Hip-Hop Redemption
Can Christians listen to or even sing hip-hop? Are there qualities in hip-hop that are redeemable? Is there something we can learn from the history of hip-hop? Nate Wood seeks to address these questions and many others in his review of Hip-Hop Redemption: Finding God in the Rhythm and Rhyme, by Ralph Basui Watkins. Nate writes,
Growing up in rural western Kentucky as a homeschooler, attending Southern Baptist churches with a grandfather who is a Southern Baptist pastor, is not exactly the context from which to learn or engage hip-hop culture. I was, however, introduced to secular rap and hip-hop music at an early age apart from my parent’s knowledge, of course. The music was appealing, because my older (white) friends seemed to like it. We did not know anything about hip-hop culture or lifestyle, because we did not know any culture except our own Southern, white, working-class, over-churched, often prejudice context; we simply thought the music was “cool” and believed the gangster lifestyle that is often portrayed in the music and videos was masculine and “hard.” I did not realize how the music would affect me. I also did not realize how much those experiences in my early adolescence would oddly shape and change the direction of my future ministry.
Ralph Basui Watkins, who has written several books on hip-hop and hip-hop culture, has produced a volume in Baker’s Engaging Culture series that is both provocative and entertaining. Hip-Hop Redemption is what I had been searching for from evangelical Christians: a true appraisal and critique of hip-hop from within hip-hop. Watkins writes as part of the “hip-hop nation” rather than as an outsider who has rarely engaged the culture or listened to the music. Thus, he is able to write accurately and provoke readers to ask questions of themselves and of hip-hop that are rarely asked by Christians. With the spreading popularity of artists like Lecrae, Flame, Shai Linne, and so many other Christian rap artists in evangelicalism, evangelical Christians must begin to think more deeply about hip-hop music and culture, moving beyond surface level critiques and outright rejections of the music and culture. The central question of this work is this: How is hip-hop redemptive? Watkins argues that there is “something inherently redeeming within hip-hop culture.” He warns that although there is an honest and critical attempt to engage hip-hop in the book, some of the artistic material discussed may be “offensive” to the readers.
Read the rest of Nate Wood’s review.
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