Well, Well, Well.

Kanye West on the Damascus Road?

Brianna McClean

Gospel Coalition--Australia

In 2010, Kanye West released an album titled ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’. This title is a neat summary of his reputation as a billionaire rapper and tabloid regular. Then, in 2013, he released ‘Yeezus’. Here is a sample of lyrics from that album: 

I am a God

I am a God

I am a God

I am a God

Hurry up with my damn massage

Hurry up with my damn ménage

Get the Porsche out the damn garage.

Plot twist: last week, Kanye publicly proclaimed Jesus as Lord. His new album ‘Jesus is King’ is dedicated to his recently found faith—and it’s already topping charts. Perhaps, our first instinct—and my first instinct, if I’m honest—is scepticism. This wouldn’t be the first time a celebrity used a conversion story for personal gain. Plus, Kanye’s music has always appropriated and referenced religion. However, before we assume the worst—shouldn’t we listen to what Kanye has to say? Here’s a track-by-track overview of ‘Jesus is King’.

Every Hour

The opening track features a Gospel choir, who declare humanity’s need of God, ‘Every hour, every minute, every second’. Kanye joins them and sings:

Sing ’til the power of the Lord comes down

(Let everything that have breath praise God)

Sing ’til the power of the Lord comes down

(Praising the Lord, praise God in the sanctuary)

Sing ’til the power of the Lord comes down

(For His mighty works and excellent grace and His mighty power, yeah),

Sounds pretty good so far, Kanye. In fact, I’ve heard less biblical music in church.

Selah

‘Selah’ is the Hebrew word found in many Psalms, which is most likely a musical notation of some kind. In this track, Kanye shares the story behind this album, his testimony.

Everybody wanted Yandi. Then Jesus Christ did the laundry.

‘Jesus is King’ was originally titled ‘Yandi’ and was set for release in September 2018—but then Kanye came to know Christ. The album was delayed and then transformed into its current form.

John 8:36. Whom the Son set free is free indeed. He saved a wretch like me.

Follow God

Here, and in plenty of other places on this album, Kanye talks about his sin. He says: ‘Tryna live your life right … screamin’ at my Dad and he told me, ‘’It ain’t Christ-like’’. In terms of lyrical depth, this track is weaker than the best this album has to offer. But, it’s not heretical—and the beats are great (if you care about that).

Closed on Sundays

The lyrics of this track, once you get over the strange reference to Chick-Fil-A, are remarkable. Chick-Fil-A is an American fast-food chain, owned by Christians, which is closed on Sundays. Kanye sings about how his family life and values have changed since following Christ.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

Dear XYZ

Posted on Monday, December 2, 2013  

By Douglas Wilson

Blog and Mablog

An open letter to black Reformed rappers, in light of the recent dust-up.

Dear XYZ,

I hope you don’t mind receiving a letter like this, coming, as it does, out of the left field bleachers. To begin with a confession of the perfectly obvious, I am not naturally part of that demographic that buys, listens to, or is otherwise conversant in, the work you do. You might say it is not my cup of T. At the same time, I do follow cultural trends widely, and sometimes deeply, and have been aware of your active presence in the Reformed world for some years now. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.

So I want to ask you to think of this letter as the work of an appreciative and affectionate and somewhat distant Dutch uncle . . . although I am not Dutch. I believe you have been called to a very important task, and I want to urge you to honor God in that work. The reason for this letter is that I believe that the importance of your labor is such that it is going to generate a great deal of trouble for you, and I believe that I do know something about handling that, whether we are talking about causes or consequences.

As I observe the work you do, I wanted you to know that there are three things that I am very thankful for, and which I would urge you to guard and protect. There are also four things to be wary of, four traps, four snares.

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow

Rap Tide

Posted on Thursday, November 28, 2013  

By Douglas Wilson

Blog and Magblog

There has been a goodish bit of Internet response to this short video. A number of men were asked for their take on Reformed hip hop artists, and their response was overwhelmingly negative.

In that negative response, there were some fair points — the cult of perpetual immaturity that cool always tends to foster, the need to make a clean break with the rebellion that birthed the genre, the truth that musical forms matter, and so on. But surrounding the decent takeaway points, there was an overall failure to make appropriate distinctions, with the end result that the body of the criticism falls flat. A better and more thoughtful interaction by Russell Moore can be found here, which you probably ought to read if you want my comments below to make any sense.

What is rap for? What are the rules of the genre, and what is being attempted? I would argue that the natural form of rap is that of prophetic denunciation — the jeremiad.