7.21.2014

God and Hip Hop examined in this edition of The Final Call (FinalCall.com)


Cover of The Final Call Volume 33 Number 42
Many rappers and members of the Hip-Hop Nation will readily admit that even though they are not registered members of the Nation of Islam or self-identified members of the Five Percent Nation, they have been influenced by both in very significant ways.

In Black communities, particularly major metropolitan areas, it is not unusual to hear the greetings of “As-Salaam Alaikum” coming from the mouths of little children, Christians, and many who are not Muslims. Within the culture of Hip-Hop, you will hear many using the phrase “Word is Bond” who have never in their lives seen the Supreme Wisdom Lessons by Master Fard Muhammad nor the 120 Lessons of the Five Percent Nation.

For many, during the late 80s and mid-90s, their first exposure to the voice of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan may have come from hearing his speeches mixed over beats, or perhaps a lyrical reference in a group’s Hip-Hop song. The fundamental teachings that a man, God himself, came to identify and deliver Black people in fulfillment of the prophecies, is at the root of any Black liberation theology being taught or heard today.

Through his lectures and writings, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad shattered the myths of the White God, the White Jesus and White Supremacy cloaked in the religion of Christianity. It was the teachings of the Nation of Islam that brought Black people face to face with the fact that what they were reading in the pages of their Bibles represented prophecies that had yet to be fulfilled and symbolic pictures of people, places, and events in the future.

The old gospel songs about Moses asking Pharaoh to “let my people go” and the deliverance of a suffering people seeking redemption are not Jewish melodies, but Black freedom songs, so it is fitting that Hip Hop would be the musical vehicle as modern day gospel songs to the youth, carrying forth these important truths and newly discovered realities.

Black people were taught about the holocaust of European Jews, but nothing about their own Black Holocaust. Black people knew U.S. History, but very little about their history before slavery. All that would change with the injection of consciousness raising lyrics that would not only inform, but also educate. 

You'll get a megadose of #HipHop reality in this week's editoin. I spoke with  Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian, Wise Intelligent of the Poor Righteous Teachers and linguistic scholar Dr. Wesley Muhammad. The Gods weighed in. I think you'll enjoy their analysis.

Read it in this edition of The Final Call. In digital and print. http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_101629.shtml

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