Lyrical Theology as Regurgitated Information?

Currently, I am studying the art of album construction by observing the way Christian hip-hop artists put together projects, recieving constructive criticism from my previous project “On Word and Sacrament” and having conversations with fellow emcees. I am learning that music must be distinguished from lectures. In lyrical theology, the artist must present truth in an engaging way, however, doing both can be a challenge. We should avoid writing lyrics in such a way that it is simply the regurgitation of information or books in rhyme-form.  In creating albums, thinking is just as important as writing, time must be spent not only on studying for a song but thought must be invested in its presentation. I have noticed that shai linne’s latest album (The Attributes of God) contains less featured speakers than his previous albums, and if there are speakers, the interludes are about 30-45 seconds long (The Atonement). However, I have noticed some artists tend to have longer amounts allotted to speakers on their projects. The question I have been wrestling with lately is a song’s distinctions between lectures, sermons or regurgitated information. Songs and concerts are not lectures or sermons, but concerts (although we may do speaking between songs or performances, which I believe is perfectly fitting).

But, I think there is a tendency among Christian hip-hop artists to treat music as lectures, especially  the more didactic rappers. I enjoy listening to lectures, however, when I am listening to an album I tend to skip over some speaking parts (if it is too long, namely, if it is over two minutes) and go straight into the musical portions. I think this is applied differently to outros, I do not mind listening to long outros. But, in my overall listening experience I prefer listening to more music and less speaking on albums. So, when constructing albums I try to be aware of a person’s attention span. One of the qualifications for classic albums is that a person can listen to the entire project without skipping one track. If we have too many speakers — or speakers that are not presenting content in an engaging or creative way, listeners are more likely to skip the track. So, let us be mindful of the length of our interludes, and if not the length the way it is presented. I think we should also put thought into where we “place” interludes; if you have interlude after interlude or too many it could possibly disrupt the flow of the album when the listener plays it from beginning to end. However, I am by no means asserting that if one puts speaking parts on albums that are longer than one minute that it is wrong. I think it could be necessary depending on the direction of one’s album (See Early Cross Movement albums). The point I would like to mainly highlight is that we should be more mindful  about the length, presentation and spacing of our interludes while keeping the listener in mind.

Examples of Creative Lyrical Theology

1. Atonement Q and A- Shai-Linne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RUciHVpCbw

He could have simply explained various theological terms but he presented it in the form of a conversation with Stephen the Levite.

2. Clash of the Titans – Christcentric

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBdxbKQdcqA

They could have explained Calvinism and critiqued the doctrine of classical Arminianism but they presented it in the form of a boxing match. I just gave a couple of examples but there are definitely more, listen and observe Hazakim’s album  “Theophanies.”

#graceandpeace

On Beat Selection, Hooks and Mainstream Hip Hop – by Shai Linne

(Note: Quotation from shai-linne on a holy-culture forum discussion in his response to user named, “Intellek.” Also, this is not an original title for his post; it was untitled on the forum).

“Remember back in the day when there were only a few guest artists on records? Nowadays, there’s so many guest features that most albums look like compilations based on the track listing and credits. This is because back in the day, as one of y’all pointed out earlier, hip-hop wasn’t nearly as hook driven as it is today. One of the reasons why you see guest artists so much these days (besides label/ marketing politics) is because often, the guest is the one writing the hook. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where (mostly in secular but growing in CHH), when producers send beats to artists now, the beat often has the hook already written into it and often already recorded so the artist can’t mess up a good track with a horrible hook lol. I want to expand a little on what I was talking about in terms of making/ selecting music and writing lyrics that fit the idea of the song. This is something I’ve wrestled with for a while. I think this plays into the whole beat selection aspect.

