{"id":5029,"date":"2016-06-19T18:22:02","date_gmt":"2016-06-19T23:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?p=5029"},"modified":"2016-06-20T21:34:38","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T02:34:38","slug":"call-for-chapters-you-gon-learn-today-the-aesthetics-of-christians-in-hip-hop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2016\/06\/call-for-chapters-you-gon-learn-today-the-aesthetics-of-christians-in-hip-hop.html","title":{"rendered":"Call for Chapters: You Gon\u2019 Learn Today: The Aesthetics of Christians in Hip Hop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"call-for-chapters\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the first full length book dedicated to examining Christians in Hip Hop, \u201cYou Gon\u2019 Learn Today,\u201d aims to offer a new \u2018learning\u2019 of Christians in Hip Hop. In the rap song titled \u201cLearn Today,\u201d<\/a> emcee Bizzle asserts that the past perception of Christian rap as \u2018whack\u2019 or \u2018soft\u2019 is inaccurate. The rap\u2019s lyrics are telling of the broad brush that has been used to characterize all Christian rappers, as well, the attempt by Christians in Hip Hop to redefine their own identity in the wider world.<\/p>\n

When Bizzle first joined the self identified Christian Hip Hop community, he identified as a Christian who raps as opposed to a Christian rapper. Additionally, emcee Sevin, also featured on the song is a former gang-member. Sevin now lives a completely different life in which he aims to glorify God in his music. The rhetoric used by rappers like Bizzle in defining themselves, as well the authenticity of Sevin\u2019s story evinces the growing aesthetics of the group known as Christians in Hip Hop<\/em>. However, this is a group with deep historical roots.<\/p>\n

Christians have been actively involved in Hip Hop since the 1970\u2019s. A notable early Christian in hip hop is Sylvia Robinson. In an interview with James Spady, Robinson shared that: \u201cI felt chills all over my body, like the Holy Spirit overcoming me\u201d when discussing why she decided to record rap music (Spady, Street Conscious Rap<\/a>, 87). \u00a0The most well known \u201cChristian Rap\u201d album, Bible Break by Stephen Wiley<\/a>, debuted in 1985. This sparked the beginning of the self identified \u201cChristian Hip Hop\u201d community.<\/p>\n

Although Christians were involved several years before Wiley\u2019s album, popular notions of \u201cChristian Hip Hop\u201d from both its practitioners and the music industry still focus on Wiley. Scholars have provided very little attention to the phenomenon of Christians in Hip Hop. They have not provided a detailed examination of Christian\u2019s involved in Hip Hop\u2019s history, what it means to be Christian and Hip Hop, and the many contributions that Christians have made to Hip Hop. There are no books fully committed to analyzing the scope of such a vast field of study.<\/p>\n

You Gon\u2019 Learn Today<\/em> addresses this lack in scholarly attention with a number of inquiries. Such inquiries point to new possibilities for understanding Hip Hop and Christianity yet to be uncovered. How many more Christians were involved in Hip Hop\u2019s beginning in addition to Robinson? How would a scholarly understanding of the very terms \u201cChristian rap,\u201d \u201cGospel rap,\u201d \u201cHoly Hip Hop,\u201d \u201cChristian Hip Hop\u201d and the other terms used to identify this musical genre shift with a more thorough analysis?<\/p>\n

An in depth analysis of Christians in Hip Hop will address topics and additional inquiries such as:<\/p>\n