Articles

 

Jefferies, Micheal P. “Hip‐hop Urbanism Old and New” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 38.2 (2014) 709-715. Print.

This article discusses Hip Hop culture in post-industrial America, during the late twentieth century. While this seems a little before West’s time, it shows how people have connected to Hip Hop music over the years, and how they still connect. It focuses on how modern day Hip Hop is about race and class warfare. Making it the perfect time for the Saviour to return.

 

Sorett, Josef, “‘Believe me, this pimp game is very religious’: Toward a religious history of hip hop” Hip Hop and Religion Spec. issue of Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal 10.1 (2009) 11-22. Print.

Sorett argues that religious diversity is not the rule of Rap music, and while religion is a big portion of rap music, it’s not what binds artists together. Sorett argues the real issue, especially in the United States, is the experience of race, that experiencing white supremacy while black is the top issue for theses rappers. And that they use their religious affiliations as a way to combat this stuggle. This is important as race problems in the U.S.A. are far from over. West is one of the artists struggling with the “Black Lives Matter movement,” trying to overcome suffering. Sorett gives the religious history of Hip Hop, which shows how rap music has evolved over the years.

 

Tinajero, Robert. “Hip Hop and Religion: Gangsta Rap’s Christian Rhetoric” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 25.3 (2013) 315-332. Print.

Tinajero’s article focuses on the incorporation of Christian themes into popular “Gangsta Rap.” By examining the way rappers adopt this doctrine as their own, it’s easy to see why a man such as West would do the same. These rappers show solidarity with Jesus. Is this enough to explain West’s God complex? We’ll have to see.

 

Vaught, Seneca. “An ‘Act of God’: Race, Religion, and Policy in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina.” Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society 11.4 (2009) 408-421. Print.

Hurricane Katrina was a big issue in the the U.S. in the past couple of years, mainly due to the rights of black Americans. Both Jay-Z and West had a lot to say about this issue (West’s famous “Bush hates Black people” comment) bringing this issue to the light of popular culture. By further studying this tragedy I will be able to understand where West was coming from, and his religious views on the situation. As this article covers whether this tragedy was an “act of God.” Challenging not only the ideological perspectives of many black Americans, but also posing significant questions about very important race issues, religious issues and political discourse of the post- civil rights U.S.A. By gathering more knowledge on this entire event, both the hurricane and what came after, I will more firmly be able to appoint West a saviour.

 

Walsh, Carey. “Shout-Outs to the Creator: The Use of Biblical Themes in Rap Lyrics” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 25.2 (2013) 230-248. Print.

This article also examines the use of Biblical themes in popular hip hop music. As it’s a newer article, it encompasses interpretations of many popular rap songs including West’s “Jesus Walks.” This article shows that these rappers are trying to incite social change with these songs. I believe this article helps to prove the point that West is spreading a higher message. I mean wasn’t Jesus trying to incite social change?

 

Books

 

Bradley, Adam, and Andrew DuBois, eds. Anthology of Rap. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.Print.

This Anthology gives the history of Rap music, from 1978 onwards and has a lengthy chapter on West. This will help in my research to better understand West’s career, and his music; therefore, it will be easier to understand his message. Profiling his beginnings as a producer, his near fatal accident, to his rise as a dominant hip hop icon this book will create a good base knowledge on West to continue research.

 

McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction. Hoboken: Wiley, 2011. Print

This is a textbook on Christian Theology. It contains the history of Christianity from c.100 all the way to the present day. It also contains many pieces of Christian doctrine and much information about Christian Theology. I believe this source will be extremely helpful to me as while I may have a grasp on Christianity, I am not competent enough to do this project without some extra knowledge on the subject.

 

Pinn, Anthony B., ed. Noise and spirit: the religious and spiritual sensibilities of rap music. New             York: NYU Press, 2003. Print.