I remember some ppl here questioning why there are so many “murder the flesh” songs in CHH. To me, the answer was obvious, and it wasn’t just lack of creativity (although that has probably played a part, too). Imo, the issue is that a lot of dudes are using a particular style of beat that conveys a particular kind of emotion. With many “crunk” south-type beats, that emotion is aggressiveness, passion, rowdiness, maybe even anger. If you’re a secular artist, you can take those emotions and use them to talk about whatever sinful thing you want- killing cats, going to the club and wilding out, street life, etc. As a CHH artist, if you want to use beats that convey those emotions, what are you going to talk about? The artists that choose this route often direct the anger at sin, i.e. killing the flesh. I think it’s the same as the demon killing phenomenon in CHH back in the day. Gangstas got saved and wanted to do music. So they did the same style and just re-directed their anger towards demons. Underground hip-hoppers who get saved often take the diss/battle thing and either diss/ battle false teachers or other CHH artists lol. I know this because I’ve done it. lol.

I’m not excusing the lack of creativity in doing songs with the same theme. But what that shows me is that a lot of artists choose the beat first and then decide what they want to rap about, as opposed to coming up with an idea and then finding a beat to match. So put yourself in the position of the Lecrae (I only use him because most of us are familiar with his catalogue). You’re working on your album. Someone emails you the beat for “Send Me” or “Go Hard”. You love it and want to use it. Now comes the question, “What will the song be about?” Well, you can immediately rule out a love song to wifey, a prayer of repentance or a song that explores your inner fears lol. Nah, the song is gonna be a straight up anthem that rallies cats. For Crae, he chose to rally cats for the call of missions, which is one of the things he does best. Now I do think a person can take a different angle even with those beats, but when you hear the instrumentals, it does tap into emotions that are good for the particular topics he chose.

For those of us artists who love “boom-bap”, we have to ask ourselves if that 90’s style beat is the best beat for what we want to communicate. Imo, sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s not. Depends on what you wanna say. But if you try to squeeze everything you have to say into that (or any) particular mold, you’re going to be limited in your emotional range of expression. Nothing wrong with being limited, but once you get to album #3, you’re about 45 songs in. And if all songs have been in the same general emotional range, that can get old after a while (For some, at least. Others love it and that’s cool). This doesn’t just go for boom-bap, btw. All cultural forms are limited in what they can express, especially when it comes to making songs about an infinite God.

 I remember my man Donald Chavis had something in his quote to the effect of, “You can’t kill the flesh over no east coast beat” lol I disagree (to me, Killing Sin is the best album ever on that theme) but I get his point. His point is that “killing the flesh” takes a violent, aggressive mindset. Therefore, you need aggressive music to do it right. And southern “crunk” is the most aggressive music out there in his opinion. I see his logic. Personally, I lean towards being reflective and provoking deep thought. That’s my personality and is more true the older I get. Even if I convinced myself that I could do it well, “Crunk” is not gonna be ideal for the majority of things I wanna talk about or how I want to express them.

 “Boom-bap” cats often express frustration with “Crunk” music. Me and Hazakim and Json have had this convo many times. “Crunk” is “jump around, get crazy” music. Boom-bap is “head-nod, ooooh at the punch-line” music. Many of us came up in an era where cats were at concerts with arms folded listening to every word to dissect all wordplay, similes, rhyme schemes, etc. And that was even true for some mainstream artists in the mid-late nineties. We’re (sadly) not in that era anymore. In light of that, the boom bap artist can either

a. Do nothing. Continue doing what they’ve been doing

b. Jump on the crunk bandwagon and look crazy doing it because they either can’t do it well or it’s not their understood identity, so it comes off as inauthentic.

c. Make some adjustments to update the sound while remaining true to who they are as an artist and doing it with excellence

d. Recognize that their era has passed, thank God for the season they were able to do it and bow out gracefully

e. Retire from music as an angry, bitter professional “hater” who is angry & bitter because the new era doesn’t appreciate “good music”

A few observations:

1. Notice that all the options except “a” sometimes and “c” sometimes are going to give you you a quick exit from the music game. I praise God for people who do “a”. I actually lean towards “a” in the sense that I don’t go into doing an album feeling pressure to stay “relevant”. By God’s grace, I’m able to do that because of a small but loyal support base. But not everybody can do “a” and survive. Unfortunately, those who do “a” often have to suffer the consequence of low sales and diminished influence.

