The new Messiah?
Does 
= 
???
Apparently Kanye West thinks so.
Not too long ago, one of my best friends told me about Kanye West's newest stunt. You have to see it to believe it...
In a February issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Kanye West depicts himself as Jesus Christ. I don't know if this has to do with the 'struggles' he thinks he's faced in the industry or if he considers himself the Messiah of Hip-Hop. Truthfully, I haven't read his article, so I can only speculate what it implies.
But regardless to the message behind the picture, let me just say that I'm not suprised by any of this; especially considering the direction that music has gone in lately. Everyone is out to find that hook (usually one set in controversy) that sets them apart from the next guy. It's become a mark of the industry. But, is this guy in serious need of a brain transplant, or is it just me?! From his overly sensationalized "George Bush doesn't care about black people" line to portraying himself as the Savior, this guy must still be suffering from a concussion from his accident. Yeah. I said it!
I guess that, as a Christian, I'm offended by his juxtaposition to Jesus. I mean, someone pul-lease tell me what cross this dude has ever had to bear?! Has he carried a cross for hip hop? If he has, I really can't tell. Not only that, but his multi-Grammy award winning night suggests treatment from the mainstream that is a little less persecutory than what Jesus endured.
But, the truth is: I'm not mad at Kanye or his magazine cover. I mean, how can I be upset at ignorance? What bothers me most about this whole thing is where this stunt is going to take him. I mean, how does God feel knowing that Kanye depicted himself as God's Son...the Savior of the world? I guess that's up to God.
Since I'm not God; nor will I ever be, I guess I'm not in much of a position to really say much more about this. All I can do is pray for him, as I would for myself or anyone else. I don't know what's going to come out of this whole thing. All I know is that God is watching and taking good notes.
- ACL
5 "Insiders" spoke their mind. Join in...:
I've not been a fan of rap since Eric B & Rakim (showin' my age). The thing that really turns me off to rap completely is the message. It is very disturbing to know that an entire generation of young people are being programmed to embrace violence, value material possessions and degrade women (don't even get me started on BET).
I've stopped listening to the radio completely. Even when they so-called "bleep" the words, you still know what they're saying and I think that it's disgusting.
When Kanye West first appeared on the scene, I thought he was refreshing. That "Jesus Walk" song was so positive. I thought it had a great message. I wanted to buy the CD, if not for me, for my 14 year old son.
I had a chance to listen to the CD before I could purchase it, and (besides a few other songs), the rest of the CD was a far cry from the Jesus song.
It saddened me, because Kanye is so talented. He doesn't realize the change that he could have made to this whole rap game. Rappers have such an influence over this young "hip-hop generation". They influence their clothes, shoes, speech, even what soda's they drink.
You have Jay-Z calling himself "Jay-Hovah", now you have Kanye depicting himself as Jesus Christ.
As parents, it is our responsibility to make God not Kanye the bigger influence in our kids lives.
love him or hate him: one thing you can't do is JUDGE him. if he's so "ignorant", then why is he producing mad hits while all you can do is sit here and blog about it?
Thank you both for your comments.
@ Kim: As usual, thanks for blessing me with your insight. I also think it's a shame that someone as talented as Kanye West is producing so much intellectually offensive garbage. But, hey...I guess it's all about entertainment, right?!
@ Anonymous: (1) I never "judged" Kanye West. But, even if I did, there's nothing wrong with 'judging' people; we do it all the time. It's judging people hypocritically and then responding to people based on our judgement that presents the REAL problem.
(2) Yes, I called Kanye ignorant. But, again, I'm not doing so in a hypocritical nature. We're all ignorant in different respects. For instance, I'm ignorant when it comes to cars, understanding women, and thermodynamics. True: Kanye is TONS MORE EDUCATED when it comes to the industry (which explains why, as you so eloquently put it, that he's "producing mad hits" while I blog about it). When I called him "ignorant", I was talking about his ignorance of the significance of juxtaposing himself to Jesus and, more importantly, the social impact that this has on people, himself, and the industry.
Ignorance is only the absence of knowledge. It's not a tool for imparting judgement...
Sad stuff for sure. I'll join with you in prayer for all involved.
I couldn't agree more!
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