This work focuses on reoccurring religious and spiritual themes in conventional rap music. Not only focusing on Christianity, but also Islam, Rastafarianism, etc. This will be helpful in my research as it focuses specifically on rap music, which is West’s claim to fame. By using this book for my research I will be able to bridge the gap between religion and seemingly secular music, and also recognize the mostly obvious religious undertones in today’s rap.

 

Other Sources

 

Bazzi, Hassan. “‪Kanye Explaining ‘I Am A God’ from Yeezus.” Online video clip. Youtube.             Youtube, 31. Dec. 2013. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.

This is a video of West explaining the motivation for his song “I Am A God” in which he proclaims to be a higher power. This proclamation is perhaps the reason of this entire project and is therefore very important.

 

The King James Bible. Carroll, Robert and Stephen Prickett. Oxford: Oxford University Press,       1997. Print

The Bible is the most important text in the Christian religion. This is a very important source for this project as I plan to research Christian themes. By studying and quoting The Bible I will be able to craft a far more convincing argument to reiterate my thesis statement.

 

“The Church of Yeezus." Yeezianity. 2014. Web. October, 2015.

This group belives West to be the highest being, able to usher us into the new age. They are the main focus of this study as they point west in the direction of the savior.

 

West, Kanye. “Video Vanguard Award Acceptance Speech.” MTV Video Music Awards.   Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, CA. 30 August 2015.

This is one of West’s more recent public outbreaks. What started as a defense of some of his more outlandish behavior by a means of protecting the arts, and finished by him announcing a bid for the 2020 presidential race. Not only was this on iconic West moment, defining his exact public demeanor, but also it was a test of his true presence as a prophet. West has proved he has something to say, and we have proved the ability to listen; no matter how long, as I believe it was between twenty and thirty minutes long.

 

West, Kanye. “Jesus Walks” The College Dropout. Def Jam, 2004. Cd.

“Jesus Walks” is often credited to being one of the most major hip hop/religion collaborative. As the lyrics state “They say you can rap about anything, except for Jesus. You mean, guns, sex, lies, videotape. But if I talk about God my record won’t get played, huh?” This song was a commercial success for West, meaning his prophetic message was successfully accepted by the masses. What does this mean for West as the savior?

 

West, Kanye and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. “No Church in the Wild” Watch the Throne. Def Jam,     2011. CD

“No Church in the Wild” calls for a religious upheaval. This would make sense as Jesus did something similar in his time on earth. This song, although featuring many instances of what seems to be anti-religion (drug-use, poly-amorous love, etc.) Seems to have a very deep message about they way we view religion. If someone were trying to change religion, they would have philosophically different ideas than what was conventionally accepted.

 

West, Kanye. “I’ll Fly Away/Spaceship” The College Dropout. Def Jam, 2004. CD.

This song is a hymn, traditionally sung in church. It’s interesting how West appropriated this to use on his album. It implies a strong Christian rhetoric background. This is useful to help prove West’s Christianity. Coupled with the song Spaceship, which entails a life one would want to fly away from, this creates a theme of leaving this world behind for Heaven.

 

West, Kanye. “I Am a God.” Yeezus. Def Jam, 2013. CD.

This song is West’s self proclaimed anthem of being a god, even though he is a man of God. This may make little sense to some, could West be saying he is the savior? Or is he just saying he loves himself. The lyrics require further study before we can garner a conclusion.

 

West, Kanye. “Only One” SWISH (Not yet released). Def Jam, 2015. CD.

West believes this song was a manifestation of his late mothers words passed through him to his daughter, North “Nori” West. This spiritual experience of being perhaps visited by an angel propels West into the idea of being a prophet, this makes for a good argument towards my thesis statement.

 

N.A. “Kanye West Biography” The Biography.com website. Web. October, 2015

This is just a biography of West I’ll be using to get information about his early life. This will be useful to have correct information.

 

Yeezianity"Yeezianity-Welcome to Church" Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube.28. Jan 2014. Web November 2015.

AN interesting take on Kanye's religion.