2. One of my biggest frustrations as a fan of CM is that I felt like after “Know Me (Huh-what) became their biggest hit, they started to do “b” on their later projects. I think this wound up hurting them as a group imo.

3. I think “d” is a godly response, but I think pride prevents a lot of cats from doing this when it seems obvious that they should.

4. I think “e” is funny, but sad at the same time. And I’ve seen it happen a lot. CHH artists who do “boom-bap” need to guard their hearts against this kind of response

5. “Doing “c” well is mad difficult!!! Think about the people in the secular (and Christian) hip-hop who have attempted to survive an era change. Most don’t survive. The examples of those who do are few and far between. I think it’s easier in other genres of music that aren’t as closely associated with youth culture. Part of that is just natural. People get older, generations and tastes change. And hip-hop doesn’t seem to “age” well. This is seen in the secular where you have dudes like Em, almost 40 years old and releasing an project like Bad Meets Evil, where he’s still talking like a vulgar juvenile. Dr. Dre is close to 50 and has a 30 year old son.” – Shai Linne (via holy culture forum).

Why Do An Album on God’s Attributes? by Shai Linne

 

“Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Saviour of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficient souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrassing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show.” (A.W. Tozer Man: The Dwelling Place of God)

As the time approaches for my new album The Attributes of God to be released, I wanted to share with you about why I did it. This idea has actually been in the works for years. Those of you who have been following my music for a while know that on Grassroots Vol. 1, there was a song with myself and Timothy Brindle entitled The Holiness of God. That song was supposed to be included on the Attributes album that Tim and I were working on. The song Humility of Christ, which appeared on Tim’s classic 2005 release Killing Sin, was also supposed to be on the project. When Tim stepped away from public ministry in 2006, the project was shelved. As time went on, it wasn’t clear whether or not Tim would be returning. In the same way that I was burdened to do an album on The Atonement in 2007, I began to feel burdened in 2010 to do an album on God’s character. Since Tim wasn’t back yet, I moved forward with it as a solo project. Thankfully, Tim has returned, and we were able to include him on a few of the songs as we got near completion of the project.

So why was I so heavily burdened to do this project? The answer may be surprising to some, but here’s why I did it:

Because A Lot of Christian Music Is Not Actually About God

I don’t mean for this to sound harsh or overly critical, but have any of you noticed that the vast majority of music that would fall into the category of “Christian” is not actually about God Himself? I think this is particularly the case with Christian Hip-hop, but it can be seen in other genres as well. How can I say this? Well, most of the music I hear is more about US and our response to God, but not God Himself. Don’t get me wrong. There’s a place for music that deals with our response to God, but when that is the overwhelming majority of the music, we slowly begin to distort the truth about who the God is that we’re supposedly responding to. The Tozer quote above was written over 50 years ago, but could have been written yesterday. Our culture is extremely narcissistic and man-centered, and it seems that much of Christian music has followed suit. The Bible, however, is radically God-centered, and I believe that a radically God-centered worldview should be reflected in the songs we write. Because of our man-centered tendencies, the songs we sing about God usually deal with the things we like about Him (which are usually the things that directly benefit us the most), such as His love, mercy and forgiveness, etc. These things are glorious and we should write songs about them. However, if that’s all we talk about, we create an incomplete and deficient view of God, which is not in line with His self-revelation.

