Rafik's 4th Annual Top 10 Albums of the Year

This was truly an amazing year for hip-hop. Old-school artists coming back and making slapping records, new up in coming artists finding their groove, and artists in their prime coming out with more gold. But more importantly than the quality of the production and flows was the content. America is a mess right now. So is the world. But the many things that Trump's America has unveiled has been quite disturbing. More than maybe every, hip-hop and what it was created for is ever so needed. An art form that takes a look at reality, and speaks of the troubles of society with regards to race, religion, and the marginalized is so important right now. And some of my favorite artists stepped up to the plate and wasted no time to address these issues. They did it boldly, with craft and heart, and most importantly, they did it for the people.

I'm doing things a little bit differently this year. I'll drop the top 10, but I'm only gonna have a bit of commentary on the top 5. I've felt in the past that I was forcing my self to say things about all the albums, and this way you can just focus on the 5 that I think are the best this year has to offer. This year was packed with so many amazing albums, instead of spending months on figuring it out, I chopped out a lot that I didn't want to, so I'm going to have a pretty extensive honorable mention list. These are just eh albums.. these are incredible albums that I think are really worth listening to. As always, I'll follow this up with a 10 song playlist with my favorite tracks from each of these albums, and then maybe next week a bigger playlist with all of my favorite tracks from 2017. Let's get at it!

10. All Amerikkkan Badass - Joey Badass

9. The Autobiography - Vic Mensa

8. Radio Silence - Talib Kweli

7. 12 - A$AP Twelvyy

6. Crooked - Propoganda

5. All The Beauty In This Whole Life - Brother Ali

Brother Ali is regarded as a Hip-hop legend by most and it has been 5 years since his last album release. It would be redundant and unnecessary to comment on Brother Ali’s engagement with social issues, spirituality, and faith, because as how I understand it, those are the essential elements of hip-hop. Brother Ali understands that his faith as a Muslim isn’t a part of his life, but is every part of his life, in that way you can see his faith and love for God in each of his songs. To me, this was an extremely worshipful album, each song focusing my attention on the eternal creator, and what surrendering to Him means. This is the kind of album that is worthy of a much longer post but there is really just one word that I can use to encapsulate what this album is: Beauty.

4. Your Eyez Only - J Cole 

J cole is the kind of rapper that while listening to his music, makes you feel like you're sitting in a room with him. I really don’t know any other rapper currently or before that is able to personalize his music as well as he does. 4 your eyez only takes that to another level. Mass incarceration is among many of the issues that J cole has committed to tackle in his life, but it is one that is too real and close to home for him. The album doesn’t sugar coat the issues that young black men go through in America today, and it doesn’t look to provide a false sense of hope. Whenever I pop this album, I feel like I’m chilling at 2014 Forest Hills Drive, discussing the problems of today with Jermaine.

3. DAMN - Kendrick Lamar

Let’s just get it on paper, HUMBLE. Is the hardest, filthiest rager to ever be made. You can GTFO of here if you think otherwise. If this track were the only song on the album it still would have been on the list. Aside from that, DAMN fits into Kendrick Lamar’s catalog as another innovative, profound, creative work of art. Unlike TPAB, I don’t think DAMN is as focused and sharp. Kendrick’s soul is always imprinted on his projects, which is why he is my favorite rapper. His spirit is constantly changing, evolving, and responding to the world around it. The line repeated throughout the album emphasizes this season in K-dot’s life: Ain’t nobody praying for me. To be honest with y’all though, this is definitely my least favorite Kendrick Lamar Album. That doesn’t mean I hate it or think it’s bad, and I can’t really pinpoint it, but either way, when you’re the rap God, even my least favorite work of his will be number 3 in a year with amazing hip-hop.

2. Laila's Wisdom - Rapsody

It was extremely hard not give this album the number 1 spot. Depending on the day, it probably would be #1. To me, Laila’s Wisdom is flawless. It’s one of those albums where there isn't a single song that feels like it's there just to be there. I never feel my finger going towards the skip button, instead after each track finishes, I look forward to the next time I start the album over so I can hear each track again. Hip-hop has always needed more women in it. The wisdom, beauty and leadership that we miss out when rappers only refer to them as “bitches” makes hip-hop an incomplete art that gives us a lacking picture of the human experience. 

1. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time - Big K.R.I.T

The southern rapper really does it all in this album. It’s got bangers, 808’s, and that classic southernplaylisticadillacmuzik. If this album were to come out in a different time in my life, I’m not sure if it would hold the #1 spot. Surely it would be on the list, but what this album represents connects with me in such a deep and profound way that I haven’t experienced in many years. I was in my room working on something while giving this album it’s first listen through and the first track off the bat made me stop what I was doing and give the whole album listen through with my complete attention. It really struck a chord with me with where I’m at in life. There’s just so much darkness and terrible things happening. And as a critical pessimist, it’s hard for me to pretend like it’s all gonna be ok. My faith journey has led me to a place where I can be comfortably uncomfortable in the tension of living in this "in between." There’s complete darkness and there’s light. The light is 4ever, but we aren’t there yet, and actually we got a mighty long time till we get there. That’s what this album deals with, it’s that in between before God returns and all is restored. It’s realizing that we live in brokenness and have to deal with the darkness daily. Recently I’ve noticed just how much the American Evangelical church pretends like we are living in the day that we hope for, that we can just ignore the darkness because there’s hope. But for so many around the world, and in America right now, ignoring it isn’t an option. Big Krit gives us a way into the darkness. He poetically shows us what life is like in between, not being defeated by the darkness, but also not underestimating it.

Keep the lights on, front door locked

Cause the villains in the wilderness, lotta George Zimmermans

Damned with some innocence

So that mean he still out on the prowl for a black child

While the judge and jury crack smile, Lord

Keep the lights burning

Krit opens the album with album with these words, words that I have repeated over and over for the past weeks. It has become the theme song for this past year for me.

Yeah, my creator gave me the gift to create
And this mind of mine apply to our escape
In an atmosphere that wouldn't hold our weight
If I leave from here, I'll call when I'm safe
Knocking on the door, hoping someone answers
Yeah, I call that faithThis mouth of mine has turned down water for wine
I still recall that taste of bittersweet
Like when I realize you'll never be as perfect as the one that invented me
And the world full of temptations can make you feel so incomplete
Grow up to better than me, go farther than I can go
See farther than I can see
When my days draw to a close, breathe longer than I can breathe
And I'm fine with that
In the event that I decide to move forward what you've done
They can rewind it back
And I'm a proud parent now as I was a proud parent then
I saw you grow up to become the kind of king that I knew you'd always been
Indeed, there's a finish line for me, but for you, there's no end
So, perhaps, all that work that's been done was a win
And although my intentions were for good, it still brung us to a sin
But I'll pay for your mistakes as long as this world continues to spin
As this vessel of mine breaks down, I know you have never been
I'm sure as Multi is your home, hard times will come again
I set aside a book of rhymes that'll pave the way for now and then
I know "4eva is a Mighty Long Time", so where should we begin?

Peace brothers and sisters.

Honorable mentions (in no particular order):

Process - Sampha

blkswn - Smino

Syre - Jaden Smith

Triumph - Ronald Bruner

Everybody - Logic

Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples

Drunk - Thundercat 

Flower Boy - Tyler the Creator

Ctrl - SZA 

Paul Tillich and Kendrick Lamar: The Lost Dimension of Religion and DAMN

During my first year at the University of California Davis, where I was completing my bachelors in Neurobiology, I decided to take up a minor in Religious Studies. I had no idea that my university had a remarkable Religious Studies program. I found that out quickly as the professors in this department were brilliant in maneuvering through religion. I had no particular interest in spending much time studying Christianity in an academic sense, I had done a lot of that on my own, and my mentors were great at keeping me theologically sharp. Instead I decided to focus on studying and learning more about Islam, and the academic study of religion in general.

During my second year, in my second to last quarter of my college career I took a class that was one of the required classes for my Religious Studies minor, it was called RST 100, Issues and Methods. I had no idea what the class would entail, and certainly I did not think that it would be the class to leave me in a state of complete disparity and doubt with regards to my faith, and then bring me to a place in my faith that I have since then never left, and couldn't be more thankful for.

The class was essentially a study of the study of religion. Looking through history at how people have understood religion, it's purpose and function, and how to exactly define it. It was a brilliantly constructed class as the professor led us through a maze to try and define religion (which in the end we did to no avail). It was in this class that I read my first Nietzsche, finally read some of Freud's bizarre, yet intriguing work, and lastly, it was in this class that I began to hear and ask questions that I could not answer, questions that left me in a state of anxiety, fear, and confusion. The professor of this class was by no means out to get me or any "religious" person in the class, but I remember very early on going to his office hours and him being able to read me like a book. He could tell I was a Christian, and he respected that, but he told me something along the lines of, I want you to really experience this class, not as a Christian, but as Rafik. I took him up on that.

