“Sing to you” is a song that encourages us to sing to God even in the midst of the storm. The question is, will God hear me though? Won’t the sound of the stormy winds drown out my voice? Why should we sing through our pain? I ask myself these questions every time. It is amazing how we read and appreciate the story of Paul and Silas singing and praising God in prison till their chains fell off yet when it is our turn to lift up holy hands to God and sing our lungs out despite our burdens, we choose to plunge ourselves further into the mire. Which is very unfortunate because we turn away from the anchor of our hope when we decide against worshiping God in the bad times. It is hard dear friends. However, there is no hope elsewhere than in the arms of God.

In KB’s second verse of the song he said:

All night I couldn’t sleep

Thinking about all this joy that I couldn’t keep

All these holes in my heart it just seems

I’ve been pierced more times than I can speak

I got another hole from a friend last week

Lord, Lord why so many holes in me?

Then I saw the hands that were holding me,

He said ‘I know you, son, I’ve got holes too’.

I will tell you why these lines are so special to me. I have not studied all religions, but from the little I know, Christianity is the only one that has at its center a deity who has tasted of the worst kind of suffering a human being can ever go through.  How is this so? God came down to earth as a man to live amongst us, to suffer like any of us. He became one of us that we through him might become like him. That for me is enough. Because then when I go to God to tell him about my pain, I can never say something like ‘you won’t understand me’. Why? Because he does! He does because he became man and walked amongst men as one of us. He bore the cross on his sore back and was nailed to it, naked and battered like a thief. It is painful to go through torture of that nature. But to go through undeserved torture and having the power to speak a word for it all to go away yet choosing not to do so, is twice as torturous. I come to God with my problems knowing that he wouldn’t dismiss me and blame me for not being strong enough. In fact, he admonishes us in the gospels to come to him when we are heavily laden and burdened and he will give us rest. There is no shame in approaching God in your pain. Very few things can be more shameful than death on the cross. If he went through that and is now seated victorious and high above every power, best believe he understands you and your pain. It is very exhausting trying to explain your pain to another person. First, what you deem painful might not be regarded as such by whoever you are telling. When you step up to God in prayer, do so in all confidence that he has gone through excruciating pain too and understands how you feel.

Our High Priest

Not only should we confidently approach God in prayer because he has gone through pain before, also we should be bold to talk to him about the weights and the sins that easily beset us. Sin is shameful and dwindles our confidence in coming before God. However, if you think about it, Jesus who never sinned became sin literally on the cross so that you and I may become the righteousness of God. The bible says he never sinned yet he was made sin. This is a very unfair exchange but all this was done for the sake of you and me. Therefore, if we sin, it shouldn’t deter us from running to him. He became sin for goodness sake! He knows the shame of sin. He knows it all.

In the Old Testament, the High Priest went in into the Most Holy place to offer sacrifice for the sins of the children of Israel once every year. The sacrifice was accepted based on how pure the animal was and how pure the high priest was. The high priest could lose his life if he stood before God having sin in him. Thanks be to God our high priest doubles as the sacrifice. Thanks be to God also that he is very pure. Therefore, our confidence of righteousness is not in our deeds but totally in the purity of the sacrifice that bought our redemption. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14 – 16

Our high priest was tempted in every way as we are right now yet he was without sin. He isn’t oblivious to the weight of temptation. Neither does he judge us unfairly. Therefore in all confidence, we approach the throne of God that we may receive mercy if we sin and to find grace to keep us from sinning.

The Humanity in the Trinity

The WORD became flesh and dwelt amongst men as Jesus. The WORD literally took a demotion to become a man so as to accomplish the divine assignment of redeeming man from sin. Hence in that line, ‘I know you, son, I’ve got holes too’, what Christ is actually telling us is that he has been a man before. For who can wound God? Who can inflict physical pain on God? Had he not condescended to mortal man would he have ever known pain? There is humanity in the Trinity now because the WORD which became flesh has gone back to his former estate having experienced human suffering. That is why he is the one constantly interceding for us. And we cannot express our gratitude for this enough.

