When all else fails, go back to the root. For me, that’s my study of Hip Hop culture. Placing a critical analysis on Christian/faith-based Hip Hop is particularly interesting. I’m drawn to the intersections of pop culture, Hip Hop culture, and how Christian/faith-based Hip Hop artists use this expressive culture for representation and criticism. The well is never dry.
In recent months, inner controversies have existed in the Christian/faith-based Hip Hop culture. Reading about how various artists discuss these unsettling actions adds more questions to an already complicated issue. Understanding the varied positions leads to reviewing the works of these artists in different lights. After a while, reading the conflicting viewpoints weighed down the discourse. It was time to step aside and get back to the basics, “What is it about Christian/faith-based Hip Hop that is inspiring?” “What is the drive and importance for Christian/faith-based Hip Hop in global pop culture?” These rhetorical questions brought me to sift back through multiple audio libraries looking for a new-old sound. Where is the message I was seeking? Which artist or collective would draw me out of the critic’s slump I was slowly falling into? The moment I turned away from the sound library in near frustration, my ears heard something.
The Cross Movement – Beauty in Basics
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Framing the roots of Hip Hop culture is a position lost in contemporary hip hop, aka: hip pop. This commercialized lexicon places an emphasis on negative, alternative, and highly-questionable fashion, lyrics, and visuals. Tracks and lyrics bounce against each other disturbing a listener’s attention to the overall narrative while focusing on particular words, catch phrases, or illicit themes. Noting these commercially produced interruptions, hip pop is constructed specifically for those absent of the critical history of Hip Hop. This highly popular variety of hip hop has become what pop global culture identifies as Hip Hop. Nothing can be farther from the truth. These manufactured manipulations are the billion dollar industry cornerstone of pop culture, a “hip pop.” It’s a profound rarity when you would see someone reciting the lyrics from any of their favorite or popular for the day hip pop artist. Why? The discourse is littered with profanity, sexual content, and the glorification of fame and fortune. A perfect cocktail for pop culture audiences to be marginalized from the conversation while subconsciously being told they are not worthy of such status or riches. Who would want to lip synch such lyrics? Regardless, the more the spectacle a hip pop artist can structure themselves the better for the bottom dollar of the hip pop global economic machine. Business may not be reciting the lyrics of their next hip pop investment, but they are smiling all the way to the bank.
Christian/faith-based Hip Hop engages personal testimony, a scripture-focus, and ministry or evangelical discipline. Lyrics laced with throbbing roots oriented Hip Hop beats highlights the artist’s testimony easily discernable with a hypnotic pull to repeated listening to hear their story. Encouraging and supportive, crisp, clear, and scripture-focused. Christian/faith-based Hip Hop speaks to those inside and outside faith culture, leaving the door open to those interested to hear and read beyond the backbeat.
The Cross Movement is a collective that situates their work at the epicenter of roots Hip Hop. Strong digital drumbeats, lyrical flow, and profound narratives. Each member has their own voice and testimony to express. The collective utilizes the foundations of Hip Hop culture to build their discourse. Dressed in old school basketball attire or street clothes right off the neighborhood clothing rack, The Cross Movement is that gem to rekindle ones connection to Christian/faith-based Hip Hop.
Their never released track, “Cypha Time” hits right on the pulse of roots Hip Hop culture wrapped in a Christian/faith-based doctrine. To start, the collective states the necessity of the track, “What’s the cypha…tonight? What’s the message we conveying tonight…?” Harkening back to the original Message of Hip Hop – support of your community through artistic expression – The Cross Movement refocuses this point to an evangelic agency. The message,
[God] wants to be prime time, the center of attention, the main attraction…we want to promote..God, because most people today, they would rather due without Him, they don’t know about..God, so we’re bringing it back to how it should be.
The collective is clear and upfront about their mission and message. The cypher holds no punches and states directly what the group will do throughout their oeuvre.
Recognizing that this is the collective’s first steps on the main stage, the members take their turn contextualizing their position within the collective. Strutting through neighborhoods and fashioned for the moment, their voices maneuver through a labryrinth of pop cultural context pointing back to their individual relationship with God. The well-balanced use of non-faith and faith-based vernacular speaks to both audiences, Christian/faith-based and non-Christian/non-faith based. The simplistic musical landscape does not cloud the message. A simple tight snare and bass backbeat gives optional space for the lyrics to resonate. Arriving as a chorus to the verse structure, a synth sample ascends and descends signaling the arrival of another member or the conclusion by the present rapper.