The combination of several external factors and observations during this time, and the inability for me to adequately answer, explain, or understand certain questions that the course required me to ask left my faith and religious beliefs inadequate. My beliefs, which create the foundation of how I understand the external world around me and how I fit into it, could not handle the weight of the questions. I was at a crossroad, I had a choice, either I could quietly ignore those questions, say to myself: God is sovereign and quote some bible passage that talks about Gods plan for everything, or I could let the weight of it all crush my foundation and leave me in doubt and anxiety, left with the task of somehow trying to rebuild that foundation, if at all possible. I choose the latter.

Many people refer to this as an "existential crisis." As I began to share with some people what I was experiencing, many would say things like: ah yes every Christian goes through that phase! But what I quickly began to realize was that this wasn't a "phase." At the time this was all going on, I was also taking a systems neuroscience class which focused on the patterns and behaviors of the electrical circuitry of neurons, often I was learning about "phases." A fundamental principle with phases is that they are completed when they end where they started. I did not feel like what I was experiencing was something that I would come out of the same as before, no this was different, I had choosen to enter something that would forever change me.

I was in panic mode. I began questioning everything I believed. The sermons I would hear on Sunday or in my college fellowship all began sounding outside of my reality. They continuously avoided the kinds of questions I was asking, why? Was I just crazy? I felt alone, and didn't feel like anyone understood what I was trying to convey. I found a friend in the most unlikely of places, in a dead German theologian and philosopher by the name of Paul Tillich. God always has a way of using the most unlikely of people in our lives, in this case He used the professor of the class that rocked my world. I don't know why I approached him during this time, but I did. During one of his office hours I went into his office and began sharing with him what I was going through (remember this is a public university, not a christian college). He listened very well, and before he was about to say what he thought, he stopped himself and asked me, "have you ever heard of Paul Tillich?" Never heard of the guy. He went on his computer and sent me an article by Paul Tillich called: The Lost Dimension of Religion. I went home that night and read it. It felt like this Tillich guy was inside my head hearing all of the things I was asking, and wrote me a personal letter.

The article was written in June of 1958, in the heart of the Billy Graham Crusades (a famous christian evangelist that is credited with sharing the Gospel at large venues and having many give their life to God). Tillich describes what was occurring during these crusades, and really as a whole in American society with regards to religion as, the loss of the dimension of depth. This was a metaphor that he used to describe mans loss of the ability to ask the "religious question" which to Tillich were such questions as: "What is the meaning of life? Where do we come from, where do we go to? What shall we do, what should we become in this short stretch between birth and death?" He thinks that many during this time have lost the ability and desire to ask these questions, and have therefore lost the dimension of depth, and instead live a life only in the "horizontal plane." In the article he gives examples within the Christian understanding of life, of what happens when this dimension is lost. The creation story in the horizontal plane "becomes a story of events in a removed past for which there is no evidence, but which contradict every piece of scientific evidence," if the Fall of Man "which points to the tragic estrangement of man and his world from their true being" loses it's dimension of depth it becomes "a story of a human couple a few thousand years ago in what is now present day Iraq."

This, this spoke to the core of my anxiety. The point I had reached in that class wasn't the end of something, but was actually the beginning of something, it was the birth of the dimension of depth for my faith, that dimension though, the deeper you went, provided less answers, and more questions, brought more anxiety and doubt, than relief and affirmation. The dimension of depth, which is the religious question, leaves the subject in a permanent state of discovery. But it is not without hope. Tillich describes three different types of anxieties that present themselves to those willing to acknowledge them: fate and death (ontological), the loss of meaning and emptiness, and that of guilt and condemnation. For Tillich, one does not simply overcome these three anxieties, instead he accepts them using doubt and despair. The subject does this by having courage, which "...does not remove this anxiety but embraces it by acknowledging it (The Courage to Be, Tillich)."

Embraces it by acknowledging it.. and here is where Paul Tillich and Kendrick Lamar meet. Embracing the anxieties of life (those that Tillich describes) is something that Kendrick Lamar has continued to do since Section.80, as he described the ontological despair of the lives of Keisha and Tammy, he embraced the anxiety of the loss of meaning and emptiness as he wrestles with that the point of his adolescent life was in the midst of a MAAD city, and finally, he embraces the anxiety of guilt and condemnation as he self examines his life as an artist, the ways in which he has been institutionaLIES, and wrestles with his own, and others morality. DAMN is no different, again he embraces the anxieties of life, choosing to not avoid them, but to press into them.

But boy oh boy did we, the listeners, really miss the mark on this album...

