Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets: Spiritual Insights from Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur

Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets is not a music book but a Christian devotional. Two American pastors take songs by Lauryn Hill and Tupac Shakur seriously as what they believe them to be: prophetic voices calling a society to account for injustice. The book is in English; some editions use “2Pac” rather than “Tupac Shakur” in the subtitle.

The facts

Alex Gee is pastor of the Fountain of Life Family Worship Center in Madison, Wisconsin, where he also heads a community development organisation. At the time of writing, John Teter led Christian campus ministries in California; he later became pastor of a church in Long Beach.

What it’s about

Instead of chapters, the book is divided into seven “tracks”. The authors set selected lyrics by the two artists next to passages from the Bible and ask what they say about poverty, violence, fatherlessness and hope. In a 2004 interview with Christianity Today, Gee argued that pastors should approach hip-hop the way missionaries approach a foreign culture. Rappers like Tupac, he said, tackle subjects churches tend to avoid, Tupac’s song about his mother, for instance, reveals a nurturing side of God that young people who grew up without a father need to hear.

Verdict

A theological devotional, neither a biography nor music criticism. Publishers Weekly gave it a mixed review: the authors’ enthusiasm is obvious, but the shifts between hip-hop slang and sermon English jar, the alternating first-person narration is awkward, and at least one song choice is questionable. Even so, the reviewer felt it offers a worthwhile look at the link between harsh urban life and prophetic hope. For fans it is mainly interesting as evidence of how early Tupac’s lyrics were being read in churches. More titles: Books.