On Religion: Hip-Hop Has Become A Common Language For Believers
(ANALYSIS) In the first centuries of Christian life, bishops wrestled with the Greek in this puzzle — whether God the Father and Jesus were "homoiousios" (of similar substance) or “homoousios” (of one substance), with “one substance” winning the day.
This “hypostatic union” is a complex, mysterious subject, but hip-hop artist Shai Linne has demonstrated that modern believers can dance to it.
“Two natures united in one glorious person / Jesus, the God-Man, official Soul Reaper / The hypostatic union, it gets no deeper," rapped Linne on his “Lyrical Theology" album. "I know it's deep but when you peep / you'll find it's dense / Jesus both God and man, two hundred percents / Fully divine, fully human / Introducing: the hypostatic union.”
Nayanna Holley and Steve Zank even found a way, with rap commentary, to use the whole Apostles' Creed in Flame and 1517 Music's song “Apostles’ Creed.” Both of these tracks made it onto “Good Theology, Good Beats” — a 100-song summer playlist created by the Gospel Coalition.
“The purpose of a playlist is simply to bring mixtapes into the 21st century. ... You can put lists on social media platforms, and hundreds and thousands of people can share them," said Brett McCraken, director of communications for the group and creator of the playlist. “We used to make mixtapes for our friends. Now, there's no limit. ... You can literally make an online playlist with just about any song that has ever existed.”
Playlists are, for some, an art form — with creators choosing specific songs and placing them in sequences to address specific issues, said McCracken, reached by telephone.
Playlists also build online networks. With this list, the Gospel Coalition team wanted to reach younger listeners, stressing that musicians around the world are using rap, hip-hop, Afrobeats, Gospel and other forms of music to build more ties between believers in Black, white and Latino cultures. In the no-borders world of Spotify, Instagram and TikTok, this reality is affecting music in many churches, as well as the mainstream media.
Billboard commentator Xander Zellner recently noted: “Say your prayers: Christian music is making a serious comeback. On the Billboard Hot 100, dated May 10, two Christian songs are making waves: Brandon Lake's 'Hard Fought Hallelujah' ranks at No. 44 in its 11th week on the chart (after reaching No. 40 last week) and Forrest Frank's 'Your Way's Better' jumps from No. 72 to No. 62 in its second week.”
Frank is from Fulshear, Texas, a town west of Houston. His music ranges from hip-hop to traditional hymns, often blending the two, with many songs slipping into both mainstream and contemporary Christian music formats. National Public Radio recently noted that Chartmetric numbers reveal that 16.3% of his listenership resides in Brazil, “prompting him to occasionally translate and repost content in Portuguese to engage that market.”
At the same time, noted McCracken, many secular hip-hop artists have been weaving references to faith into their music, with religious images in the same mix as blunt, even crude, language.
“Hip-hop has, in some ways, become kind of like country music," he noted. It's a common, evolving musical language in which major artists often make blunt, explicit references to the "sins and temptations in their lives, then turn around and do songs about God, Jesus and spiritual issues.”
In his song “Fal$e Teacher$,” Linne took shots at health and wealth preachers that are influencing rapidly growing churches around the world, especially in Africa.
In one verse, he attacked those who are “christianizing the American dream,” adding: “It's foul and deceitful, they're lying to people / Teaching that camels squeeze through the eye of a needle! / Ungodly and wicked, ask yourself how can they not be convicted / Treating Jesus like a lottery ticket / And you're thinking they're not the dangerous type / Because some of their statements are right / That only proves that Satan comes as an angel of light.”
With a few clicks online, listeners are now able “to hear all kinds of new voices from Africa, Latin America and around the world,” stressed McCracken. “Christian music in the 21st century is now much more diverse than it used to be. ... People from the Global South no longer have to go through gatekeepers in Nashville. They can break through on their own.”
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Terry Mattingly is Senior Fellow on Communications and Culture at Saint Constantine College in Houston. He lives in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and writes Rational Sheep, a Substack newsletter on faith and mass media.