{"id":424,"date":"2014-09-16T09:03:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html"},"modified":"2014-09-16T09:03:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T09:03:00","slug":"rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html","title":{"rendered":"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a variety of sources. (R3 contributor) Ebony A. Utley<\/a> wrote a book called\u00a0<\/span>\u201cRap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta\u2019s God,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which looked at how different rappers interpret and feel about God. Some women, for example, see God as a father and provider, according to the book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Utley\u2019s writings say that rappers use God in many ways, mostly to fit into the type of brand they\u2019re trying to promote and how they feel religiously.<\/span><\/div>\n
But rappers have taken this one step further. Rather than simply praising God or using him as inspiration, they, in turn, have tried to take on the role of God themselves.<\/span><\/div>\n
Famous rappers have been known to take on the identity of a god, either as a way of showboating their sick skills on the mic or because of narcissism.\u00a0According to The New York Times<\/a>, vanity and self-promotion are largely popular among modern rappers, serving as a reflection of the current generation.<\/span><\/div>\n
For example, Eminem compared himself to a god in the song\u00a0\u201cRap God.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0He claims he is omnipotent and can influence the world in much of the same way a god can.\u00a0The song did win<\/a>\u00a0Eminem a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records, but it also put him under scrutiny for homophobic lyrics.<\/span><\/div>\n
Similarly, Kanye West has compared himself to religious figures for years. He even named one of his albums\u00a0\u201cYeezus\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and makes references to his spiritual abilities in some of the songs, including the aptly titled \u201cI Am a God.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a variety of sources. (R3 contributor) Ebony A. Utley wrote a book called\u00a0\u201cRap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta\u2019s God,\u201d\u00a0which looked at how different rappers interpret and feel about God. Some women, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-16T09:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html\",\"name\":\"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-16T09:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-16T09:03:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/\",\"name\":\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God","description":"It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God","og_description":"It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html","og_site_name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","article_published_time":"2014-09-16T09:03:00+00:00","author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html","name":"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-09-16T09:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-16T09:03:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"It may be more complicated than that, though. Rappers, experts say, have their own relationships with God, which show their appreciation may come from a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/09\/rap-vs-religion-how-rappers-relate-to-god.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rap vs. Religion: How Rappers Relate to God"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/","name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}