To many, if not most, Kanye West is an enigma — a towering yet polarizing figure in pop culture. His talent has produced a man whose observations and critiques of modern society have become among the most influential artistic statements of our time. Many have tried to unpack his changing persona, but they simply cannot keep up. Fans and foes alike can’t seem to understand him — West proudly flaunts his material wealth yet boasts of his Godliness (Yeezus identity); he unashamedly dons his MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat yet proudly boasts of his African American roots.
His character is made even more puzzling when the artist who had been branded as arrogant and selfish decided this past fall to release Jesus Is King — a Christian gospel hip-hop album. Many, including most of my friends, thought this seemingly new-found devotion to Christianity was a radical departure from the material-inspired Rap that made him famous. Not me. This is not a new Kanye West, but instead a polarized version of his old self — the man whose debut album The College Dropout, released on February 10th 2004, contained his first powerful takes on religious themes and imagery.
In his debut album, Kanye West breaks down the barrier between secular and sacred, popularizing religion and religious themes within a post-religious materialistic society. This can be seen through Kanye West’s branding a new genre of authenticity, the religiosity of the lyrics and the production of the album, especially on the track, “Jesus Walks”.
When it comes to hip-hop/rap music, artistic identity and authenticity are placed at the forefront. Hip-hop is not just about selling records and making popular music. Success, and I don’t necessarily mean commercial success, is measured by the artist’s image of authenticity. To begin, it is important to understand the background of hip-hop’s relationship with identity and also markedly, religion. The 1980s found a unique ascension of many (but certainly not most) African-Americans to the middle and upper class (Pyon, 365). And the same time the war on drugs was wreaking havoc on impoverished urban centres, unfairly targeting minority groups — most prominently African-Americans. In response to this rise in African-American wealth, black “megachurches” began to appear in American city centers throughout the 1980s, though they excluded these impoverished communities (Pyon. 365). Because of this divide — more like barrier — between the (relatively) rich and the poor through inclusion/exclusion in what is now called the modern black prosperity gospels, poverty “became a symptom of unbelief” which could only be fixed through faith and spirituality (Pyon, 365).
In response to this divide, hip-hop culture was birthed. While the members of these black megachurches found solace and a “solution” to poverty through faith, there developed an increasingly enticing industry to many African-American marginalized youth — the crack-cocaine business (Pyon, 367). It is through this informal economy of crack-cocaine dealing that the authenticity and identity of hip-hop emerged. The “hustler” persona of the crack dealer transitioned into the authenticity of the “hustler” persona of the “rap game” (Pyon, 367). It is here where hip-hop identities emerge and diverge. The three most prominent and dominating personas of authenticity were: “gangsta” in the late 1980s, seen through NWA; the “thug” persona of the 1990s with 2Pac; and Jay-Z the hustler of the early 2000s (Pyon, 365). These personas dominated the hip-hop industry, and it did not look like the hustler would ever change with the success of Jay-Z, and 50 Cent among others — and then Kanye Omari West emerged.
Kanye West was different — he was not a “gangsta”, nor a “thug”, and definitely not a “hustler”. Kanye was a kid who grew up in a middle class family in Chicago with a mother, Dr. Donda West, who was Chicago State University’s English department chair. Kanye definitely could not relate to these personas so he had to embrace who he was; the confident and preppy kid who famously donned a pink polo shirt and argyle sweaters.
Originally a producer (someone who engineers the “beat” behind the lyrics), Kanye’s aspiration to rap was rejected by executives and rap moguls (such as Jay-Z), as West was labelled a producer-rapper — a hip-hop producer who believes they can rap, but is not very good. This is made evident in the albums final track, “Last Call” where Kanye raps; “last year shoppin’ my demo I was tryin’ to shine/every motherfucker told me that I couldn’t rhyme” (West, “Last Call”).
Kanye West’s The College Dropout is especially unique in its critique of capitalist materialistic culture in favour of faith and religious devotion (Pyon, 375), yet he also embraces this existing materialism. In “All Falls Down”, one of his most famous and critically acclaimed tracks (and my personal favourite), Kanye raps how capitalist material culture caused African-American youth to “hate [themselves] and love they wealth”, with “they” referring to predominantly white rich society (West; Pyon, 375). But Kanye also gains validity and true complex authenticity when he acknowledges that as much as he critiques this, he too is a part of it (“But I ain’t even gon’ act holier than thou/’cause fuck it I went to Jacob with 25 thou” (West, “All Falls Down”). Kanye embraces his identity and creates authenticity in his own hypocrisy. Kanye knows who he is, and does not let others dictate his fate and his authenticity. His mother originally wanted Kanye to go to college and get a degree. But, she then reffered to Kanye releasing The College Dropout as “having the guts to embrace who you are, rather than following the path society has carved out for you ” (Hess, 558).
Kanye West also evokes religion in a very “pro-faith/Christianity” dialogue within the lyrics and production of the songs on the album. In “Never Let Me Down”, the album’s eighth track, featuring Jay-Z, Kanye raps: “I done did dirt and went to church to get my hands scrubbed/swear I’ve been baptized ‘least three or four times” (West). This invokes religious attitudes with the idea of seeking repentance for sin. Kanye has sinned in his life (“I done did dirt”), and so he goes to church in order to literally wash off the dirt.