In an interview shortly before the release of DAMN K-dot explains that his next album, DAMN, will be about GOD, he said that TPAB was addressing the problem, this next one is the solution. After DAMN came out, the internet was flooded with theories about the soon release of a second album, NATION (DAMNATION). It was a fairly entertaining theory to entertain, I even bought into a little, but I caught myself. I had about 20 different people (I know, I'm a bid deal) send me texts and messages asking me what I thought about the album and what I thought it all meant, for the most part I choose to not respond. I began to see blog after blog and post after post dissecting the living hell out of the album, something that Kendrick Lamar fans love doing. May I remind you though, this is Kendrick Lamar, not Christopher freaking Nolan, but I digress. These articles and theories missed the mark because they were all looking for something.. clear resolution. Maybe you felt like me at the end of that album, unresolved. It felt like a song ending in a minor note, without a sound resolution. If this album was as Kendrick described, about God and the solution, where was the solution? Where was the peace? Here we find ourselves asking the kinds of questions that one who is only in the horizontal plane would ask. For Kendrick, the concept of God doesn't introduce just peace and resolution, but it introduces the realization of who we really are as humans, a fallen race (I'm not going to get into the whole black Israelite thing, referring to the human race here). The album is an honest introspection at how one views themselves in light of an all powerful and all loving God. A fundamental principle of the gospel, or good news, of the Christian faith is not that we become sinless, but that we become aware of our sin, and the need for a savior that will accept and forgive us, INSPITE of that. 

Shortly after his album was released, he choose to respond to an article that was written by DJ booth, and in the response he says: "I feel it's my calling to share the joy of God, but with exclamation, more so, the FEAR OF GOD. The balance. Knowing the power in what he can build, and also what he can destroy. At any given moment." 

In the article, Kendrick explains his experience with church, "As a child, I always felt this Sermon had an emptiness about it. Kinda one sided, in what I felt in my heart." I believe the emptiness that Kendrick experienced as a child was the emptiness, or loss of the dimension of depth. Kendrick goes into more detail of what he believes is a theology of how God corrects us. I don't know how much of it I necessarily agree with, but nonetheless, I believe DAMN reaffirms Kendrick Lamar as an artist who has the courage to be, the courage to remain in the anxieties of life, and choose hope in the midst of it. I don't want to dissect this album and breakdown each line in how I think it relates to what Kendrick is trying to convey, we do that all too much, but in the end the album is about hope. Where's this hope in the album? Listen to the first or last track a few times, and you may pick it up. Kendrick is a man that yearns for the dimension of depth, and he does it so courageously. This isn't unique to Kendrick, true hip-hop artists have been doing this since the genesis, it is as I believe, one of the fundamental traits of being hip-hop. In recent times we have been deprived of that, artists like J-Cole and Kendrick are reminding us why consciousness is so important. 

Tillich ends the article with where I began to find myself in my last year of college, and where I feel like I still am today. With regards to the questions that Tillich raised as the "religious" question he says:

"Is there an answer? There is always an answer, but the answer may not be available to us. We may be too deeply steeped in the predicament out of which the question arises to be able to answer it. To acknowledge this is certainly a better way to toward a real answer than to bar the way to it by deceptive answers. And it may be that in this attitude the real answer (within available limits) is given. The real answer to the question of how to regain the dimension of depth is not given by increased church membership or church attendance, nor by conversion or healing experiences. But it is given by the awareness that we have lost the decisive dimension of life, the dimension of depth, and that there is no easy way of getting it back. Such awareness is in itself a state of being grasped by that which is symbolized in the term, dimension of depth." 

May we never stop asking the "religious question", and may we do it boldly, in-spite of despair and doubt.

black. A Black History Month Project by Will Hawkins

Hello friends! As Black History month is winding down, I would like to share with you a beautiful project done by one of my good friends that I have gotten to know this past year, Will Hawkins. Will and I connected instantly after we first met, due to the fact that I was wearing a Tribe Called Quest shirt. We clicked right away because of our shared love for Tribe, and many other artists. But our connection doesn't stop simply at the beats and rhythms, but it continues with our lives (Let's see if you can catch that reference). Will and I share a passion for racial justice and reconciliation in our country, and we both believe that Hip-hop has, is, and will continue to be a formidable force in bringing that about. 

Will doesn't just talk the talk of hip-hop like I do, he can walk the walk, by producing his own music. He decided to do a special project on celebrating his own identity as a black man, and how that extends to the larger community. In more ways than one, Will is able to expound upon what hip-hop really is, through his words, and his music. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have. Cheers!