The first part of the line that says ‘I know you…’ deserves every bit of attention as we give the entire line. When God knows you, it is way different from being known by any human being. At best, our closest friends, parents, and spouses can only be familiar with our ways. But God knows as through and through. He told Jeremiah, ‘before you were a clot of blood in your mother’s womb, I knew you and ordained you to be a prophet to the nations’. God’s knowledge of us is the reason he predestines us. He knows you that’s why he has destined you to become who you are and who you will be in the near future. Way before you were a clot of blood in your mother’s womb, there was a calling on your life because God knows you. Therefore it is so remarkable that before he tells us he has holes too, he states that he knows us (according to the song).

Finally, it is very likely most of us look at the image of Christ on the cross and assume he only had 4 holes in his body and that was all he had to deal with. Note KB didn’t talk about physical holes in the song. He spoke about holes in the heart. These are marks of pain, anguish and sorrows that we suffer from being hurt emotionally, psychologically and even spiritually either by events or people around us. If that is so then we would have to come to the understanding that the 4 holes in Jesus’ body – the two in his wrist and the two in his feet – were not the only source of pain for him on the cross. A few days prior to the cross, he had been sold for 30 pieces of silver by one of his close allies. He was arrested after he had prayed so intensely that his sweat turned into blood. This points to the fact that Jesus was in a severe psychological and emotional distress before the Roman soldiers could ever subject him to any physical torture.

While being taken away he was denied three times by one of his closest disciples. At the cross, 10 of his disciples had gone into hiding leaving only John there. Even God had ‘forsaken’ him to the extent that he had to cry out in pain and ask why God had done that. I haven’t been this forsaken in my life before. We are talking about one who had been whipped with a flagrum the previous day and a crown of thorns forced onto his head. Then on the cross, he was pierced at his side with a spear.

When someone who has been through this level of torture assures you he understands your pain, you are left with no option than to understand your own pain. If you can just see the hands that are holding you, you will notice the scars. That ought to comfort you.

When Jesus assures you he understands your pain and does nothing about it, it is because he was also made to endure the worst kind of pain a man can ever be subjected to. If the joy that was set before him was the reason he endured such excruciating pain, then the joy that is set before you should be enough reason for you to endure too. The hope of our calling is the joy that is set before us – that one of these days we will see him as he is when he returns. May this joy remind you of the hope and purpose that is in you even in your darkest hour.

This issue comes up for discussion anytime a prominent person in pop culture or the entertainment industry, who doesn’t appear to be living a Christian life expresses a certain level of devotion or even gratitude to God. Some Christians descend on the person on social media with highly judgmental comments. I know it is hard to understand this, but the truth is, some people may not look it but they actually have a relationship with God. At several awards shows that I have watched, most of the winners of the night, during their acceptance speech, give glory to God. A few years ago I watched the BET awards where Lil Wayne took it a step further by saying ‘I would like to thank God and His son Jesus…’. A person can express his appreciation to God for doing something for him (and this could be any other god) but when he/she mentions Jesus, then we know who he is talking about. Quite recently, Chance the rapper has come under heavy criticism for releasing songs that have God as the central theme while he has profane songs on that same album. I believe other rappers have received this same level of flak too. Kendrick Lamar, DMX, Kanye West etc. This is the argument, that if these rappers are going to talk about God or express the minutest appreciation to him for something they believe he has done for them, they would have to stop cussing and composing songs that project a sinful lifestyle.

I don’t condone cussing or a sinful lifestyle. In fact, I wrote a blog on why Christian artists shouldn’t cuss in their songs. Cussing is one of the major reasons why I don’t listen to most secular songs because I wouldn’t want those words to find their way into my speech. The point I am trying to make is, no matter how dirty or filthy the person worshiping God appears to be, only God can measure the quality of their worship and determine whether or not it is acceptable. As a human being, you have no right at all to do that. The argument is ongoing I believe in people’s conversations about the rise of artists like Chance and Kendrick. Because they cuss in the rest of their songs and even sometimes in songs that are supposed to be purely dedicated to God. Other people have actually gone the extra mile to judge their intentions for doing what they do. The assumption is that these two rappers are probably strategically creating faith-based rap songs knowing very well that a huge percentage of their fans are Christians, hence, these songs may propel their albums to higher heights. To this I will say what Paul said in Philippians 1:18 (ESV):

