So I did the unthinkable: I listened to a country music station.

At first, I was listening ironically. It’s easy to find entertainment when listening to such hits as “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.” But as I continued to listen to the top 7 songs of the Foxworthy Countdown, I found myself not only really enjoying the music, but also finding an odd affinity for the whole genre of country music. People who know me well know that this represents the beginning of the end of the world.

So, as we await the implicitly imminent return of Christ, I thought I might share with you some things I really appreciate about this mysterious world of country music.

1. An Appreciation for the “Old Guard” Remember that guy who sand “Chatahootchee” way back in the day, when you went through that country music phase (oh wait, is that just me?)? Well, he’s got the current number one hit song right now in country music! And that’s not just a fluke! The country music charts are filled with older country music stars who weren’t cast out and left to fend for themselves like much of the music industry we’re familiar with. Not only does this demonstrate loyalty, but it also demonstrates an encouraging respect for those who have come before us. While much of pop music is obsessed with throwing off the old ways and embracing younger and younger stars, country music seems to be just as obsessed with the “been there, done that” crowd.
2. An Acceptance of Family Life Pop music as a rule seems to have an utter disregard for the family, not only in the content of its lyrics, but in its demands and expectations for artists. But as I listened to a few interviews with several country music stars, I started noticing that they spoke a lot about their family, and they seemed to be able to make them a priority in the context of the “Big Country Star” life. And from what I gathered, the fans and radio stations that support them wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s just a part of the culture.
3. An Esteem for “Home” While pop music is often about running away or doing your own thing, country music loves nothing more than “back home,” a place where you can be around those you trust, go to your home church, honor your parents, and feel comfortable raising your kids. While this isn’t the best way for everyone, I do feel like many in our culture tend to leave home simply out of rebellion or escape. Plus, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that our constant longing for “home” points to a more eternal longing we all have for a place that will truly be our home.
4. Lyrically and musically, a lot of it is actually kind of good. Here’s the thing: I haven’t given country music enough credit. The truth is, like most genres, it has good and bad bands, artists and songs within it. Toby Keith is an example of bad country music. But I heard quite a few truly good songs that seemed to be celebrated for all the right reasons, including the fact that they were just good, artistically.

I’m sure there’s more than this, but this is just the sort of thing I became acutely aware of after listening to country music for about 30 minutes… until I couldn’t take it anymore and had to cleanse my palate with some Sufjan Stevens.

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+ 44 sounds pretty much like a carbon copy of Blink 182. Their songs may be a bit more “mature” in the sense that Hoppus doesn’t sing about “seeing girls after class” and “farts,” but the style and sound are almost identical (with the exception, perhaps, of “Make You Smile”).

This commonality sent me off on a trail of thought: why is it that artists are considered good if they remain the same? Shouldn’t there be a level of maturation, development of skill, style, and general growth as musicians that attracts audiences. Why is it that so few artists actually grow over the years? I think of bands like MxPx and Green Day who always sound exactly the same (this is perhaps more a problem of “punk” music than any other style). But even more popular “rock” bands like The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith don’t show any real growth for all their years at the wheel of their music.

In an age where genre identification is increasingly hard (think of labels like “Post-Hardcore,” and bands like Showbread who classify themselves as “raw rock”), one can’t help but wonder if musicians are still settling for the pragmatic. Whatever worked on their last album must be good for this one. One can hardly blame them: we live in a culture of pragmatism, and for the most part fans continue to buy what they like and don’t do much venturing into the unknown.

But I wonder if it strikes more at the heart of a Christian appreciation of art to view the advantageous and the “boldly new” as better than the “old stand by.” Whatever one might think of the lyrics of Derek Webb he’s gone in a direction stylistically that is vastly different than Caedmon’s Call. And whatever one might say of Relient K’s “Deathbed” the song is a fresh take for a standard “pop-punk,” “Christian” band.

I confess my own thoughts on this subject are as immature and undeveloped as + 44’s sound is, and there will be more questions from this topic than answers. But I can’t help but wonder: Is it more “Christian” for an artist to pursue maturation, development, and creativity of his style and skill than to simply reproduce what worked last album. I think it must be if to be made in the image of God means partly to be instilled with the power to be creative and reflect the beautiful. A Theology of art seems to cry out for continued growth and development and not reproduction. It’s a lesson that is certainly for Christians, but I must advise + 44 to pick up on it too!

