Rock and Roll and Hip Hop

My band has never really been “evangelistic”. We’re not even comfortable with the “Christian band” label. I just don’t think we’ve ever understood it. People can be Christians, but how can a band, or a song, or a movie, or anything else other than a person claim to be “christian”? I’ve always seen the term “Christian” as a noun, not an adjective. I personally find the line between the Christian and the Secular cultures as bogus. I see it as an attempt by Christians to be like the World but not like the World. The mentality really is, “oh we can have cool stuff too, but instead of having to use discernment, instead of having to separate the grain from the chaff, we can create a culture that does that for us”. I worked in a Christian bookstore for many many years. I know about these things.
That being said, on Saturday my band played a cultural outreach show in Lancaster City. The point of this show as for a local Brethren In Christ church plant to celebrate the cultural diversity of Lancaster City (right away this sounds alarming, but fear not! I can speak for the orthodoxy of this particular B.I.C. church. I too was wary before meeting the group who was doing the concert. The Anabaptist denominations are some of the most unorthodox and “liberal” denominations in the North East, sadly). It was an odd show to say the least. It opened w/ my group of musicians playing traditional Irish drinking songs. So there I was in the parking lot of a B.I.C. church plant singing about being a rambler and a gambler. After we finished, several “Christian Hip Hop” artists took the stage. This is where culture shock set in. Not because I’m unfamiliar with Hip Hop, but because of how evangelistic these artists were. I could easily say that probably half of the time these gentlemen were on stage was spent preaching an evangelical message. Some of those guys were rather good speakers too, I must say. What really threw me off though was how the crowd reacted to it. It was a free show so many people there were people from the city who no doubt heard the beats and found their way to the show. The crowd was actually receptive of the boldness of the artists. Something about the Hip Hop culture respects boldness in a way that the rock and roll culture doesn’t. After a few of these artists played, my band The Suburban Sound took the stage, followed by more evangelistic Hip Hop artists (I told you, this show was all about showing off the diversity of cultures in the city!).
I was thinking about it. I think it was easy for some of my “rocker” friends to see those hip hop artists and kind of roll their eyes at the constant preaching from stage. That was my first reaction as well. I almost felt embarrassed for them. In my mind, such antics are really unacceptable. I exist in a different reality though. There is a stark cultural difference between Hip Hop and Rock and Roll. If my band got up on stage in a club or bar and did what these guys were doing, I’d run the good risk of getting shot, or at best, beat to a pulp. The rock culture lends itself to the “personal relationship” path. I’ve discussed my faith and my band’s world views many times with audience members after shows, or with other bands in green rooms after shows. I would consider those moments to be some of the most important of my rock and roll career. Culturally speaking, this is the best approach for where we’re at and what we’re doing. The problem I had though is that I assumed that all artistic cultures should have the same approach. I was reminded on Saturday that there is a vast difference in culture within the arts and as Christians, we are to be sensitive and aware of that culture when engaging it. By the end of the show, I had to commend the Hip Hop artists for knowing their culture and how to reach it. They were far more aware of their culture than most in the rock world are.

Irish folk music and Calvinism

For a good part of the last decade I’ve spent serious time getting in touch with my Irish roots. Mostly through music. I’ve tried studying the politics of Ireland and her history, the folk legends and stories, all of which I find facinating, but nothing has taught me the story of Ireland more than her music. From drinking and folk songs to the Irish rebel songs of the early 20th century, I’ve found a string of music that somehow moves through my veins in ways rock and roll never could.

About a year ago, I started to try my hand at singing and playing Irish music. I even made a CD at one point in my recording studio where I played all the instruments myself (www.myspace.com/logueandthebanshee, a rather crude attempt) and have started playing live. I’ve found this all to bring a balance to my art that I didn’t expect. At some point with rock and roll, I think I was getting burned out. There is only so much creative energy I can get out by playing saxophone in a rock and roll band. However, playing folk music I found that, even though I’m not actually writing my own music, I’m able to satisfy my creative cravings.

