Rap and Religion?

Since I've come here to Howard I have gotten deeper into my faith, under the pretense that it will carry me and guide me on the right path while I'm away from home. Thus far, I have been doing pretty well however, now that I am exposed to a variety of faiths and religions, my way of life has been challenged, as have my actions and the music I choose to listen to. I have been taught that as long as God knows your heart and you live as upright as possible, your fine. However, I'm starting to hear that the music you listen to can go against the love and/or respect you have for the God you serve. Not only are these viewpoints floating around the halls in my dorm, but they are also on popular blog sites such as Mediatakeout.com and social networks such as Facebook. One popular subject under this huge umbrella is rap music and the graphic lyrics and images that are supposed to have latent messages that worship secret societies and speak to the evils of the world. A few artist that have been brought up on these accusations are Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna, Snoop Dogg and a slew of others. What is most interesting about Jay-Z's case are the graphics that seem to be speaking to the accusations that are floating around. Jay-Z's videos "Run this Town" and "On to the Next" display controversial images that seem to confirm what's being said about him. The "On to the Next" video supposedly has the infamous mythical Baphomet's wings and horns which means "evil" or Satan. And "Run this Town" supposedly shows a post apocalyptic world run by Masons. I have seen both videos and while I do not understand what Jay-Z is trying to prove, I know that these videos and lyrics go deeper than rap.

My stance on the situation is, I do not care who these artist choose to believe in or worship, however, they do need to be mindful of the messages they are conveying to the general public. Not everyone has a critical mind that will protect them from things like this, most of our population may take things at face value and go,and that is what I am concerned about. These loaded messages could be detrimental to the teens that buy these albums and blast this music but do not know the meaning behind the lyrics. Or the kids that imitate what they are hearing/seeing but do not know what they are representing. It is just a huge ball of confusion that needs to be addressed honestly and without ridicule. I say without ridicule because I listened to an interview with Jay-Z on Hot 97 (I seen it on Worldstarhiphop.com)and while he did shoot down the accusations of "devil worshiping," I feel like he did so in a mocking matter. His tone dripped sarcasm, and maybe it was out of annoyance, but I feel like if someone is accusing you of something of that magnitude, I would be a bit more serious. Like I said, I am not attacking these people as individuals, to each his own, however I feel like as entertainers they need to be mindful of the people that are supporting them. Personally, I would not mind music going back to "boy meets girl" days and music videos being the source of learning new dances or being up on new styles, not a test of faith depending on if you watch it and what you believe their trying to say.

To speak to my first point (about religion), I do not feel like listening to a Jay-Z record disrespects the God you serve (if you serve one at all), or that it compromises your faith, if anything I feel like the individual that produces the music (or what have you) has to answer to that. Furthermore, I feel like artist need to be a little more responsible when it comes to the way they handle these accusations, because as celebrities, it comes with the territory. I am just challenging them to think about the youth that look up to them, is their music now grounds to sarcastically combat accusations or feel good melodies to make people forget about their problems (or again, what have you)? And if it is just about selling a record and making a dollar, why be an artist anyway? Why put yourself in the position to influence the masses if all you care about is some "bread?"

My Sources:
Mediatakeout.com
Facebook--> a student essay (as a note) entitled Jay-z: against the world
Worldstarhiphop.com--> for the Jay-z interview
And convos with people on my floor...