Am I too prejudiced? Am I too old school and straight laced? Is my discernment not of God own directing?
A friend of mine mentioned that I should check out the rap tune Jesus Walks by rapper Kayne West. She said it was playing on MTV at frequent intervals, so I went onto gnutella stole a copy of the song to check out.
I really believe I went into it the jam with an open mind willing to hear the rappers heart. Quite honestly I was a bit confused about how a christian beat could end up in the secular lime-light without me knowing about it, but stranger things have happened.
Right off the bat I liked the style. I love the mix of accapella vocal and tight beat and easy to hear lyrics. The first line showed me that West was thinking about his culture and that was confirmed as he talked about growing up and walking through trials. I got a little lost where the guy was takin’ his lyrics — there are lots of life issues and attitudes rolled up in there and I knew it was going to take a few listens to make out what what was being said. Unfortunatly I got hung up about half way through. On s***. Bam right there I was out of the game.
Why did Kayne have to throw that in? Is he afraid of not getting airtime if he’s not “with the times” enough? Does he think that he has to stoop down to the level of people in the world to get their attention? In the remix version he ends the song with this:
I’m a changed man. I’m healed, I’m deliverd, I’m rich, and it’s all because of Him.
A changed man? At this point I busted out with a google search and pulled up some interviews to see if I could discern who this man was. Unfortunatly I was not encouraged by anything I read about him. His attitude is not that of one truely changed by TheGospel. There is truth in his lyrics and he clearly has a basic working knowledge of what a christian is, but to anybody who walks in the light it is possible to discern when others are not. According to the bible we are able to understand people by their fruit. The fruit I see Kayne West bearing is not good fruit.
I’ve listened to the song many many times now and will perhaps post a more in depth analysis another day. For now, if you have something to add — whether you agree or disagree — post a comment.
Dear Jesus, I pray that you would come and reveal yourself to Kayne. Lord you have blessed him with talent and a love of music. Lord take his life now and take ahold of his heart – redirect his passion to be glorifing to you in every away. Lord forgive him and wrap him in your arms of love. Help him to know you and to walk in your strength. Lord strip him of his own arrogance and fill him with confidence in nothing but the blood of Jesus. Heal him of his insecurities so that he may boldly proclaim your word. Lord give him a true testimony of deliverance. Lord God teach Kayne about ministry and equip him to make use of his tallent for your kingdom.
Maybe you should think about him not as a mature Christian but someone who is trying to be one. Maybe I’m wrong… I haven’t read his interviews or anything. I just thought that it was cool that someone was talking about God in pop culture. And ou think Kayne West is a hypocrite? You should see the line up on BET … 6 days of singing/rapping almost completely about sex and drugs, and on the 7th inspirational preaching. I’m sorry that the world doesn’t realize what Jesus was, is, and always will be, but they don’t, and therefore it’s amazing (to me at least) when he makes it into the picture at all. By the way, in the video he doesn’t have girls in short shorts and barely there tops – like every other video in MTV.
Laura, I think I understand your point, and it’s true that it’s good to have some truth around. I am just wishing that it didn’t have to be mixed up with other things. The gospel is very hard to separate from cultural.
Note however that I did not call him a hypocrite because from what I can tell Kayne actually lives what he preaches, and I didn’t even say that what he preaches isn’t true, just that it’s still a bit jumbled up.
The thing I had the hardest time with was the man’s attitude as an artist — particularly arrogance. He makes no bones about it — he is arrogant. I just think he need to realize that that is not a very christ-like way to live or very glorifying. In the position he has placed himself in, I think he’s got a lot of responsability to represent.