I find that it’s easy to balance my folk music with rock and roll, probably because they’re two very different styles of music with very little over lap. I also think that I’m exploring an area of music that will stay with me much longer than rock and roll ever will. What I mean by this is, when my rock and roll days are long gone and I’m old and gray, I will still be able to pick up a guitar or mandolin and play the Irish folk music I play now. It’s also creating a rich heritage that I’ll be able to pass on to my children. My grandfather’s parents died when he was very young and my grandmother’s family have been in the country for so long that our Irish roots were all but forgotten. I feel like I’ve been able to dig a lot of my heritage back up and it’s something I’ll be proud to pass on to my children.

So what does this all have to do with Calvinism? Not a whole lot really other than the fact that many of my ancestors were Scots who were sent to Northern Ireland during the Ulster Plantation. Both the Ulster Scots and the Irish Catholics suffered under the Church of England, giving them a common bond and a common thread in which to take up arms against the English in Northern Ireland. It makes me smile a little bit to think of the Presbyterians and Catholics struggling together for once instead of against each other!

Lyrical Theology

Last night my wife and I enjoyed a dinner at some friends’ house. During our visit, they introduced me to a Philadelphia hip hop artist, Shai Linne. Now I’m no hip hop fan nor am I much of a supporter of the “christian music” scene (that’s a topic for another post though), but this guy blew my mind lyrically. I’d like to share some lyrics off of his newest album, “The Atonement”. I am impressed at just how complete his theological case is in this song. I imagine it must be incredibly difficult to create such a solid theological argument in the time span of the average pop song.

Mission Accomplished
written by shai linne

Verse 1

Here’s a controversial subject that tends to divide
For years it’s had Christians lining up on both sides
By God’s grace, I’ll address this without pride
The question concerns those for whom Christ died
Was He trying to save everybody worldwide?
Was He trying to make the entire world His Bride?
Does man’s unbelief keep the Savior’s hands tied?
Biblically, each of these must be denied
It’s true, Jesus gave up His life for His Bride
But His Bride is the elect, to whom His death is applied
If on judgment day, you see that you can’t hide
And because of your sin, God’s wrath on you abides
And hell is the place you eternally reside
That means your wrath from God hasn’t been satisfied
But we believe His mission was accomplished when He died
But how the cross relates to those in hell?
Well, they be saying:

Lord knows He tried

Verse 2

Father, Son and Spirit: three and yet one
Working as a unit to get things done
Our salvation began in eternity past
God certainly has to bring all His purpose to pass
A triune, eternal bond no one could ever sever
When it comes to the church, peep how they work together
The Father foreknew first, the Son came to earth
To die- the Holy Spirit gives the new birth
The Father elects them, the Son pays their debt and protects them
The Spirit is the One who resurrects them
The Father chooses them, the Son gets bruised for them
The Spirit renews them and produces fruit in them
Everybody’s not elect, the Father decides
And it’s only the elect in whom the Spirit resides
The Father and the Spirit- completely unified
But when it comes to Christ and those in hell?
Well, they be saying:

Lord knows He tried

Verse 3

My third and final verse- here’s the situation
Just a couple more things for your consideration
If saving everybody was why Christ came in history
With so many in hell, we’d have to say He failed miserably
So many think He only came to make it possible
Let’s follow this solution to a conclusion that’s logical
What about those who were already in the grave?
The Old Testament wicked- condemned as depraved
Did He die for them? C’mon, behave
But worst of all, you’re saying the cross by itself doesn’t save
That we must do something to give the cross its power
That means, at the end of the day, the glory’s ours
That man-centered thinking is not recommended
The cross will save all for whom it was intended
Because for the elect, God’s wrath was satisfied
But still, when it comes to those in hell
Well, they be saying:

Lord knows He tried