead,
Hip
Hop
offers
a
more
worldly
experience.
A
more
worldly
experience,
according
to
Anthony
Pinn,
“is
not
the
world
as
one
imagines
it
but
as
it
is
with
all
of
its
warts.”27
A
more
worldly
experience
is
the
integration
of
the
secular
and
sacred.
This
worldly
expectation
affects
the
Hip
Hop
understanding
of
God
and
other
religious
figures,
too.
A
God
that
is
removed
from
the
messiness
of
life
in
the
hood
is
no
god
for
a
Hip
Hopper.
Tupac
makes
this
clear
at
the
end
of
“Black
Jesus”
when
he
muses
for
a
ghetto
saint
“that
hurt
like
we
hurt
/…smoke
like
we
smoke
/
drink
like
we
drink.”28
The
transformation
Hip
Hop
desires,
then,
is
a
greater
awareness
and
relationship
with
the
world,
including
its
social
ills,
and
finding
God
in
the
midst
of
it.
Conclusion
Hip
Hop
is
a
vibrant
cultural
movement
that
is
continuously
being
shaped
and
reshaped
by
its
participants.
While
some
of
this
shaping
takes
it
to
places
and
spaces
that
seemed
unimaginable
at
its
conception,
its
roots
remain
with
minority
youth
in
urban
centers
all
across
the
United
States.
Hip
Hop
remains
sensitive
to
their
experiences
of
navigating
the
ghetto,
offers
freedom
through
its
music,
and
provides
a
voice
for
social
critique
and
political
imagination.
Hip
Hop
continues
to
gain
authority
among
the
disenfranchised
at
an
exponential
27
Pinn,
Embodiment,
131.
28
2Pac
and
Outlawz,
“Black
Jesus,”
Still
I
Rise
(1999).

13. Paper
#2
13
rate;
however,
theologians
are
just
now
starting
to
pay
attention.
Hip
Hop
has
been
hidden,
yet
is
gradually
revealing
itself
as
an
authoritative
compliment
to
the
discipline
of
theology.

14. Paper
#2
14
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