_________________________________________________________________________________

"black. (pt. 1)"

This month I really wanted to be engaged with black history month, so I decided to do a small beat series celebrating the lives of prominent African American figures. "The Black Series" is about hip hop, African American History, and hope. Each Monday of this month I will release a new instrumental highlighting those 3 things. Enjoy the first installment; "black (pt. 1)" featuring Martin Luther King's last sermon "I've Been to the Mountaintop." This message was given on April 3rd, 1968; the day before King was assassinated. I challenge you to go read about it. 
https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-1

Hi! My name is William (Will) Hawkins, I’m from Fontana, California; and I love hip hop music. There’s a lot that I can say about what hip hop means to me. Even before I fully understood what it meant, I was always captivated by it. It’s really hard to put into words. I loved the hard drums, I loved the aggression, and I loved the sense of freedom I felt whenever I listened to it.  

I remember the exact moment when I truly fell in love with hip hop. I was in the 5th grade, and it was a school night. I believe my dad had to go to the store or something and he asked me to tag along. Common’s 5th album “Be” had been released recently and we both wanted to listen to it. So my Dad put it on. And that was the moment that I fell in love with hip hop. The first song, “Be (Intro)”, was unlike anything I had heard before within the hip hop genre. Mind you, I was 12 years old and the “hip hop genre” to me was basically Lil Wayne (nobody was touchin’ Wayne back then). But I remember listening to just the production alone in the first minute of the song; how each instrument was layered on top of the next so beautifully. It was crazy. I remember when the drums came in with the Albert Jones sample, it truly was the rawest feeling of joy I had ever felt in my 11 or so years of life. We didn’t get past the first track. I asked my dad to play “Be (Intro)” again and again and again. So we basically spent the night driving around the neighborhood listening to that song. I’ll never forget that moment. That’s when I knew that hip hop would be an integral part of my life forever.

"black. (pt. 2)"

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928. She was a poet, author, civil rights activist, and so much more during her time on this earth. "Still I Rise" is one of her most well known pieces of literature. Written in 1978, this poem was informally addressed to both the white oppressor and the new slave to highlight the simple fact that even in the face of utter disparity and suffering the black community will still "rise." African Americans have always had a unique ability to unify, and that's mainly because our life experiences for so long have been dictated by the color of our skin. But we're still rising. Together. Thank you Maya. Go read some of her poems. Enjoy the second installment of the "Black Series."
https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-2

Fast-forward to 2012, I bought a MacBook and started learning how to make beats on GarageBand. And ever since then producing has been my favorite thing to do. There’s so much freedom in creating something new. It’s exhilarating. It’s fulfilling. It’s freeing. And even though I still have a ton to learn and I’m nowhere near where I want to be, I’m going to keep sharing my music with people because my music is a part of who I am. I feel the most comfortable in my skin when I’m making music. I think most musicians can relate to this. When you create something that comes from your heart, something true to who you are; there should be no shame in sharing it. That’s art.  And that brings me to “The Black Series.”

Honestly, “The Black Series” was a project I felt that I needed to do for myself. I feel like every year Black History Month comes and goes and I never really engage with it. I never really pause and think about how dope it is to be black and how powerful black history is. This project was my decision to engage with it. Being black is hard, man.  I grew up in a predominately white neighborhood. I was always the only black kid. That was really tough. For a long time, I hated being black. I struggled with depression. I thought I was ugly. I didn’t like myself. It wasn’t until the end of high school/college that I started seriously learning about my heritage. I dove deep into black history, and I realized that being black is one the dopest things about me. There is SO much beauty in black history that needs to be celebrated, but there is also an immense amount of pain that needs to be recognized. That’s really what I wanted “The Black Series”  to be about; celebrating the beauty and recognizing the pain within black history.  

Of course, hip hop music is at the center of  “The Black Series.” And that’s intentional. When the hip hop movement started it was a major avenue through which the beauty and pain of the black community was expressed. It was a source of commonality between black people. Hip hop is a really important aspect of black history. It became an outlet to protest, an outlet to unite, and an outlet grieve. It gave black people a voice. Artists like 2pac, Public Enemy, and NWA are examples of how hip hop became the political cry of the black community. Today we have Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, and many others who are doing the same thing. This is what hip hop has always sought to do, and it’s awesome.

"black. (pt. 3)"

"By the 1890s, lynching fever gripped the South, spreading like cholera, as white communities made blacks their primary target, and torture their focus. Burning the black victim slowly for hours was the chief method of torture. Lynching became a white media spectacle, in which prominent newspapers, like the Atlanta Constitution, announced to the public the date, and time of the expected hanging and burning of black victims. Often as many as ten to twenty thousand men, women, and children attended the event."

