{"id":1363,"date":"2013-06-20T15:31:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T15:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/06\/kanye-wests-yeezus-may-be-sexist-but-is-not-blasphemous.html"},"modified":"2013-06-20T15:31:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T15:31:00","slug":"kanye-wests-yeezus-may-be-sexist-but-is-not-blasphemous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/06\/kanye-wests-yeezus-may-be-sexist-but-is-not-blasphemous.html","title":{"rendered":"Kanye West\u2019s Yeezus May Be Sexist But Is Not Blasphemous"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
by Ebony A. Utley<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
R3 Contributor\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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*This first appeared in the Rap and Religion Blog<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Not unlike the coming of a messiah,\u00a0Yeezus<\/a><\/i>, Kanye West\u2019s sixth album was heavily anticipated before its release date on June 18th. In all fairness, most of that was due to an internet leak and not any inherent mystical properties of the album itself. In fact, its minimalist sound, promotion, and packaging (there is no coverart) would seem to imply that there\u2019s less offensiveness within this album than other recent West public offerings, but alas, what many consider blasphemy and rampant lyrical misogyny put rap, religion, and Kanye West at the forefront of public discourse.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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As the author of\u00a0Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta\u2019s God<\/i><\/a>, I wanted to use the concepts from my book to offer some perspectives on West\u2019s\u00a0Yeezus<\/i>\u00a0that were missing from the media maelstrom.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Yeezus<\/i>\u00a0is not blasphemous. Oppressed people, including many rappers,\u00a0have a historical affinity for the Jesus who was misunderstood much like they are<\/a>. Jesus had haters. Jesus was unfairly judged. Jesus was under state surveillance. Jesus was betrayed. Jesus was publicly berated and executed. Multiple rappers including but not limited to West have empowered themselves by aligning with a historical and spiritual figure that overcame hardship. If you read Jon Caramanica\u2019s\u00a0New York Times<\/i>\u00a0interview<\/a>, West\u2019s perception of his being misunderstood is legendary. Besides, this isn\u2019t West\u2019s first public appropriation of Jesus. There was the February 2006\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/i>\u00a0cover<\/a>\u00a0and of course, 2004\u2032s \u201cJesus Walks\u201d where the astute have duly noted\u2013Jesus walks with West and not the other way around.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Should West pay more homage to Jesus? Only if he\u2019s a conservative Christian, which he clearly is not. Who is anyone else to judge this faith? Jesus is a revered figure for him. No one chooses a weak and ineffectual model to emulate. Jesus loses no power in Yeezus\u2019s hands. Besides, West has been in the game long enough to know that being clever and causing controversy pays the bills (and purchases extravagant pleasures).\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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Despite its lyrical vacuity,\u00a0Yeezus<\/i>\u00a0offers more sonic substance than anyone else in the game right now. If West is indeed pointing toward a new prophetic direction for hip hop, doesn\u2019t the title become even more appropriate? Even Jesus\u2019s disciples failed to understand the meaning of his parables while he walked the earth.\u00a0Yeezus<\/i>\u00a0is minimalist like Jesus, but let us remember that this same Jesus who declared rich men would have a hard time getting into heaven also boasted of his Father\u2019s many mansions. Throughout the album, West asks audiences to embrace a similar \u201cand without contradiction\u201d acceptance especially of his social commentary about race and his social disdain for women.<\/span><\/div>\n

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West\u2019s album is filled with typical rap posturing. No successful rapper has ever spent an entire album rapping about how he can\u2019t read, can\u2019t get a job, and can\u2019t keep a girl. Rap is a fantasy world, where men\u2019s success is premised on making their wildest dreams seem true. The catch comes if you\u2019re a black man without any real power. How do you convince an audience that you do have power when the fashion world won\u2019t take you seriously, detractors upbraid you for having a\u00a0baby with Kim Kardashian<\/a>, and people publicly make you apologize for words and deeds you\u2019re not sorry for. Well, apparently, West came up with an answer in the\u00a048 hours\u00a0<\/a>he spent finishing lyrics for the album. You accrue power by taking it from someone else. Thus, women take the brunt of West\u2019s anger usually via some (oral) sex exchange.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Does this type of misogyny, which, let us be fair, is common in rap, undermine West\u2019s religious allusions? No. Both religion and rap are notorious for perpetuating patriarchy and heterosexism. Any system designed to\u00a0empower<\/a>\u00a0must do so at the expense of someone else. Whether it\u2019s a believer over a nonbeliever, whites over blacks, men over women. How does a\u00a0new slave<\/a>\u00a0get his power back? He becomes \u201ca dick instead of a swallower\u201d and \u201cfucks a Hampton spouse.\u201d Does that excuse West from his cavalierly sexist commentary? No. But a man obsessed with Jesus does so because he wants to imitate the power of Jesus. When rap and religion turn to power, there will be hierarchy, and the person controlling the story will always come out on top.<\/span><\/div>\n

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West participates in a familiar religiosity where power is masculine. The track \u201cI am a God\u201d references Psalm 82:6, hip hop\u2019s\u00a0Five Percenter<\/a>\u00a0tradition where black men identified each other as gods, and the idea that God is different things to different people at different times for different reasons. As a God, as Yeezus, West reminds us that who God is, is contingent upon who we are and how we see the world. Divinity doesn\u2019t always automatically elevate us to where we should be but shows us very plainly where we are and how much further we need to go.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Follow Ebony A. Utley on Twitter @u_experience<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

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by Ebony A. Utley R3 Contributor\u00a0 *This first appeared in the Rap and Religion Blog Not unlike the coming of a messiah,\u00a0Yeezus, Kanye West\u2019s sixth album was heavily anticipated before its release date on June 18th. In all fairness, most of that was due to an internet leak and not any inherent mystical properties of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nKanye West\u2019s Yeezus May Be Sexist But Is Not Blasphemous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Ebony A. 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