But, Kanye is only human, and like his authentically hypocritical stance on material possessions, he also recognizes that he will continue to sin, and he will keep on going back to church to seek repentance. It’s as if Kanye is preaching to the youth and young-adult demographic that regardless of your standing and your sin, you can seek repentance; and then you will probably sin again, and the cycle continues. Next, as previously mentioned, Kanye was not a “gangsta” or a “thug”, and so he couldn’t relate to that experience; and openly rejected it. On “Family Business”, Kanye raps: “I woke up early this morning with a new state of mind/A creative way to rhyme without using knives and guns/Keep your nose out the sky, keep your heart to God” (West). Kanye is telling a new generation of listeners to reject the identity labelled as authentic glorified in past hip-hop artists’ work in favour of staying clean and focusing on faith in God.
Furthermore, Kanye West explores his religiosity in one of his most critically and commercially successful songs, “Jesus Walks”. In the song, Kanye raps: “To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers, even the strippers/(Jesus walks for them)/To the victims of welfare for we livin’ in hell here, hell yeah/(Jesus walks for them)” (West). In these lines, Kanye exclaims how Jesus should be, and is, a part of the journey, no matter your socio-economic standing. You may be a murderer, but Jesus is still with you. Also, in the song he acknowledges that by rapping about Jesus he may not receive as much commercial success (“but if I talk about God my record won’t get played, huh?”) (West, “Jesus Walks”). West negotiates his possible loss of revenue in hopes for redemption; thus, his authenticity as a rapper coexists with religion in “uneasy tension” (Pyon, 376). Continuing with Kanye’s theme of authenticity of being a materialistic, yet seemingly anti-materialism, quasi-religious hip-hop icon, he raps about cars, jets, and “Jesus pieces” (West, “Jesus Walks”). “Jesus Pieces” refers to expensive gold and diamond laden crosses, effectively combing materialism and religion in one song, exemplifying his authenticity to the market, in synch with religion (Walsh, 234). Next, Kanye West provides what I believe to be a likely unintentional, yet brilliant re-interpretation of Martin Luther’s “Sola Fide” principle, which was critical in the Protestant Reformation. Sola Fide translates to faith alone, meaning there is salvation through “faith alone” in God (Rinehart, 598). This means no matter your standing; rich, poor or criminal––if you have faith in God you can achieve salvation. This might sound eerily similar to what has been said regarding “Jesus Walks” in reference to the “hustlers, murders, drug dealers” and Kanye’s calling for faith in God throughout the album (West). Also, very specifically Kanye concludes “Jesus Walks” with the line: “the only thing that I pray is that my feet don’t fail me now” (West). This is referencing Matthew 14:22–32, where Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, briefly walks on water, but then he fears the wind, and begins to sink; all because he lost faith (New International Version). Thus, Kanye finishes the song with one final representation of faith in God.
In conclusion, throughout The College Dropout, Kanye incorporates religion in a previously unfelt way. He aligns religious attitudes in hip-hop with popular culture in a post-religious and materialistic society. Kanye is able to do this by diverging from the previously successful forms of hip-hop authenticity made successful by the likes of NWA, 2Pac, and Jay-Z. Next, this can be seen through the lyrics of The College Dropout, most especially in the song, “Jesus Walks”. The College Dropout and its unique relationship with religion is extremely important and influential, considering the massive critical and commercial success it achieved. The College Dropout sold three million units and won the Grammy award for “Best Rap Album of the Year”. While the track “Jesus Walks” won the Grammy for “Best Rap Song of the Year” (Turner, 21). The success of the project shows how influential it, and its religious tones became. There doesn’t appear to be a wealth of academic literature surrounding hip-hop and hip-hop culture. It seems as if academics tend to shy away from hip-hop, possibly because the language is much different than older forms of music and the content may contain obscenities. Hip-hop is becoming a world power in cultural expression, and should be the focus of study more than ever before. Hip-hop music provides an “urgent expressive culture wrestling with the very meanings of life played out in the street” (Walsh, 231). If you want to learn about pop culture, look to hip-hop, because it is becoming the most dominant form of pop culture, especially in how it relates to religion as seen through The College Dropout.
Blog Post MLA Citations
Hess, Mickey. Icons of Hip Hop: an Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.
Pyon, Kevin. “Towards an African-American Genealogy of Market and Religion in Rap Music.” Popular Music and Society, vol. 42, no. 3, 16 Apr. 2018, pp. 363–384., doi:10.1080/03007766.2018.1458275.
Rinehart, Larry. “SOLA FIDE: THE MYSTERY OF SALVATION BY FAITH.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, vol. 49, no. 4, 2014, pp. 577–600.
The Bible. New International Version (NIV), biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14&version=NIV
Turner, Patrice E. “The Sacred and the Secular: Where Do We Draw the Line? .” The Journal of Religious Thought, vol. 59–60, 2007, pp. 13–27.
Walsh, Carey. “Shout-Outs to the Creator: The Use of Biblical Themes in Rap Lyrics.” The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, vol. 25, no. 2, 2013, pp. 230–248., doi:10.3138/jrpc.25.2.230.
West, Kanye. “All Falls Down.” The College Dropout, Def Jam Recordings, 2004, track 4. Genius, genius.com/Kanye-west-all-falls-down-lyrics
West, Kanye. “Family Business.” The College Dropout, Def Jam Recordings, 2004, track 20, Genius, genius.com/Kanye-west-family-business-lyrics
West, Kanye. “Jesus Walks.” The College Dropout, Def Jam Recordings, 2004, track 7, Genius, genius.com/Kanye-west-family-business-lyrics
West, Kanye. “Last Call.” The College Dropout, Def Jam Recordings, 2004, track 21. Genius, genius.com/Kanye-west-last-call-lyrics
West, Kanye. “Never Let Me Down.” The College Dropout, Def Jam Recordings, 2004, track 8, Genius, genius.com/Kanye-west-never-let-me-down-lyrics
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