So, for instance, when was the last time you heard a contemporary song that echoed the ancient songs of David about the righteousness and justice of God (Ps. 11:7)? Which Christian hit on Billboard sings along with Nahum that God is “jealous, avenging and wrathful” (Nahum 1:2-3)? Who is producing songs that speak to God’s sovereign rule over His creation (Ps. 2, 115)? Can you direct me to a popular song that celebrates God’s omniscience along with Hannah (1 Sam. 2:3)? God’s eternality along with Moses (Psalm 90:2)? God’s judgments along with Miriam (Ex. 15:21)? These things are often spoken of in Scripture, particularly in the context of Biblical songs, yet they tend to be largely missing from our songs today. That’s not to say that no one is doing it. God has raised up an increasing number of songwriters who are expounding on His character. But when something so foundational and essential has been so under-done, it becomes important for others to step to the plate and contribute. The Attributes of God album is simply my attempt at one such contribution.

grace and peace,
shai

Believin Stephen: Advice on Projects, Promotion and Artist Development

 

 

 1. I think it is wise to check out the following you ALREADY have before putting out a project. Looking at followers on twitter, views on youtube, checking sites to see if people are expressing interest in the upcoming project- are all ways you can gain an accurate assessment on what your fan base is. Also if you are one who has put out multiple projects this helps you get a better sense of what to expect. I think if you are and underground cat and consistently making good music the fan base will gradually grow and the next project will normally be more “successful”.

2. It is a must to take it to the Lord and remember the true reason why you make music. For me it is to glorify the Lord and so if I get caught up in this disappoint I have to remember the main reason why I make the music is not about me. It is wise to go in prayer to God and ask Him to help you be content with the audience He has you to reach. It may be to reach 500 hundred people; 5,000 people or 500,000 people. Even if the audience being reached is small it is still being reached and lives may be impacted in a positive way. Through this I’m learning that it is dangerous to compare. We end up being like Peter when he said, “Which one of us will sit at your right hand when we get to glory?”. When we want to be the greatest and start envying other’s position and this is not healthy.

3. It’s easy to sit and complain about respect you don’t get but feel you deserve. I see too many artists do this but then don’t do anything productive to work on their craft.

First of all I think the best music comes from the heart. When one is passionate about what they are spittin about it will be better music. It also allows the artist to be themselves which helps the audience connect with them. Once the project is complete I think it is wise to do the following

-ask others to listen to it and see if any changes should be made
– after the artwork is done release the artwork about 6 weeks before the album drops
– release a few singles before the release date
– pick a release date and stick to it (don’t pick a release date until the project is 90% complete)
-drop a promo vid or a music vid before the project drops
– put out a video of you or someone else talking about the album
– put out another video after the album has dropped
– do as many quality shows as possible

4. I think it is wise to read reviews of your project. Also reading the encouraging emails and tweets people send about a previous project helps you to know what things in particular your fan base is feeling. I say read the reviews but it’s wise to read them with a grain of salt. Meaning- don’t believe everything in them as set in stone. I’ve had reviewers praise me for a certain song and my flow on a song and then had another reviewer clown the song and say the flow was weak- they were talking about the exact same song and the reviews are just 1 person’s opinion. However, if 15 people are saying the same thing about a project then it is wise to consider what they are saying.

I am against studying what is popular on the radio or popular amongst CHH and then trying to come up with a formula to make hits or something trendy. But I think it is wise to pay attention in areas which may be a weakness for you as an artist. For instance; if lyricism is a weakness- listen closely to good lyricists and how they form their bars. If content is a weakness – listen to people who stay on topic well and see how they do it– not to bite but to appreciate how it can be done.

5. I’d say it means being happy with what God has given you. Saying, not my will but your will be done God. Saying, “If you want my fan base to grow then help me stand firm while it does and glorify you and if you do not want it to grow help me stand firm while it doesn’t and still glorify you.

6. It helps to have the right mindset and also to have realistic expectations. When my next album comes out I don’t expect to win a Grammy, a Dove award, even a Holy Culture award, lol.
I expect to sell a thousand copies or so and for many people to not even hear it. This doesn’t mean I won’t promote it well or try to market it well but just being realistic. If God chooses it do exceed these expectations that would be great but will ask He would let me be content if it doesn’t. ” – Believin Stephen