The dominant narrative of Jesus as a White, perfectionized image of deity has proven to be both problematic and offensive to rappers and the Hip-Hop community. Thus, the need for a contextual, relevant, and appropriate Christ was—and still is—needed to interpret deity and spirituality for the ‘hood’. In the song Black Jesuz by Tupac and The Outlawz (Tupac & Outlawz) there is an attempt to make a god—which appeared too perfect, too nice, and too White on a social level—more accessible to the ‘hood’. A White, blonde haired, non-relatable symbol of Christ is problematic for not only Hip Hoppers, but for those of ethnic minority descent who seek a more contextual image of deity who actually represents who they are. Understanding the theological message, tone, structure, and discourse in music is what Jon Michael Spencer calls theomusicology. Spencer states that “theomusicology is a theologically informed musicological study of how music is created, shared, and encountered...it is how a particular peoples perceive the universal mysteries that circumscribe their mortal existence and how the ethics, theologies, and mythologies to which they subscribe shape their worlds and THE world.” In their article Theomusicology and Christian Education: Spirituality and The Ethics of Control in the Rap of MC Hammer, N. Lynne Westfield and Harold Dean Trulear state:
Theomusicology treats Black music in a holistic manner and secularity as a context for the sacred and profane rather than as the antithesis of the sacred ... As such, theomusicology is a tool for us to move beyond the simplistic notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ that are uncritically used to characterize Black secular music and especially rap music, and to help us develop an understanding of the meaning system under construction by African American youths.
The complexity between the nature of the sacred and profane is important to study; even more so when that which is labelled “profane” is religiously and socially constructed. When those labelled as deviant and “lost,” religion, in turn, becomes problematic. Typically in those situations, this process of labelling emerges from hegemonic structures and continues what Monica Miller refers to as “religious marketplace maintenance.” Thus, it is imperative to study and explore the nature of the sacred and profane in order to grasp what the actual context is detailing and to explore if that which is defined as “sacred” and / or “profane” is what it is defined as. Hence, Spencer’s theomusicological method is a particular helpful process to gather data from the context without defining it as deviant or part of the “profane.” Therefore, within the song Black Jesuz, an attempt to make hell on Earth— life in the ‘hood’—more understandable; to create a space for the thug, the nigga, and the pimp to find God; and a space for some sort of reconciliation to the social environment are at work. The intersection of Spencer’s trinary construct is at work: where the sacred and the profane both reveal themselves in secular contexts—in this case, Hip-Hop artists. Tupac reverses the hermeneutical flow and uses culture—in this case HipHop—to interpret God in a context, which is hostile.
The song is in three parts: 1) the Doxology—giving respect & acknowledgement, 2) the Lament—how is life and love done in this ghetto hell, and 3) the Benediction to Black Jesuz—we are searching for a Jesus for us.
Tupac opens the song with a call out to a Jesus who can relate, the Doxology: Searching for Black Jesus Oh yeah, sportin’ jewels and shit, yaknahmean? (Black Jesus; you can be Christian Baptist, Jehovah Witness)
A God whose religious affiliation does not matter:
Black Jesus; you can be Christian Baptist, Jehovah Witness) Straight tatted up, no doubt, no doubt (Islamic, won’t matter to me I’m a thug; thugs, we praise Black Jesus, all day) Young Kadafi in this bitch, set it off nigga. What?
Once again, Christina Zanfagna reminds us once again that “Hip-hop wrestles with the ways in which the hedonistic body and the seeking soul can be fed and elevated in dynamic tension. This wrestling is often expressed through a dialectic of pleasure and pain or recreation and suffering.” Here, the search is clear; a Jesus who is “blinging,” without denominational, or religious affiliation, and one who can relate to the suffering, pain, disenfranchisement, and historical oppression that they are experiencing. The “thug Jesus” is someone to be praised and a deity figure needed from the Outlawz stance.
Kadafi from the Outlawz exegetes his environment with laments to Jesus: 1) it’s a nightmare, 2) times are desperate, 3) the form of religion does not relate, and 4) questions if God can relate.
Kadafi below exclaims:
Stuck in a nightmare, hopin’ he might care Though times is hard, up against all odds, I play my cards like I’m jailin’, shots hittin’ up my spot like midnight rains hailin’ Got me bailin’ to stacks more green
The visibility of pain and suffering is evident while the assertion to “survive” and make money is also evident. Can a God who “loves” everyone conjure up a resolution within a “nightmare” situation? The ageless theological inquiry of doubt begins to manifest itself:
Gods ain’t tryin’ to be trapped on no block slangin’ no rocks like bean pies Brainstorm on the beginnin’ Wonder how shit like the Qu’ran and the Bible was written What is religion? Gods words all cursed like crack Shaitan’s way of gettin’ us back Black
~~Essay: BAPTIZED IN DIRTY WATER from See You at the Crossroads: Hip Hop Scholarship at the Intersections -ed- Brad Porfilio, Debangshu Roychoudhury, Lauren M. Gardner
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