Christian Hip-Hop, Heroes, and Harambe


Assumptions Determine Conclusions

More specifically, CHH’s proverbial itch in the ear has always been the insatiable tingle and desire to be respected and revered for our talents by the world at large. Before the typical distractions derail this consideration, let me address them. This is not an issue of dopeness vs wackness. All would, or should, agree. Excellent art is what our Lord always commands. But never should the worthiness of our art or worship be determined by how much this world will turn up for our gifts, skills, swag or artistry.

How do I know? Because I too suffered from similar temptations along my 25-year journey. The road in Christian Hip-Hop, like Christendom, can be lonely and disappointing and seldom comes with acknowledgment as to whether or not you are hitting your mark in ministry.

We have fallen into this daze because we don’t question, nor do we adequately deal with, our assumptions.

There are two assumptions that have plagued CHH for years:

No. 1 If Hip-Hop’s elite, its tastemakers and those who have its “major keys,” could only acknowledge and respect us, it would surely be evidence of God backing our efforts to engage the culture.

No. 2 If we could only ascend to a high enough plateau in the music and media landscape, regardless of what we have to change in order to achieve this, it would undoubtedly ensure the best position from which to appeal to the hearts of the hard to reach.

Consequently, the great presupposition, on our part, is believing this is what the Lord wants and the way He wants to do it.

Once I was leading a meeting to promote a particular artist that we’ll leave unnamed. I was wrestling to get the artist and their management to understand that success in God’s economy is not always what it looks like in ours. I asked the manager what one of the evidences of God’s success would be for Christian Hip-Hop and the answer was, “If God took over the FM airwaves.” So, in other words, anything other than that would be deemed a failure. It wasn’t that the Lord was incapable of doing that. But that goal could never be the metric we would use to measure the success or failure of CHH.

The main flaw in this type of thinking is that we don’t make room for our Lord’s desires that may include the opposite of what we’ve envisioned. If we are honest, our plans for success would never include having to suffer, being on the outs of society or heading to a cross. So, by this, all of us show proof we often don’t look to suit our Lord’s passions, but our own strategic, well-intentioned, sophisticated, wise-in-our-own-eyes, Ishmaelian passions.

Our family discussions seem to always stop before they can really start because we get hung up on presuppositions about industry inclusion, “seats at the table” and cultural appeal. We seldom get to engagement of the heart, true discipleship and mind-renewing transformation.

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