And for those of us who are musical consumers, let me recommend that you take an adventure into the unknown every now and again and learn to appreciate the progressive development of musical skill and to step outside the comforts of your favorite genre. In so doing you just might catch a glimpse of some truly beautiful music, and not a reproduction of last year’s somewhat decent work. You might just learn to see the beauty of our creative God as well, who makes no two things identical!

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Editor’s Note: A while back, CAPC writer Scott Schultz wrote a post called “The Failure of Hip Hop” which resulted in quite a bit of conversation between Scott and what seemed like every Christian hip-hop fan on the planet. The biggest complaint: Scott didn’t know what he was talking about. Kiel Hauck - Christ and Pop Culture’s first official guest writer - on the other hand, knows Christian hip hop well. Kiel Hauck took it upon himself to write a lengthy response to Scott’s post.

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This post is a response to the article The Failures of Christian Hip Hop posted on April 29th of this year by Scott Schultz at the site Christ and Pop Culture.

The article has received an abundant amount of feedback from hip hop fans and non hip hop listeners alike, as it raises several questions about the effectiveness of Christians in hip hop and the success of the genre as a whole. Schultz admits in the article to being an outsider of Christian hip hop and makes his arguments based on what he has seen from the genre.

Back in 1999, I came to know Christ as my personal Lord and Savior thanks in part to a good friend of mine who knew I was into hip hop sharing music with me from several Christian rap artists. We soon started our own group, recording a four song ep, played shows around the area, and even got our own Christian hip hop radio show on a local station. In the past several years, I have had the pleasure of hosting other hip hop shows, writing for sphereofhiphop.com and Feed Magazine, and interviewing and spending time with many different Christian hip hop artists. I feel like I have a pretty good history and understanding of the genre, albeit not as much as others, though I do believe I can give a good defense of the genre and explain why it’s not a failure and why we may need to redefine our definition of success.

First, hip hop is community based

Have you ever wondered why you can usually name the hometown of any rapper you’ve ever heard of? Why can’t we do this with other genres? (Sure, there are other bands and artists that we could easily state where they’re from, but the fact is that this is much more prevalent in hip hop). The reason is because of the strong sense of community that lies in the roots of hip hop music. Even the beginnings of hip hop involved a desire to embrace your community and represent the area you call home. This is why so much respect lies in one’s community and why “beefs” often erupt and cause divisions based on city, coast, area, etc.

Even rappers who don’t “make it big” as far as radio play and MTV rotations are concerned can still be some of the most respected and locally famous rappers around. If you want proof, begin going city to city and polling people on their favorite rappers. You’ll find that from city to city, the name of the rapper will be different and will always consist of rappers from the area.

A perfect example of this is Playdough. Playdough is one half of the group ill Harmonics and is also part of Phonetic Composition and Deepspace 5. While ill Harmonics garnered some attention in the 90s as part of MTVs show “The Cut,” Playdough and the other acts he has been involved in have never had breakthrough success that resulted in million plus record sales. However, on your next trip to Dallas, Texas (Playdough’s home city) begin asking around about him. He’s been a regular fan-favorite battler and freestyler in the area for years and just last year was on Dallas 97.9 The Beat’s weekly listener-voted freestyle battle. Playdough reached the maximum amount of consecutive wins before having to be retired so others could have a chance.

Even in a hip hop mecca like Los Angeles, local crews like Tunnel Rats and LA Symphony have the respect of their peers and local hip hop listeners. In college, I was part of a weekly hip hop talk show with three other people, one of which was Salimar Madera from L.A. Upon meeting her and asking her if she knew who LA Symphony was, she replied “Of course! Everyone knows who they are.” San Francisco hip hop listeners are focused on the rappers on their local label Quannum Projects. You may have heard one of the rappers from this label, Lyrics Born, in a Diet Coke commercial a few years back. Otherwise, you’ll have to hit the local clubs and radio stations to get a taste of what San Fran hip hop fans listen to. For many rappers, gaining the respect of their city is the highest achievement you could ask for. Even those who manage to breakthrough to mainstream media still pride themselves in their hometown. For someone who doesn’t understand the importance of respect that lies deep in the heart of hip hop, a locally respected rapper with little to no mainstream success could easily be considered a failure, despite indications that point to the opposite.

