Noise and Spirit : The Religious and Spiritual Sensibilities of Rap Music

by Pinn, Anthony B.

• ISBN13: 9780814766996
• ISBN10: 0814766994
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-11-01
• Publisher: New York University Press

Summary

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.Both a scholarly book and a pleasurable read. --QBRIn moving beyond the common misconception that rap is simply a secular expression, this volume offers a refreshing discussion about the tensions that exist between the sacred and profane. It foregrounds the spiritual and religious dimensions of rap music and the genre's interpolation and critique of Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, Rastafarian, and Humanist thought in an unprecedented way.--Cheryl L. Keyes, author of Rap Music and Street ConsciousnessCutting through the din of confusion and controversy surrounding hip-hop, Noise and Spirit illuminates the spiritual struggles a the root of the music and the culture. The essays collected here brim with the energy of discovery and engagement, and leave no doubt that Tupac, KRS-One, and Queen Latifah are carrying on the tradition of Al Green, Mahalia Jackson, and the 'black unknown bards' who forged a redemptive vision in the fires of a furnace that continues to burn.--Craig Werner, author of Higher Ground: Aretha, Stevie, Curtis and America's Quest for RedemptionNoise and Spirit is a thought provoking collection of empirical works that ultimately offer even the most reluctant of scholars a great vantage point from which to build on a continuing examination into, and further discussion of, the fragile and often contentious alliance between rap and religion. This is clearly a definitive work worth reading. --The Sociology of ReligionRap music is often seen as a Black secular response to pressing issues of our time. Yet, like spirituals, the blues, and gospel music, rap has deep connections to African American religious traditions.Noise and Spirit explores the diverse religious dimensions of rap stemming from Islam (including the Nation of Islam and Five Percent Nation), Rastafarianism, and Humanism, as well as Christianity. The volume examines rap's dialogue with religious traditions, from the ways in which Islamic rap music is used as a method of religious and political instruction to the uses of both the blues and Black women's rap for considering the distinction between God and the Devil.The first section explores rap's association with more easily recognizable religious traditions and communities such as Christianity and Islam. The next presents discussions of rap and important spiritual considerations, including on the topic of death. The final unit wrestles with ways to theologize about the relationship between the sacred and the profane in rap.

Author Biography

Anthony B. Pinn is Professor of Religious Studies at Macalester College in Minnesota

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction Making a World with a Beat: Musical Expression's Relationship to Religious Identity and Experience	1	(28)
PART I Rap and Religious Traditions
1 African American Christian Rap: Facing "Truth" and Resisting It	29	(20)
Garth Kasimu Baker-Fletcher
2 A Jihad of Words: The Evolution of African American Islam and Contemporary Hip-Hop	49	(22)
Juan M. Floyd-Thomas
3 Rap, Reggae, and Religion: Sounds of Cultural Dissonance	71	(14)
Noel Leo Erskine
4 "Handlin' My Business": Exploring Rap's Humanist Sensibilities	85	(22)
Anthony B. Pinn
PART II Rap and Issues of "Spirit" and "Spirituality"
5 Bringing Noise, Conjuring Spirit: Rap as Spiritual Practice	107	(24)
Mark Lewis Taylor
6 Rap as Wrap and Rapture: North American Popular Culture and the Denial of Death	131	(23)
James W. Perkinson
7 The Spirit Is Willing and So Is the Flesh: The Queen in Hip-Hop Culture	154	(19)
Leola A. Johnson
PART III Rap and the Art of "Theologizing"
8 The Rub: Markets, Morals, and the "Theologizing" of Music	173	(11)
William C. Banfield
9 Rap, Religion, and New Realities: The Emergence of a Religious Discourse in Rap Music	184	(9)
Ralph C. Watkins
Selected Bibliography	193	(8)
About the Contributors	201	(2)
Index	203