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Get Breaking News on your cellRap stars and the gospel: A mixed message?
2:25 PM Tue, Apr 22, 2008 | Permalink |
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July 2008
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I don't like big pink elephants sitting in the middle of a hot topic. This story about rappers performing for youths and giving their testimonies on the syndicated radio show The Spirit of Hip-Hop exposes the humongous rosy pachyderm that always accompanies the topic of mainstream hip-hop and religion: How can you rap about b*tches and hoes, then turn around and tell kids that God is real in your life? It reminds me how amazed I get sometimes when listening to "K104" KKDA-FM (104.5). It has the pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church on most mornings to give a spiritual, "inspirational vitamin" about the love of God, living right and becoming a better person. Then what follows? Often a song celebrating strip clubs, drunkenness, violence or the degradation of women. No transition, no sense of irony and no acknowledgement of the very obvious hypocrisy served up. CNN International poses the same question to Sprit of Hip-Hop host Corey Condrey in this video. If you don't listen to hip-hop and aren't familiar with the mixed messages the story addresses, check out the lyrics to a couple of popular rap ditties here and here. It's wonderful what Condrey is doing. But if you're a rapper and you tell an audience of youth during an interview about living a spiritual life, you do them no favors by not discussing why you make big $$$ off of messages that encourage and celebrate the exact opposite. Let's make this particular pink elephant disappear once and for all. Tell me what you think. |
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