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'All Things Work Together': A Culture Of Christian Hip-Hop

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Culture of Christian Hip-Hop What is hip-hop? This genre has become “a means for seeing, celebrating, experiencing, understanding, confronting, and commenting on life and the world”. It is, in other words, a way of living—a culture.” (“Hip-Hop: A Culture of Vision and Voice”). Hip-hop emerged into culture and became popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was birthed from a deep culture of suppression in the Black and Latino community in New York. It is a voice of culture, giving its perspective of the world. Lecrae’s album “All Things Work Together” has created an impact on youth through advocating Christian hip-hop as a new genre for this generation. “During the mid-1980s, at a time when many African American inner-city communities …show more content…

The genre as a whole isn’t bad, but needs a little rebranding. “Lecrae’s encounter with Christians in Hip Hop played an integral role in his “conversion.” When he was nineteen years old, he saw some men who dressed like him and talked like him. These Christians made Jesus relevant to Lecrae and invited him to a conference. Here, James White presented the “clearest gospel presentation that [Lecrae] had ever heard.” (“Refocusing and Redefining Hip Hop: An Analysis of Lecrae's Contribution to Hip Hop - Travis Harris Abstract”) Lecrae states in an interview, “There is no such thing as Christian rap and secular rap. Only people can become Christians. Music can’t accept Jesus into its heart.” The genre of Christian hip hop is still hip hop, it is the context of each lyric, song, and album that shares the Christian viewpoint of the artists themselves. There have been studies that suggest that youth often interpret and internalize lyrics more than adults, making them easily influenced by the themes in degrading music (“Refocusing and Redefining Hip Hop: An Analysis of Lecrae's Contribution to Hip Hop - Travis Harris Abstract”). What makes Lecrae’s music and specifically his album All Things Work Together so impactful on this generation is the artists motives and lifestyle behind the album. This is what shines through his lyrics and

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