"takes a whole lot of empathetic effort to step into those of black people and see the world through the eyes of African Americans" -James Cone
https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-3

In my own life I have experienced the beauty and pain that comes with my blackness.  It wasn’t until I got older that I realized that literally every other black person lives in that tension.  It’s what brings us together.  It’s what makes us strong.  Martin Luther King Jr., during his last speech, said “I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”  Moses never made it to the promised land.  But he died journeying towards Canaan with his people.  So did Martin.  And so did many others throughout the course of black history.  We’re still journeying towards the “promised land” of love, justice, and equality as a black community; but because of black history, we are much closer than we’ve ever been.  Happy Black History Month. I hope you enjoy “The Black Series.”

"black. (pt. 4)"

Happy Black History Month. Black is beautiful. Black is dope. I hope you learned something about black history this month. Enjoy the last installment of "the Black Series"

https://soundcloud.com/will-hawkins-28/black-pt-4

Biblical Characters as told through hip-hop

The Christian bible in it's most basic form has two main characters. The creator, and the creation. The story in it's most basic form is the story of the creator creating a creation that messes up, not once, but continuously, again and again, until the end of time. The creator, then goes about redeeming, or reconciling his creation back to him. Why does it seem like he has yet to accomplish that? Well this isn't a theological blog so I'll let some others answer that question. But what I am interested in talking about is something that has always fascinated me about the story the bible tells and the many characters that play the "creation" role. It doesn't take us long before we realize that the creation the creator is trying to redeem is pretty damn messy, and in so many instances, appear to be so far from saving. We have our token screw-ups in the bible, Judas, the Pharisees, Pharaoh, Samson etc. But so often when I am hearing pastors preach on biblical characters, their humanness often vanishes within the comfortable fabric of the American Evangelical culture. It's not just a matter of talking about the messy stories of the biblical characters, it's a mindset that I think we are lacking. Biblical characters and Christians are no less messy than anyone else. For some reason, maybe because of shame, or some unseen pressure, we want to hide those things. So what does hip-hop have to do with any of this?

One of the reasons why I have been so drawn to hip-hop is because of it's realness. It's the most raw art form I have ever encountered. It never color coats anything (or as Kendrick once said, "I won't sugar coat it, you'll die from diabetes if these other n*ggas wrote it"). Anything includes the stories they share, the realities of street life, and especially their own personal lives and vices, and frankly, that's exactly what the scriptures do, but the Christian community often times fails to convey this. There are certain pastors that I know, heard them preach a hundreds of times, and I couldn't tell you one sin that I actually know they have committed. I could guess and assume, but there's something to take note of when that is the case. The christian culture severely lacks transparency, and realness, something that I think hip-hop can teach it a lot about.

All to say, this has led me to working on this small little project where I took some of the biblical characters, and found hip-hop songs that I feel in one way or another describe them or their situation. As you will see, some of the songs are actually meant to refer to these biblical characters, while others show stark resemblance. Some of them will require an imagination or for you to maybe rethink the way you've viewed a character.

A quick disclaimer before we get started. Something that I really don't intend for this is that I just paint the white picture black. What I mean is that my intention is not to take what I think is a pretty "white" way of understanding characters, and just make it black. Instead I want to add some shades, some color, and definition. Humans are extremely complex creatures, I don't believe any one person is all good or all bad. The other thing I certainly don't intend is to use a bunch of black guys and girls to show the flaws in humans. This is something that unfortunately too many people misunderstand about hip-hop, and it is directly a consequence of it being such a truthful and raw art form.

Let's get started. I will post a link to the Spotify playlist here, you can also look up each song individually on youtube. There are several different ways you can engage this activity. The first way will be to just look at the list of songs, or play the playlist without knowing which song corresponds to which biblical character. The list of songs is chronological in terms of characters revealed in the bible. This will be more challenging, but maybe extra fun for those who want to try and figure out who I'm trying to get you to think about. The second way will be to look at the list of songs which will have all of the corresponding characters, this way while you are listening to the song you will have some things to look for, then after you can read my commentary. The last way to engage this activity is by listening to the songs after you have read my brief commentary on each song. Especially for those of you who are less familiar with the Biblical stories, this will help frame each song for you. Which ever way you choose to engage this, I hope you find it interesting and different than any way you've ever listened to music.

