Islamic "Five Percenters attribute the suffering of
Black people to blindness and ignorance, conditions that are reproduced by the
chicanery and manipulations of white people and other ‘bloodsuckers of the
poor’. Insofar as Christianity is perceived by Five Percenters as the religion
of the oppressor and an ideology that compels adherents to worship a Mystery
God, it is no surprise that Christianity has often been the object of critique
in rap music" (Winters 264).
There seems to be somewhat of a "complex intersection" between the church and those in hip-hop culture (and those who navigate both discourses) as discussed by Charles L. Howard in an essay called "Deep Calls to Deep..." which was a contribution to a book called "The Black Church and Hip Hop Culture: Toward Bridging the Generational Divide."
Black church leaders and congregations have often demonized those in the Hip Hop world, accusing them of degrading their race and providing a poor image. That unintentionally represents their race in a negative fashion. Many church leaders also feel that hip hop promotes lifestyle choices that are unhealthy for impressionable young. Practices such as drug use, material gain, and the degradation of women are cited by such leaders and members of religious communities.
Black Protestants in some cases have led efforts to expose
Hip Hop as evil, and its origins as evil. It is seen as “the paramount battle
for the hearts and minds of African American Youth (Martin 57). What some of
these people critical of Hip Hop fail to take note of are the “evil” conditions
that gave way to Hip Hop culture. Socioeconomic bindings of those in the late
70's and heading into the 80's. These movements were characterized by some of
the black ghettos in which they originated from. There were many setbacks
suffered by blacks at the hands of some of Ronald Reagan's policies concerning
minority housing, welfare, etc. Such policies gave way to even more of an
"oppositional culture" (Martin 57).
They often struggle through contradiction as they confront the contradictions that many rappers are cited for. Some rappers claim to be religious while rapping about subjects and implying things that are anything but holy.
An example of this would be the Notorious B.I.G. At times, B.I.G. was considered a secular rapper, while also making claims like the following:
B.I.G. "I think that if there were more people that
were into the Lord, there would be a lot less shit going on in the world."
"I think that people need to realize that there are tests and obstacles
that everyone has to go through. A lot of niggas want to give up and do wrong,
but they don't even think that God is in their corner. What I respect about God
is that He always steers you in the right direction" (Howard 39-40).
Secular, religious disillusioned artists like Tyler, The
Creator of "Odd Future" fame, is known for his many outwardly
criticisms of religion and God, openly mocking the concept of religion and
those who are religious. He is a very visible example of someone in hip hop who
exemplifies many of the characteristics that many black church leaders are
critical of.
In his song "Nightmare" he raps: "Fuck Heaven, I ain't showin' no religion no respect."
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