The Preacher and The Emcee….

Posted in Uncategorized by holyridaz on July 9, 2008

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature…
-Mark 16:15

The emcee is but one element of Hip Hop, but this one element has become the most influential component of Hip Hop. Ironically the emcee began as the sidekick to the DJ. These days that equation has almost been completely flipped it almost appears that the DJ is either a sidekick or completely forgotten about.

Because of the emcee’s visibility and position, most people measure the Hip Hop Culture by what they see and hear from the emcee. With this being the case it is somewhat understandable that the Church tends to frown on Hip Hop and sees it as the root cause of the urban community’s problems. Negative images and messages aside, the preacher and the emcee are not that much different than each other.

Comparisons

Both the preacher and the emcee have been known to address social issues. Both engage their audience with various “call and response” type deliveries. Both use their creative abilities to make their messages relate able to the audience. Both are unique art forms..and both can lose credibility when they lose touch with their audience.

In preaching you find different and varied styles of delivery, some whoop and yell while others eloquently encourage and even others skillfully use tone, rhythm and rhyme. The emcee is no different some “spit passionately” some get the crowd hype and others skillfully arrange and deliver words that will hit and cut you before you can even say ouch!

In the case of the Holy Hip Hop or Christian Hip Hop, the emcee is basically an Urban Preacher whose message is delivered in the style and the language of the Hip Hop Culture. These Christian Emcees likewise are just as varied in their styles and methods of delivery. Some are deep theological thinkers and expositors (Cross Movement, Shai Linne, 116 Clique to name a few) Some are modern day teachers/storytellers (G.R.I.T.S., Know Da Verbs, ect) and then there are some who are akin to a modern day apostle paul…what we like to call “redeemed T.H.U.G.S. (Totally Humbled Under God’s Sovereignty), these are the cats who were once filled with zeal but working for the wrong side…and having been redeemed they are just as passionate and fearless about spreading the Gospel (Gospel Gangstaz, Pettidee, Mynista ect) and the list goes on as there many different styles and types of emcees.

In many ways the Christian Hip Hop-er’s seem to have a distinct advantage over the preacher in the sense that they are using the tools and the language of the culture to engage them and lead them into the truth….whereas the Church and the Preacher are still struggling and wrestling with whether or not The Hip Hop Culture is the enemy.

At some point The Preacher and The Emcee are going to have to reconcile and begin to work together for the good of the Community. They should follow the example set in Scripture…Jesus always engaged the culture (it always upset the religous leaders…but He did it anyway) The Apostle Paul not only engaged the Culture but he would use their customs to illustrate and present the Gospel to them.

The simpe reality is the both The Preacher and The Emcee can learn from each other…and the Church itself can learn a few lessons from Hip Hop as well…

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Peep one of these Christian Emcees in action…the audience gets more than just a song…