Lost Pages

My ghetto ties got me living my life in pain See the world knows, we gonna be thugs forever You can take me out the ghetto, but you can't make it better See the status of your money done changed But the status of your danger remains the same I need to clear my head of these evil thoughts And teach Magnolia and Gateway what I was taught Take a ride with me to eternity And watch me live to see another century COREY 'C-MURDER' MILLER (' Ghetto Ties ' from the ' Life and Death ' album) These interesting lyrics are penned by an incarcerated hiphop artist* .  I find that hip hop artists express the depravity of the human condition in such profoundly honest ways. In those few words, Corey 'C-Murder' Miller not only captures that something is rotten within him, but that he cannot get salvation without such an inner transformation. Money cannot end the pain and danger he faces in this world. He is crying for help from an...

I was blaming Satan and the world for my spiritual state of health, Until I checked out flesh in the mirror and spelt “S.E.L.F” as the prime suspect and culprit. Preaching from the highest pulpit but in the prayer room I’m claustrophobic. I know its deep, I know I’m weak, You know me forever gossiping But when its time for witnessing, I’m slow to speak. When its time to pray, I go to sleep. Time to fast, I go and eat. Time to stand and praise, I’d rather hold a seat. Back row, act low, hoping nobody notice me Because it ain’t hard to see I’m not what I’m supposed to be. But I don’t want to hear no lecture

While Hip Hop is not an end to salvation, it does provide a similar reciprocity that builds people up, helps its members out and points to Jesus through creative forms within its art. Hence, Hip Hop is like Jesus to many urban post-soulists. So those of us who want urban post-soulists to know Jesus, need to know Hip Hop. What becomes problematic for some Christians is the notion that Jesus would even be in places like a club, rap concert, and/or event that was not centered around some church. Some Christians cannot see beyond the four church walls and the programs that run it. So, finding Jesus in these irregular and nontraditional places will be hard to understand. Still, even in these nontraditional spaces, community is happening. And, if we really believe that God is Alpha and Omega, omnipresent, "all-seeing," might Jesus be in that smoke-filled strip club trying to talk to the inhabitants there? Daniel White Hodge in his fascinating book T he Soul of Hip Hop'.  I  ...

I recently had an opportunity to discuss music with a group of young people at church. For some unexplained reason I chose Price Tag by Jessie J (2011). The song consists of two verses by Jessie J, a chorus and a  final "rap" by B.o.B that more or less restates Jessie J's  two verses! Jessie J's first verse: Seems like everybody’s got a price / I wonder how they sleep at night / When the sale comes first / And the truth comes second / Just stop for a minute and smile / Why is everybody so serious? / Acting so damn mysterious? / Got shades on your eyes / And your heels so high that you can’t even have a good time The verse is a statement of the main problem under examination. The singer believs that "everybody's got a price”. And though her immediate target may be the music industry, her statement relates to everyone. Everyone is up for sale. In short, we have become "commodified" and for the right price we are easily morally trafficked to th...

Who is there? That’s the powerful question asked by one of my favourite hip-hop artists Guru from his Jazzmataz - Street Soul  album in the song Who's there? . It is a question forged from a graphic description of two situations. The first verse presents a helpless young woman: These distraught thoughts of a single mother in a homeless shelter / About pain and heartache ain't nothing you can tell her / The case worker says that she should find a job / But does this worker know what kind of jobs that there are? / Degrading things like cleaning up people's vomit / For a little bit of dough and plus your brain gets nothing from it/ I'm smarter than that this girl thinks to herself / I'm worth more than that she thinks to herself / She pours a drink for herself while she stares out the window/ This guy says he got work for her maybe she should go to him yo / The money's good and plus he'll dress her up nice / She left her baby's daddy 'cause he beat...

Music has unparalleled power to forcefully express the reality of a given condition. One of my favourite Hip hop albums of all time is  Wu Tang Clan's  "Killa Bees" (1998). It has the above amazing song by Remedy - "Never Again". I believe it to be one of the most powerful hip hop songs ever written! The evil of the holocaust is an enduring reminder that the heart of man is totally depraved. It is remarkable that it was only around 60 years or so ago that so many innocent people perished under Hitler's evil regime. We forget such horrors at our own peril. Songs such as these are vital in ensuring that we are ever conscious of our evil nature. Quietly through them we recognise that the hope for humanity  necessarily lies outside ourselves and towards a God who has done all to offer a way of rescue out of our present evil predicament. On our own we are doomed to repeat the mistakes. But with Jesus as the centre we live in hope f...