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Before this verse, Paul outlined a couple of evil reasons why people were preaching the gospel in those days. He mentioned envy, rivalry, selfish ambition etc. before he proceeded to state that whether in pretense or truth, so far as the gospel is being proclaimed he rejoices. This indicates that we are to do same. Whether these rappers are doing it for the money or not, the mere fact that they are using their platforms to point people to God, we must rejoice. Did Paul in any way make light of rivalry, envy, and selfish ambition? Indeed when you think about it, the fact that he said he rejoices even if people have bad reasons for preaching the gospel, then it appears he doesn’t mind if people do ministry for the wrong reasons. But far from that, in the opening verses of the second chapter of Philippians, we see Paul condemning selfish ambition:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3(ESV))

Therefore we can easily conclude that though Paul rejoices at the fact that the gospel is being preached by people who are doing it for selfish ambition, nevertheless, he doesn’t condone selfish ambition. In the case of the rappers, though we may not know their motives or even support their music, we should still rejoice that God is getting glory at their concerts. This, however, does not mean God approves of their lifestyle. But you see these are the kinds of people God actually wants to work on. Remember Jesus said “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17(ESV)).

One thing I have come to believe in the past few months is that God expects worship even from the worst of sinners. Case in point, the events leading to the death of King Herod. The entire story can be found in Acts 12. Herod killed James (the brother of John) and when he realized that it pleased the people he had Peter arrested too. Note: this shows that Herod was a showman or a people pleaser. Then in verse 21 of the same chapter, Herod delivered a speech to the people. The people being so amazed by it declared “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”. What happened immediately afterward is recorded in the verse below:

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. Acts 12:23 (ESV)

Herod was killed because he didn’t give glory to God. This is the same Herod who killed James and had Peter arrested, why didn’t God kill him then? I can’t tell. The only reason given for Herod’s death was that he was killed by an angel because he didn’t give glory to GOD. No matter how sinful a person is, God expects worship (glory) from him/her. Worship is basically man giving glory to God. So anytime we see an unbeliever singing praises to God let us not be quick to judge the person but let us offer to disciple the person if we are in the position to do so. Let us learn to leave certain things to God. You are not the spirit that convicts the world of sin – that is the Holy Spirit’s ‘job description’. Your duty is to be a witness and a dispenser of love (which involves intercession). Let’s learn to pray for people. We must understand that we are on our way to one destination but some are way ahead of others and others are way behind. I feel embarrassed when I see the stuff I wrote a few years ago. I had the passion and the zeal but little understanding and knowledge. I didn’t do the things I did out of love either. I wrote to chastise people, period! I did that because that was where I had reached in my journey. I know better now and hope to know more as I grow. My hope is that these artists who have so much influence will also grow out of certain things. It is difficult to tell where people have reached in their journey of pursuing God just by observing from afar. Therefore the best thing to do is to demonstrate the love of God towards such people. There is rebuke in love by the way. We can do all of that but let us not take the Lord’s praise out of their lips. Let us not hinder them from coming into his presence. Let us not make them feel unworthy even to stand in the Lord’s congregation. If Jesus allowed Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, to wash and clean his feet, clearly he isn’t bothered when sinners worship him. If it bothers you, I’m sorry but you are the problem.

God can use anybody to get the glory. The stage set up for Kendrick’s performance at the BET awards in 2013 was a house. The rapper emerged from the house to perform that night. Anybody who looked closely at the wall of the house would have seen ‘Jesus is Lord…’ written boldly on it. Chance the rapper at this year’s Grammy’s decided to perform his song ‘How great is our God’ and he gave God glory every time he came up to receive an award. You might call them sinners but don’t discredit their worship. God accepts worship from sinners. Always remember God can use anybody he chooses to, especially when the person is willing to be used. I would like to end with a verse from Isaiah 45 which talks about how God desired to make Cyrus King over Israel though he didn’t know God.

