No Church in the Wild: Black Churches, Hip Hop and the Streets

by Mark Jefferson

Hip-Hop titans Jay-Z and Kanye West interestingly decided on “No Church in the Wild” as the first track on their long-anticipated album, Watch the Throne. I want to explore this understanding of “the wild” within two critical realms of African American life, Black churches and Hip-Hop culture. It’s not my desire to exclude or diminish other religious traditions; I want to speak directly to the context I know best, my own.

As a young scholar, ordained Christian minister and avid Hip-Hop head, I once found myself in a very interesting conversation about my doctoral work in religion and Hip-Hop culture with a middle-aged, African-American pastor of a large congregation. He says to me: “I don’t allow that type of stuff in our church, especially in the pulpit. I don’t see what value Hip-Hop adds to me or the church. People don’t come to hear about Kanye but to hear about Christ.” His approach, an either/or understanding, is a clear example of why Christian ministry is often classified as culturally and socially irrelevant. It ignores the critical fact that “the wild” is not only located outside the walls of Black churches but actually inside as well.

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