Religion and hip hop

221 Pages·2013·1.89 MB·English

by  Miller

Religion and Hip Hop
“Miller’s well researched and thoughtfully written book is a vital contribu-
tion to scholarship, one that holds great promise for helping readers better
understand both the nature and meaning of religion and the deep signifi -
cance of hip hop. Anyone interested in the intersection(s) of religion and hip
hop should read this book. I highly recommend it.”
—Anthony B. Pinn, Rice University, USA
“Monica Milller’s new volume is a sweeping, provocative look at the com-
plex relationship between hip hop and religion. Drawing on her rich and
wide-ranging understanding of the art form, Miller asks very basic and pro-
found questions about religion itself. Looking past popular and academic
moralizing alike, Miller interrogates religion as an emergent and unpredict-
able phenomena, asking what it means—and can mean—for hip hop artists
and audiences today. In so doing, Miller generously and expansively clears
the ground for all future work on this necessary and vital topic.”
—Greg Dimitriadis, University at Buff alo, SUNY, USA
“Monica Miller has produced a lucid and unpredictable book that easily sep-
arates itself from the pack. This is destined to be a classic in critical hip-hop
studies and a defi nitive contribution to ongoing debates about the very con-
tours of African American religious and political life in the 21st century.”
—John L. Jackson, Jr., University of Pennsylvania, USA
“Miller’s ambitious enterprise sets out to rethink diff erence in black pop-
ular culture. Concise, engaging and original, this book should be read by
students and teachers engaged in the social scientifi c study of contempo-
rary religion.”
—Abby Day, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
Routledge Research in Religion, Media and Culture
EDITED BY JOLYON MITCHELL, DAVID MORGAN, AND STEWART HOOVER
1 Religion and Commodifi cation
‘Merchandizing’ Diasporic
Hinduism
Vineeta Sinha
2 Japanese Religions on the
Internet
Innovation, Representation,
and Authority
Edited by Erica Baffelli,
Ian Reader, Birgit Staemmler
3 Religion and Hip Hop
Monica R. Miller
Religion and Hip Hop
Monica R. Miller
NEW YORK LONDON
First published 2013
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
The right of Monica R. Miller to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Monica R., 1981–
Religion and hip hop / by Monica R. Miller.
p. cm. — (Routledge research in religion, media, and culture ; 3)
Includes bibliographical references (p. 195) and index.
1. Religion. 2. Hip-hop. I. Title.
BL65.C8M55 2012
201'.7—dc23
2012007936
ISBN: 978-0-415-62857-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-10083-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by IBT Global.
Printed and bound in the United States of America on sustainably sourced
paper by IBT Global.
To Hip Hop,
“My Horkheimer” who helped me crack the code,
and imaginations daring enough to “play”

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction: (Re)Finding Religion 1
1 Scapegoats, Boundaries, and Blame: The Civic Face of
Hip-Hop Culture 24
2 Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover 45
3 And the Word Became Flesh: Hip-Hop Culture and the
(In)coherence of Religion 71
4 Inside-Out: Complex Subjectivity and Postmodern Thought 97
5 Youth Religiosity in America: The Empirical Landscape 123
6 Faith in the Flesh 149
Conclusion: When the Religious Ain’t So Religious, After All 177
Notes 181
Bibliography 195
Index 203

Acknowledgements
This project was made possible and enabled by the compassion, brilliance,
love, and support of many people. I owe a debt of gratitude to the schol-
arship and mentorship of Anthony B. Pinn. This book stands upon his
intellectual contribution to African American religious thought, his work
on Hip Hop in particular. Beyond his scholarly contribution, his mentor-
ship is unmatched in a profession where, all too often, the commitments
of academic life often mean thin guidance for doctoral students and junior
scholars. Over the years, he has come to serve as one of the most important
infl uences on my academic formation. My gratitude cannot be contained in
the words “thank you” for the encouragement and unmatched mentorship.
Similarly, I owe an equal amount of gratitude to John L. Jackson, Jr. and
Deborah Thomas. Their diligence in extending community, mentorship,
and scholarly attention over the years has been immensely gracious. Jack-
son’s suggestion, revisions, and multiple reads of this project were invalu-
able and contributed much to what it means to take up an “ethnographic
imagination.” His support of this book from the beginning has meant a
lot to me and has continued to be an important conversation partner and
sounding board—especially at the beginning stages of this project. Much
appreciation to Ted Jennings at Chicago Theological Seminary for his
friendship, mentorship and meticulous and careful teaching—his class on
Jacques Derrida would come to be one of the most formative and impor-
tant classes during my doctoral studies. Most importantly, Jennings taught
me invaluable jewels regarding what it means to be faithfully unfaithful
to the traditions by which we are accountable to (and how to “read the
text closely”). I would like to thank Gordon Lynch for invaluable email
exchanges related to the topic of youth and religion. These exchanges were
immensely helpful for thinking through the subject matter. I owe a huge
“shout out” to Russell T. McCutcheon whose approach to religion grounds
this manuscript. His works Manufacturing Religion and Critics Not Care-
takers were paradigm shifting for this project. These works altered my
approach to religion in a rather profound way—they were the stimulus for
my “Aha!” moment—albeit 150 pages into this book, thus, fl ipping my
approach on its head and causing me to “begin again.” These two texts