For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me. Isaiah 45:4

The album begins with the title track ‘uncomfortable’. Mostly, when artists name their album after a track on it, it is usually a disaster putting the entire album into perspective. In the sense that, you realize the artist clumsily puts songs together on that project and loosely selected his favorite and named the entire album after it. That is nasty. With Andy’s ‘uncomfortable’, the message resonates throughout all the songs and not just the title track. Even the album cover depicts the state of being uncomfortable. Time and space won’t allow me to do an in depth explication of each song, but I will try to do so for most of them.

As Andy himself rightly said, ‘the album will disturb comfortable people and comfort disturbed people’. It does that, actually. The first verse of the uncomfortable track begins with the following lines. ‘Lord prepare me for the war/ Comfort be the thing that would make a king fall/Eyes on the Lord/ Gotta grip the blade of the sword…’. Of course comfort fills you with complacency and serves as a hindrance to progress. Kings are amongst the most comfortable people in the world. Their status affords them all the pomp and pageantry that your sophisticated imagination may never be able to conceive. So of course, Andy was talking about a king here…or so I thought. In his interview on the ‘Sway in the morning’ radio show, he stated that he was specifically talking about King David. These lines are an allusion to the time when David stayed behind and didn’t go to war. He ended up sleeping with Uriah’s wife and killing Uriah as a result of his intentions to cover up the mess. Had David chosen war (discomfort) over the comfort of staying back in his palace and strolling on his porch, he wouldn’t have fallen into such an abominable sin. The message is clear here, “comfort is not always a good enough reason to take a decision”. Sometimes the road to success is like a thorny park and the road leading nowhere is as comforting as carpet grass. Choose ye this day your destination but don’t do so with the path leading to it in mind.

Another amazing message in those few lines is the part where he says ‘gotta grip the blade of the sword’. According to him, he used that imagery to depict the need for Christians to judge themselves by the standards of the bible before they judge others. Let me explain this. So the Word of God is described as being ‘sharper than a two-edged sword’ in the bible, therefore when we judge people, we point the sword in their face while gripping the handle. But God didn’t intend for us to grip the handle of the sword but the blade. We must do this on a daily basis: grip the sword by the blade, cut yourself and bleed! Bleed till you are drained of every bit of ‘your  self-righteous self’ then you can go out there and correct others and help rid their lives of any impurities. Let them grip the sword by the blade too, don’t point the sword at them. **Deep!**

Uncomfortable is followed closely by ‘uptown’. In Uptown, Andy tries to capture and retell the lifestyle of people living in his hometown, New York city. Just as I stated earlier, every song screams the need to let go of a comfortable lifestyle and choose that which is beneficial though it may appear unpleasant now… so does ‘uptown’. In the first verse Andy says, ‘Baby, how you gon complete your life’s checklist/Spending every night watching netflix?/ Time is precious, gotta invest it when you spend it/ If we are prisoners to comfort, we judge our own sentences…’. This is self explanatory. We see the theme of ‘disturbing comfortable people’ live and coloured here. Instead of spending countless hours engaging in that which merely gives you pleasure, it would be a better investment to spend time doing profitable things.

Desperados is my favorite song on the album: the music; the instrumentation; Mali Music’s hook coupled with Andy’s versatile rap style makes it a delicious meal to my ears. A desperado is a violent criminal who is not afraid of getting hurt or caught (Merriam Webster Dictionary). In the song, both Andy and Mali proclaim that they are desperados who are wanted dead or alive. ‘Desperados’ inspires a positive rebellious spirit in me. Where I don’t want to conform to the standards society sets – even on social media. So if they want my life for the truth I stand for, well, I would gladly be a desperado. It is not about the number of people who like you, it is about how many people you impact positively: that is the real essence of this life. Andy states this categorically, ‘I ain’t trying to be liked, I’m trying to be a light’. Do not conform. Be a light wherever you are even if they criminalize you because of it.