As always, most of these songs have explicit lyrics. I hope this doesn't deter you from engaging this, if anything I hope you push past that for that very reason.


https://open.spotify.com/user/124603695/playlist/7LH8hds63Gq1nBpu4jVlKt


Method 1 (Click song for link to youtube if you don't have spotify, unfortunately not all songs available)
1. For Sale? - Interlude - Kendrick Lamar
2. Backseat Freestlye - Kendrick Lamar
3. Born Sinner - J. Cole
4.Big Poppa - The Notorious B.I.G.
5. To Zion - Ms. Lauryn Hill
6. His Pain - BJ the Chicago kid, Feat. Kendrick Lamar
7. u - Kendrick Lamar
8. #LongLiveSteelo - Joey Bada$$
9. King Kunta - Kendrick Lamar
10. Ultralight Beam - Kanye West

Method 2
1. For Sale? - Interlude - Kendrick Lamar - Lucifer/Satan
2. Backseat Freestlye - Kendrick Lamar - King Saul
3. Born Sinner - J. Cole
4. Big Poppa - The Notorious B.I.G. - King Solomon
5. To Zion - Ms. Lauryn Hill - Mary (Jesus' mother)
6. His Pain - BJ the Chicago kid, Feat. Kendrick Lamar - Peter
7. u - Kendrick Lamar - Judas Iscariot
8. #LongLiveSteelo - Joey Bada$$ - John the apostle
9. King Kunta - Kendrick Lamar - Saul of Tarsus
10. Ultralight Beam - Kanye West - Paul

Method 3
1. For Sale? - Interlude - Kendrick Lamar - Lucifer/Satan
This is one of those freebies. For Sale? A track on Kendrick Lamar's to Pimp a Butterfly refers to "Lucy" who is mentioned several times in this album. Lucy is indeed Lucifer. In the beginning of the track you hear a voice saying: "Remember he knows the bible too." The line is most likely in reference to a story in the book of Matthew where the Devil repeatedly tempts Jesus, and he even uses scripture to try and convince him to do certain things. You might be confused as to why this is the first song.. but I very intentionally made this the first song. For one, Lucy is present in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, the first book of the bible. Secondly, it is very important that Lucy is introduced first, because it lays the foundation of the rest of the story and the "fall" of man. The song does such an amazing job at describing what the devil does best, he deceives. In Revelation 12:9 he is referred to as the deceiver of the whole world. In the context of TPAB, we find Lucy doing what he does, convincing others of half truths so that they might turn away from God.

2. Backseat Freestlye - Kendrick Lamar - King Saul
Saul was the first king of the Israelites after the time of the "judges". He was in many ways a pretty ruthless king, known by his violence, proudness and jealousy. Again, we don't want to repaint the picture black. He wasn't a monster.. but he surely wasn't a saint (no pun intended for the duration of this blog). Backseat Freestyle is a track on Kenrick Lamar's Good Kid MAAD city. The track describes an early adolescent Kendrick Lamar who gets into his friends car who tells him he's get some beats and tells Kendrick to freestyle. The song exemplifies an arrogant king that thinks he'll stay at the top forever. Saul begins to develops a strong jealousy for David, and several times threw a spear at him, most likely with the intent of killing him (respect my mind or die from lead shower). Samuel was a married man, and as far as we know he only had one wife, but in 2 Samuel 3 we are told that, "Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah." A concubine was functionally a mistress, or sex slave, fitting the description of the song's proud chant, "wifey girlfriend and mistress." Saul's jealousy ends up being his demise as he reportedly commits suicide on his own spear.

3. Born Sinner - J. Cole - King David
One of the most famed and beloved characters of the bible, King David was Saul's successor. One of Christian's favorite verses in the bible is Acts 13:22 when King David is referenced as "a man after Gods own heart". It's one of my favorites too, just maybe not for the same reasons. In many ways David was diametrically different than King Saul, but as I stated before, this doesn't mean he didn't have his vices. One of the worst stories mentioned in the bible about David, is with Bathsheeba. The story goes, that he sees this beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop, his servants told him who she was and that was married. Nonetheless, David saw her beauty and had her come to him, and it says he slept with her. We have no reason to believe Bathsheeba was an unfaithful wife, but in that time, if the King asks to see you, or asks to sleep with you, you don't question it. I guess I'm making an assumption here, but I would say it's safe to say that King David raped Bathsheeba. After that, when he finds out she is pregnant, he sends for her husband Uriah, and he tries to trick him into sleeping with his wife so that David could cover up his tracks, but Uriah being the righteous soldier he was couldn't sleep with his wife knowing his soldiers were still at war. So instead David sends Uriah to the front of the line, and tells the commander to withdraw the troops, so that he would die in battle. And yet he was a man after God's own heart? I think J cole puts this verse in in a much better context. You see, being "after" gods heart doesn't mean you're perfect, but it means you realize your fault and desire to change. In track J cole says, "Born sinner was never born to be perfect, sucker for women lucking they lips and sucking these purses." In 2 Samuel 11:1 David says to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord,' And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

4. Big Poppa - The Notorious B.I.G. - King Solomon
The next king of Israel is none other than Big Daddy Solomon. Solomon is known to have had about 700 wives and 300 concubines. Christians are always quick to say: He would marry women in other kingdoms as a political move to create good relations with neighboring kingdoms. Or he was a horny perv who had 1000 sex slaves. I'm sorry, if that comes off to harsh, but I think it's important to not sugar coat these stories again. The man had an issue, and it was sexually abusing females, I really don't see any way around that. He really put Biggy to shame, well maybe that's not something to actually be ashamed of.. but regardless, this track showcases Biggies love for the honey's.. well also not sure if love is the best word to use here. Biggy wasn't nearly as bad as King Solomon, but one could maybe assume that if he had his power, we would here him saying: I love it when you call me big poppa, in hebrew.

