The Bible and Music

On Tuesday, we were asked to use the class period to find songs that had references and allusions to biblical texts. I managed to find quite a few of these, but the ones that stood out to me the most were those within the genre of rap. To the listeners that are not fans of rap music, these songs are all the same. Some listeners may say, “I don’t like rap music, because it’s all the same”. Rap music, in its modern form, seems to always be associated with sex, drugs, and crime. For this reason, rap is one of the last genres that students would look at when asked to find songs with biblical allusions. That is also why it is so intriguing. Ironically, most of the songs that I found fell within the genre of “rap”. I found eight songs within this genre that made both direct and indirect references to the Bible.

• Boogie Down Productions — Why Is That?
  • “Genesis chapter eleven verse ten, Explains the genealogy of Shem”

• Black Star – Thieves In The Night
  • “They say money’s the root of all evil but I can’t tell

You know what I mean, pesos, francs, yens, cowrie shells, dollar bills

Or is it the mindstate that’s ill?”

• Kanye West – Mercy
  • “Well, it is a weeping and a moaning and a gnashing of teeth

It is a weeping and a mourning and a gnashing of teeth”

Matthew 13:42

• Pusha T – Sweet Freestyle
  • “Jealousy’s a sin, Cain killed Abel

Backstabber, Caesar had Brutus

It’s hard to weed ’em out, even Jesus had Judas”

1 Corinthians 3:3

                “Jealousy’s a sin”

Genesis 4:1-8

                “Cain killed Abel”

Matthew 26:47-56.

“Jesus had Judas”

• Beastie Boys – Shadrach
  • “We’re just three MCs and we’re on the go

Shadrach, Mesach, Abednego”

Daniel 1 – Daniel 3, which tells the stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

“These three young Jews were spared by divine intervention from a Babylon-style execution: getting thrown into a fiery furnace (as outlined specifically in Daniel 3).”

• 2Pac – So Many Tears
  • “Though I walk through the valley of death

I shed so many tears

If I should die before I wake

Please God walk with me”

This is a reference to the oft-quoted Psalm 23, which begins, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

• Muggs – John 3:16
  • “What do you mean, John 3:16?

For God so loved the world everyman packs an M-16”

This is a reference to John 3:16, which states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

“‘every man packs an M-16’ sheds light on the much-debated topic of the existence of evil. Simply put, if God is good and loves the world, why do people feel the need to pack M-16s?”

https://genius.com/posts/1674-Top-10-biblical-references-in-rap

Listeners, because they associate rap music with drugs, sex, and crime, tend to overlook these allusions. Even the genres that seem to be far-from religious have biblical references. When searching for songs with these references, I found that there are songs that I’ve listened to several times, and never noticed the biblical references. Needless to say, this assignment was very interesting.