Any Andy Mineo fan would notice that he has a knack for getting personal on some of his songs just to help people deal with the same issues. He does so in the song ‘Hear my heart’. It is a song for his big sister Grace, who was born deaf. In this song, Andy apologizes for never learning sign language which minimized communication between him and his sister. Andy ends the only verse of the song by saying ‘My big sister Grace, I’m sorry I never learnt the signs/ I know that you were born deaf, but forgive me for the years that I lived blind’.

We see Andy get more personal in two more songs: Ghost and Love. In Ghost he speaks about losing touch with one of his closest friends. And in ‘Love’ he seeks to redefine love. He does this by dispelling the popular definition people give to love. While at it, he made mention of the fact that some people – men especially – think they are too tough to love. It is a ‘guy thing’: we assume it is a sign of weakness to be vulnerable to someone emotionally. But no, Andy says it is cool to be like that, especially with the one you love. It is both therapeutic and beneficial to the growth of the relationship. Andy personifies love in the entire song and tells love that ‘when I think about God, you are the definition’. Indeed, God doesn’t merely love, GOD IS LOVE!.

In ‘Rat race’ Andy attacks people who expend all their energies in criticizing artists like it was a sport. He raises some very important issues too. Somewhere in the chorus it says ‘tell them we don’t wanna play/ we’re so okay with last place’. Now, who on earth would be okay with being the last in a race? *points finger at Andy* What he is trying to say is, we are all running a race in life – that is our individual calling. So if people judge you by how much you are losing in their race, please take a seat and be okay with the last position in their race. For all they know, you are leading in your race by being last in theirs. This definitely has to do with Andy’s position in the rap game in America. It may appear that he isn’t mainstream yet… but so what? He is so okay with last place. Since to him this is ministry and not a game to be won, he concludes each verse by saying ‘roof your ball, I don’t wanna play’. Ouch! That ought to leave the owner of the ball in a whirlwind of embarrassment.

I like it when Andy sounds tough on a track. When he sounds almost angry and delivers his verses with an almost hoarse voice, I love it *giggles*. In ‘Vendetta’ We see Andy Mineo taking the pulpit and pitching it on the stage of a political rally to address some political issues. The song is centered on one point: the artist is more influential than the politician. According to him most politicians have the right ideas and mindset for the job until they enter office then there is a visible decay of purpose witnessed by all. One line in the chorus captures this point: Pac did a lot more for me than Barack. Yep, he means 2 pac (the rapper) did a lot more for him than Barack Obama. In the second verse, Andy admits to his overindulgence in unnecessary things too. He says he has excess of things that are needed by others, referring to the 100 sneakers he has, which are meant for his two feet. It is all vanity and a chasing after wind.

On ‘Know that’s right’ Andy takes a few shots at the negativity of some hip hop songs. The truth about how most of these artists lie about the lives they live while they live in debt. He also said, “My home girl started stripping/ I said ‘chill, get a degree’/ She told me, ‘Andy you’re trippin/ ‘Cause you don’t make more money than me”. And that’s true. People could be earning a living from doing things that are either criminal or degrading and if you find yourself desiring their lifestyle, know that it isn’t worth it. Persevere through the hardship you are in and sooner or later you will be in a better position in life. Also in ‘strange motions’ he touches on dealing with addictions. In ‘Now I know’ he touches on the enlightenment he has received over the years dispelling some of the myths he used to believe while a child. He stated that he even ‘thought that Jesus was white’. The Album ends with ‘make me a believer’ and there is one musical interlude on the album: David’s roof. I state this again, it is a masterpiece.

Together, all these songs trouble you. They ruffle the branches of the palm tree you are resting under to wake you up from your sleep. Human beings will do anything to have a comfortable life but so far as we are on this earth we will always have problems. It is better for us to decide to suffer discomfort for a worthy cause. Let us not be caught  up in the mundane. Be worried. Be disturbed about the evil around you and in the world at large. Do not be complacent. Comfort can kill you. As G.K Chesterton said ‘Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure”. And Andy said ‘Nobody told us we could die like this; Nobody told us we could die from BLISS’. Be uncomfortable.

