Hip-Hop Discipleship

Approximately a month ago, a significant event in the Hip-Hop nation took place. J. Cole released his highly anticipated album Born Sinner on June 25. On the album there was a track that stood out to listeners everywhere, namely "Let Nas Down". On it, Cole raps about veteran rapper Nasir Jones being one of his idols and how they first met. At their first meeting, Nas informed the up and coming rapper about how he was a fan and that he was the heir apparent. Nas has been the vanguard of political and social conscious Hip-Hop, while simultaneously enjoying mainstream success, for almost 20 years. Nas was signifying to Cole that he believes he could carry on that legacy.

 J. Cole then describes how he succumbed to the pressures of his record label which was pushing him to produce a hit single. Cole did respond to the pressure and released the biggest hit of his career, "Work Out". Soon after the release of the single, word got to Cole that Nas hated it. Why would he release such a mainstream single that gave in to pop-sensibilities? Cole laments on the track that he "let Nas down". But what happened next is a thing of beauty.

About a week after the release of J.Cole's album, Nas released a remix to the "Let Nas Down" track. On the track Nas explains to Cole that he understands the pressures that record labels bring on artists and that he was only trying to explain to him that he must rise above the fray of popular opinion in order to sustain good and meaningful art. Nas affirms the young emcee and tells him that he, in fact, "made Nas proud". This is a beautiful moment in Hip-Hop and I believe it gives us insight into discipleship in the church.

I have been reflecting a lot recently on the idea of discipleship. I have been reading on the concept of personal discipleship and following Christ on an individual basis, but also the idea of communal discipleship. In other words, how do I as a spiritual leader foster and encourage spiritual growth and development in my church? One of the key ideas I have come across over and over again in my reading is the idea of mentoring or apprenticeship. Taking what you have learned and experienced and passing it on to someone else. This is central in Hip-Hop culture!

Once an artist has risen to prominence, it is an unwritten rule that that artist seek out and build up other artists. For example, Dr. Dre "discovered" and developed rapper Eminem. Once Eminem rose to fame he discovered Queens rapper 50 Cent who developed artists like Lloyd Banks and Young Buck. In this cycle, you have four generations of artists that are engaged in relationship and work together. They learn from each other and sharpen one another as artists and hopefully as people.

What if the church had such a concept of discipleship? Everybody is being discipled while they are in turn discipling someone else. It should be a never-ending cycle that keeps on producing new fruit. What if as soon as you become a Christian (or Adventist) you are expected to find someone else to bring into the fold? We allegedly believe this but few practice it. It has not become a core value in our church culture. If the work is to continue and churches are to grow, perhaps we could all take a page from Hip-Hop discipleship.