God complex: how religion became the bedrock of modern rap
From Stormzy to Kendrick Lamar, rappers are referencing Christianity in their music more than ever before – but it’s not just about bravado
Ryan Bassil
Friday 14 April 2017 08.30 EDT
The video for Kendrick Lamar’s latest single, Humble, opens with the seven-time Grammy winner bedecked in papal robes. Later he pontificates about his supremacy in a scene reminiscent of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. It is not the only rap imagery inspired by the 15th-century painting to be released this year; the cover of Stormzy’s February debut Gang Signs & Prayer sees the Croydon MC hovering over another ominous feast, his fellow diners’ faces hidden behind balaclavas.
Meanwhile, Freddie Gibbs’s latest record, You Only Live 2wice, hammers home the implications of its title with a painting depicting the Indiana rapper as a Christ-like figure, floating above his camera phone-wielding followers. On one level, Kendrick and co are positioning themselves as modern-day deities – a stance that aligns neatly with society’s belated recognition of rappers as cultural giants. Yet the slew of religious imagery in modern hip-hop goes beyond bravado.
Of course, God has been omnipresent in rap from the beginning, when Grandmaster Flash referenced him in The Message. But where earlier allusions to Christianity were often relegated to single lines or odd tracks, the new generation of MCs are pushing religion to the forefront of their music and using it to explore their psyches.
Kanye West’s follow-up to 2013’s Yeezus (no guesses there), The Life of Pablo, was inspired in part by Paul the Apostle. Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book – SoundCloud’s most popular album of 2016 – is an overt reimagining of gospel. Stormzy’s aforementioned debut album repeatedly references his faith, while evangelical themes are also the bedrock of Kendrick’s career. His breakthrough album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, is built around the sinner’s prayer and his magnum opus, To Pimp a Butterfly, loosely manoeuvres through conversations with Satan and God.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/14/rap-religion-stormzy-kendrick-lamar-humble