There is a need to set the records straight. Rap is the art, hip hop is the culture fast becoming a religion… this poem talks about my past experience with this genre of music.

It is almost a pardonable offense, when people think rap is synonymous to hip hop. Not too many people can actually tell the difference . There is a huge difference between the two and I believe if we could all understand that, much of the confusion going on about whether hip hop is good or bad, would be solved. I am not trying to say I am the repository of knowledge when it comes to this, but I would humbly say it is an area I have read and learnt much about. Hence the itchy anxiety I felt when I wanted to embark on this literary journey.

Rap is basically a form of poetry. Rap is  oral poetry, with a fusion of rhythm and timing. Rap is a form of art. I am not struggling to define rap anyway, I am just saying  the definition encompasses all these things that I have said. In my Oral Literature class, I learnt how oral poetry originated from Africa, hence, it is believed rap must have originated from Africa too. Therefore some people have come up with a somewhat coined acronym for RAP. They say it stands for Rhythmic African Poetry *shrugs*. You see, in those days, Africans recited these oral pieces in basically every daily activity. Some of which included hunting, farming, games played by children and even war. The rhythmic poetry was added to these things to eject boredom from those activities and also to boost their morale where needed. However, no one can deny the artistic value of rap. It is enormously endowed with artistic features. Whether or not rap is poetry, is no longer a subject of discussion for me. Because it is so obvious that i think anyone who disagrees might have done so as a result of prejudice.

Hip hop is different. Hip hop is deeper than a genre of music. It is more of a culture and it has developed into a religion over the years. Now before you devour me like a starved lion would do, I suggest you do a little research to get your facts right. The originator of an entity has every right to define it as he pleases. No matter how much you might disagree with it, your view doesn’t matter. So for us to understand what hip hop really is, we would have to first understand the definition the founding fathers give to it. And these founding fathers include Africa Bambaata and KRS-ONE (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone). Initially they meant hip hop to be a way of life – a culture. And embedded in this way of life is various forms of art which include break dancing, graffiti drawing and Rap. So rap is a subsidiary of hip hop. Nevertheless hip hop is not the originator of rap. In my readings, I realize that as off 2006, hip hop is recognized as a registered religion in the US. No matter how unbelievable this may sound, it becomes easily believable once you set your eyes on the book in the picture above -THE GOSPEL OF HIP HOP. So as KRS-ONE defines it, hip hop is a religion and there is no arguing about the matter because he is one of the originators of hip hop. And he wrote the Gospel of Hip Hop. My mouth remained open when I found out there is such an establishment as the TEMPLE of HIP HOP and KRS-ONE  preaches the gospel of hip hop there once every month. If you are still in doubt concerning  what I am saying, please go check it out on youtube, KRS-ONE preaching from the hip hop bible.

I believe art is a form of language, hence the various art forms. Therefore there are people who understand the language of certain artistic forms and do not understand others. So in your bid to communicate artistically with people, you would have to find out which art form appeals to them. I say this in relation to the advent of what should be called GOSPEL RAP. There are people around the world who are inclined to rap music, therefore may find hymns extremely boring. In order to preach the word of God to such people, it is paramount we do that through a language they will understand- RAP. The problem is therefore  not with the concept of GOSPEL RAP MUSIC, the problem is with the fact that people refer to it as CHRISTIAN HIP HOP. WHAT???? From the above made assertion concerning the fact that hip hop is now a religion, putting the word ‘Christian’ next to ‘hip hop’ in describing a single entity could pass for one of the most contradicting expressions ever recorded in history. It is just like saying ‘ISLAMIC BUDHISM’. This name should not be encouraged at all, as it might spell controversy in the future when hip hop becomes a fully grown religion. Maybe now we may not see the significance of discouraging the use of the term, but in the near future we will have to do a lot of explaining to cater for the confusion that may arise from this.

There is no problem preaching the word of God through various mediums. The only thing is we would have to be extremely cautious not to fuse the word of God with any other world view. We need not allow any culture that contradicts that which the bible stipulates to seep into the church. Therefore I think in our bid to reach out to people, we would have to be careful not to welcome worldliness into the church.