5. To Zion - Ms. Lauryn Hill - Mary (Jesus' mother)
This is freebie #2.. The giveways comes in the first few lines as Ms. Hill is clearly drawing from the story of Mary, Jesus' mother. This was a track written to and about Ms. Hill's first son, Zion. I don't want to write too much on this one, because it's pretty clear the connection between Ms. Hill and Mary (no I don't think Ms. Hill gave birth to the second messiah calm down). But one of my favorite lines from this song and one that I feel gives us a great sense of what Mary was going through is: "Unsure of what the balance held, I touched my belly overwhelmed, by what I had been chosen to perform, But then an angel came one day, Told me to kneel down and pray, for unto me a man-child would be born". Such a beautiful capsulation of what Mary was most likely going through. It probably didn't take long till Mary was saying: Now the joy of my world, is in Jesus.

6. His Pain - BJ the Chicago kid, Feat. Kendrick Lamar - Peter
Peter, one of the 12 disciples, part of Jesus close group of friends, and the ones that would spread the good news after his time was done. Peter is the disciple who walks on water, but then doubts Jesus and falls. Soon before Jesus was nailed to the cross, He told Peter that he would deny him three times. Peter said to Jesus that he would NEVER disown him. When Jesus was taken in, it happened, three times, people said that Peter was with Jesus and he denied it three times, the last time he said: "I don't know the man!" I can imagine the guilt that Peter felt for himself, shame, and disgust. He most likely questioned himself asking God, why do you keep blessing me? In other words, why have you spared me and not taken my life for denying the Savior of the human race? 2 times in this song Kendrick asks that question, the final time he says, now I know why you keep blessing me, so I can bless you. God doesn't bless us because we deserve it. Kendrick is aware of his sin in this song, and he questions God, why would you keep blessing me, knowing my sin, and the realization he has is that it's not for him, but that so he could bless others.

7. u - Kendrick Lamar - Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus and turned him in to the authorities, eventually leading to Jesus' death, for 30 silver coins. We often point to Judas as being the worst. The name often carries with it a connotation of betrayal, whether it be in movies or books. Eventually, Judas hangs himself after returning the money that was given to him by the religious authorities. Listening to this track and thinking of it as Judas speaking to Judas gives me shivers every time. I imagine this is exactly how the conversation went with himself moments before he killed himself. "Loving you is complicated.."

8. #LongLiveSteelo - Joey Bada$$ - John the apostle
In the scriptures, John the Apostle, one of the 12 disciples, is referred to as "the one that Jesus loved" Of course Jesus loved all of the disciples, but you can think of John as his best friend, his "homie when push came to shove". This track came out just a little bit after Joey Bada$$'s mentor and best friend Capital Steez, or Steelo, died, as he committed suicide. The way Joey talks about his best friend really struck me as how I would imagine John talking about his best friend, Jesus, shortly after he died and left. I imagine that in the time between Jesus' death and his return it was a difficult time for the disciples, maybe especially for John, as he lost his best friend.

9. King Kunta - Kendrick Lamar - Saul of Tarsus
Saul of Tarsus, known for being one of the first to terrorize Christians, by mass murdering them. It says in Acts 8 that Saul was "ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison." I can see him walking through the streets saying: Now I run the game got the whole world talking"

10. Ultralight Beam - Kanye West - Paul
"Suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

I hope you enjoyed this experience as much as I did making it for you! I also hope that you don't hate these Biblical characters more, but rather you see them as complex characters with messed lives, just like you and me (minus the 1000 side chicks though, I don't even have 1). My favorite album of all time, To Pimp a Butterfly (where several of these tracks are from, cough cough) does something that really caught me by surprise. The two albums before it, Kendrick uses clear characters to either tell a story, or set a scene. In this album though he does something much different. The album doesn't seem to follow one singular character in a linear fashion, rather it describes an idea. And I believe that idea is that humans are complex, broken creatures, that are in need of love, and reconciliation. I hope this project helps you see that in others.

Cheers.