Gospel and Rap- Can it really be accomplished without
someone crossing the line?
Gospel and Hip Hop: Can they peaceably coexist?
That was certainly the question last week after a
controversy stirred up about Hip Hop Artist, Meek Mills song, “Amen” struck a
vein in the heart of those who love Jesus when they heard the lyrics of this
song. If you have not heard the song,
listen to the song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDJSTd-vhhI.
In Fact, Pastor Komo Johnson called for a boycott of the song stating
that it was blaspheming God and a sin.
Meeks thundered back at the Pastor on radio station Hot 107.9 Philly
stating that Pastor Komo Johnson was trying to seek attention and that if he wanted money for his church he
could have asked him privately for it.
Essentially, Mills accused the Pastor of a divination spirit. The Pastor rallied back proclaiming that he
and other Christians were offended by the lyrics and he had a right to tell him
that what he did was a sin and that he should admit he was wrong and repent. You can here the whole conversation from the
radio station at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT_GJUdM2Ic. Ultimately, Mills
did apologize for offending Christians and Pastor Johnson did call off the
boycott, but not before the devil got a chance to raise his ugly head. Pastor Johnson was interviewed later about
the radio confrontation with Meek Mills which can be heard in its’ entirety at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIPCeggr8co. After this interview a lot of issues still
remain unresolved in my opinion. First,
Mills mentioned that his 85 year old grandmother did not have a problem with
his song and she is a Christian. My
question is “Why Not?” Second, it was cited
that some Christian Hip Hop Artists disagreed with the way Meek Mills was
approached by Pastor Johnson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n-lXgilyoY. Pastor
Johnson said he makes no apologies for using scripture to rebuke Meek
Mills. I wholeheartedly agree! If you can go on national radio blaspheming God,
then you ought to be able to withstand the criticism about your actions. And Meek, it was one pastor who even admits
that he isn’t well known. I feel that
the more well known pastors like T.D Jakes, Paula White, and others should have
expressed their outrage also. And what
about the gospel and contemporary Christian artists? Why didn’t we hear more from them? You got off easy Meek! Last but least, Meek , you mention how you
have helped get drug dealers off the street and have given sneakers to
children. My response to this is, it
does not make up for the damage you are doing to these children’s soul as they
sing the lyrics to your song while saying “Church, Amen”. And as far as Kirk Franklin doing a remix with
you, I seriously doubt it!
This echoes back to the fears that traditional churchgoers
felt when gospel artists began to become more secularized. Hopefully, this type of thing never happens
again, but I doubt it. Hip Artist
like Kanye West and Pusha T have songs
that mention God in their lyrics and titles, but none have gone as far as Meek
Mills’ “Amen”. This is the reason why I
feel it is ever so important that Gospel and contemporary Christian artist
continue to thrive to produce the best music as possible. Music that will have our children singing
praises to the Lord instead a glamorizing sex , drugs, money, lies, cars etc.