Those outside of Christian/faith-based Hip Hop will note a time-honored technique “Cypha Time” was released in 1997. The Cross Movement repositions the internal rhyming scheme on a short two-line structure without a hook or strong chorus. The power of their work overshadows this versatile technique. Absent of a strong hook, attention is ultra-focused on the narrative and lyrical development of each member. Not including a chorus promotes the same attention that grabs the listener in a very transparent manner. Such a conscious technique is lost in contemporary hip pop. The current dominating structure of hip pop rests on a typical song form (verse, chorus, verse) with the necessity of a highly produced hook. It is the gravitational pull of the manufactured hook that is the attractive element in contemporary hip pop. But that’s it. There’s no substance beyond the constructed hook, albeit sonic or text. Reading this manufactured application notes the highly diluted structure and limited artistic craftsmanship of hip pop. The Cross Movement rides the wave of roots Hip Hop, c. 1985 – 1995, to establish a strong evangelical discourse and testimony. The inclusion of this minor structural and lyric technique propels this unreleased track forward in a genre grounded on progress and innovation, with the cultural standard to support the Christian/faith-based community and socio-economically disenfranchised communities.
The Ambassador
“Honor & Glory” featuring Tonic, with “Psalm 23”
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William Tyrone “Duce” Branch, aka The Ambassador was a founding member of The Cross Movement. Holding a Master’s Degree in Theology, The Ambassador reaches back to roots Hip Hop as the stable platform to launch his Christian/faith-based work.
“Honor and Glory” (featuring Tonic/”Psalm 23″ was released in 1999 on Christology – In Laymen’s Terms. What differentiates this work is the use of a song structure, verse-chorus-verse. Troping on the structure of a Psalm – the closing doxology of the track is a section from Psalm 23 ,”The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want” – the use of a traditional form speaks to Christian/faith-based and non-Christian/non-faith-based audiences.
The track starts with the chorus,
All praise, honor and glory be-long
To the God who’s strong with authority
He’s matchless, this rap is lyrically graphic
Cause it’s a tactic to speak truth so you can grasp it
A subtle yer gipping opening. The chorus connects all aspects of true Christian/faith-based Hip Hop, a testimony, scripture-focused, and ministry or evangelical trajectory. Four lines tie these elements together and speak across the discourse.
The ongoing verses between Tonic (John Wells) and The Ambassador throw scripture references back and forth, each framing their commitment to their Christian faith.
Tonic:
Til the Father says, “Roll back the stone bring him to the thrown,
Yea, cause where He laid his heart is his home
What a love-jones it took to breath on these dry bones
Could you imagine what’s gonna happen in His splendor?
The never ender, when we return to Sender
Surrender be the prerequisite, no visit, familia! And that’s iz-it
Iz all you need is to accept the Savior,
The Christ, Emmanuel, Messiah, the Flavor
How much Glory Flossin’ can you get
The Ambassador:
With everlasting passion brothers are askin’,
How’re you gettin’ to heaven, and we ask without bashin’
There’s a price, but you can’t use credit or cash man
Sin is ice, and your “works” shoes ain’t got no traction
God’s not a white or black man, Asian or Latin
He’s the invisible captain, check the Word, save the yappin’
Their sins are crimson and only Christ can cleanse them
This can only be the Spirit aka the Paraclete
Who you only meet in Christ aka the narrow street
Someone I desperately want to meet
Cause I’m a feen for the Rock and I don’t mean Sean Connery
Christ emerged out of the mist knowing that all men
Were born just like Oliver Twist-a bunch of orphans
And the cross can pay the wage to save the lost man
Awesome, now you can stop fearing the coffin
If this rocks ya let nothing stopy ya the Poppa’s got ya
Drop to your knees and then ask Him to adopt ya
He’ll take you out the muck and mire,
tell you that you’re going higher
Each verse takes a different approach aligning scripture references with a pop culture structure. The rhyming scheme following a duplet form helps keep the motion of the text going. The musical accompaniment leans heavily on a bass drum with short violin segments laced throughout. The use of the DJ scratch at different points articulate the phrases and scripture points. The open style of the work is something that has fallen away in recent hip pop works. This is a troupe of classic conscious Hip Hop style. The Ambassador and Tonic explore this style which provides the necessary levity to the text, foundation to the points being emphasized, and repeated segments that rotate around the verse-chorus structure allowing the work to functions in a unified micro and macro level.
Roots To Represent
The Cross Movement and The Ambassador/Tonic examples show how deep Christian/faith-based Hip Hop can go to utilize the core structures of Hip Hop without compromising theological principals. These works have the ability to speak across the divide between Christian/faith-based and non-Christian/non-faith-based audiences. Both audiences can find equal footing in supporting these works. Framing the works created by these two collectives, an area of dialogue in a socio-religious context is possible Starting the conversation on a familiar turf, Hip Hop, those inside and outside a socio-religious culture are given a voice to speak their differences and share in examination of their opinions/biases without degrading opposing perspectives. Hip Hop becomes the bridge for these communities which have for too long been seen on firm opposing territories. Once these preliminary conversations start, while holding onto the central elements of roots Hip Hop, both Christian/faith-based and non-Christian/faith-based audiences will see there is more commonality in their cultural perspectives than may first be realized. It is this juncture where paradigm shifts have the most potential to strengthen a humane and equitable human spirit. Such positive realizations are bigger than Hip Hop. But when the conversations start here, the inclusive faith in the spirit of Hip Hop can operate to establish new testimonies, equitable scripture-centered conversations, and creative ministry or evangelic expressions.
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