Christians and Christianity have been central to Hip Hop since its inception. This book explores the intersection of Christians and Hip Hop and the multiple outcomes of this intersection. It lays out the ways in which Christians and Hip Hop overlap and diverge. The intersection of Christians and Hip Hop brings together African diasporic cultures, lives, memories and worldviews.

Moving beyond the focus on rappers and so-called "Christian Hip Hop," each chapter explores three major themes of the book: identifying Hip Hop, irreconcilable Christianity, and boundaries.There is a self-identified Christian Hip Hop (CHH) community that has received some scholarly attention. At the same time, scholars have analyzed Christianity and Hip Hop without focusing on the self-identified community. This book brings these various conversations together and show, through these three themes, the complexities of the intersection of Christians and Hip Hop. Hip Hop is more than rap music, it is an African diasporic phenomenon. These three themes elucidate the many characteristics of the intersection between Christians and Hip Hop and our reasoning for going beyond "Christian Hip Hop."

This collection is a multi-faceted view of how religious belief plays a role in Hip Hoppas' lives and community. It will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of Religion and Hip Hop, Hip Hop, African Diasporas, Religion and the Arts, Religion and Race and Black Theology as well as Religious Studies more generally.

Table of Contents:

List of Figures; Acknowledgements; Introduction Erika Gault and Travis Harris; 1 A History of Christians and Hip Hop-Travis Harris; Section I: Identifying Hip Hop; 2 Blendzville Global: A Conversation with Andrea "M$. Blendz" Castleberry-Travis Harris; 3 If My Faith Had a YouTube: Digitizing Christianity and Hip Hop, an Interview with Beleaf Melanin-Erika Gault; Section II: Irreconcilable Christianity; 4 Black White Supremacists: An Interrogation into ?Christian Hip Hop?s Relationship with the White Man?s Religion- Daniel White Hodge and Travis Harris; 5 From ?Gospel? to Global: A Talk with Anthony "DJ AA1K" Amos Travis Harris;6 "The Prince of Peace Ain't Down with Police Brutality": Gospel Gangstaz Confronting White Supremacy Post-LA Uprising of 1992 -Matthew Linder;7 Skipp Coon: Race, Religion, and Black Radical History in Hip Hop-Phillip Luke Sinitiere;Section III: Boundaries; 8 The Ruptures and Reconfigurations of Identity through Christian Hip Hop in Southern Africa-Ibrahim Abraham and Tuomas Järvenpää; 9 Latinx Innovators in the Emergence of Los Angeles Hip Hop: Expanding the Intersections of Christianity and Hip Hop-Jonathan Calvillo;10 ?We Gon? Be Alright?: Kendrick Lamar and the Theology of Affirmation-Darrius D. Hills; 11 The Gospel According to ?Ye; Kanye West, the Life of Pablo, and Authentic-ChristianityTimothy Welbeck; 12 ?How You Gon? See ?Em If You Live in the Fog?: Theodicy in the lyrics of DMX-Trudy Mercadal; Contributors; Appendix; Index

Other branches of pop music

Religious sciences in general

Christianity

Further reading in the field of sociology

Classical music

Pop, rock

Arts in general

Cultural anthropology

Further readings in religion

Musicology in general and music history

Sociology in general, methodology, handbooks

Pop, rock (charity campaign)

Further readings in religion (charity campaign)

Christianity (charity campaign)

Cultural anthropology (charity campaign)

Sociology in general, methodology, handbooks (charity campaign)

Arts in general (charity campaign)

Musicology in general and music history (charity campaign)

Classical music (charity campaign)

Other branches of pop music (charity campaign)

Religious sciences in general (charity campaign)

Further reading in the field of sociology (charity campaign)

Beyond Christian Hip Hop

This book explores the intersection of Christians and Hip Hop and the multiple outcomes of this intersection. It lays out the ways in which Christians and Hip Hop overlap and diverge.