Second, the Christian market failed to understand hip hop

The final remaining urban label in the Christian market, Gotee Records, recently cut ties with their major distribution companies and went back to being an independent label. In the process, they were forced to cut all hip hop acts besides John Reuben. In the late nineties and early 2000s, it looked like Tooth and Nail sub-label Uprok Records, along with Gotee, Grapetree, and several other independent hip hop labels signed onto major Christian distributors were destined for success that would have made this whole issue irrelevant. Instead, the big wigs in the Christian music industry dropped the ball on marketing the music to hip hop fans, and instead attempted infiltrating suburban youth groups and failed to see real results. What happened next was an arms-in-the-air “we give up” fire sale which resulted in hip hop acts in the clearance bin and a complete shutdown of record labels, leaving respected hip hop artists with no home and no money wondering how they were going to continue making music.

The only remaining hip hop acts signed to a Christian label are KJ-52, John Reuben, and Manafest, who now apparently define Christian hip hop as we know it. I don’t want to use this particular post to bash these guys, but I will say that the Christian music industry was and is clueless when it comes to marketing hip hop. But hey, KJ sells well to the youth group crowd, so why not keep it up?

You could easily point the finger at “lackluster” artists without knowing what good hip hop is and without hearing the stories of those involved in the situation who saw CEOs that didn’t care to listen to what people were saying about the genre and how it should work and watched their careers and their music get slapped in the face. Many of these artists are now signed to underground secular labels, independent labels, or are just releasing their music on their own via the internet or the ol’ “out of the trunk” style. Despite the failures of the Christian labels, good Christian hip hop music is still around and is still making an impact if you take the time to look for it.

Third, hip hop is still affecting lives for Christ

This next section has nothing to do with platinum records and MTV Video Music Awards. Call it corny if you like, but Christian hip hop artists (through the creation of good and relevant music) have been and are still having an effect on the lives of listeners in the name of Jesus Christ. I’m just one example of someone who came to know Christ partly through good Christian hip hop music.

Crossover Ministries in Tampa, Florida, is a Christian community developed over a decade ago that is influencing thousands of lives through urban ministry in the form of hip hop. Cross Movement Ministries, a project of the Cross Movement, is doing the same in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Likewise, other communities are seeing the affects of hip hop ministry in their areas. The fact of the matter is, as much as everyone would like to see some of these deserving Christian artists sell a million records, the absolute number one reason for making this music is to use it to share the love of Christ with listeners. That doesn’t mean that both can’t be done together. I know someone will say, “Well, [insert mainstream rapper here] is sharing their message and is having a bigger impact on their listeners than any Christian rapper I know of.” Sure, and show me a media or artistic outlet where a Christian group or artist is having a bigger impact than its secular counterpart. It CAN be done, but we can’t measure our success based on whether it is or not. We’d all love to see talented Christians dominate the music charts, but at some point we have to realize that the message of Christ, however loud or subtle it is, is not welcome in the hearts of unbelievers unless the door is opened by Christ himself.

These are just three reasons I find it foolish to call Christian hip hop a failure. There are more reasons, and there are certainly areas we can point to and say “Yes, Christian hip hop failed here.” However, I feel that despite the “failures” I’ve seen in the genre and in the careers of artists I know and love, I’ve seen much fruit and hearts that are dedicated to delivering good hip hop music to those who would hear it. I know some will still see me as naive and unable to see failure where it exists. That’s fine. I’ve seen the success of it in my own life with my own ears and the same in the lives of others I know.

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Kiel Hauck is just your not-so-average seminary student in Louisville, Kentucky. He’s married to Teresa, and they are looking forward to a career in overseas mission work. He loves music very much, as well as movies, spending time with friends, and just goofing off. Kiel Hauck writes for his own personal blog, “he’s only chasing safety.”

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Editor’s Note: Be sure to check out the response to this article, Why Christian Hip Hop is Not a Failure.

“Most of these cats is featherweight.”-Talib Kweli

I’m a little reluctant to publish this piece for a couple reasons. One, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m an expert on the history or state of hip hop music. I’m not. In part, this should be automatically obvious if my general thesis is true. Second, while I quite enjoy hip hop music and have for some time now, I realize that my doing so is all sorts of ironic, given my own social standing and upbringing. Additionally, I know that my take on these issues are as much shaped by regional factors as it is by socio-economic and racial factors, and so a good bit of what I have to say here requires being taken with a grain of salt. With these caveats firmly in place, I’d like to account for the utter failure of Christian hip hop.

These musings stem from a recent concentrated meditation on the work of hip hop artist Mos Def and to a slightly lesser extent, his partner in rhyme, Talib Kweli. It’s worth noting that listening to Mos Def was recently listed as something that white people like to do. In fact, I have to admit that I received my copies of Black Star and Black on Both Sides from a gifted upper middle class white kid. Much more, the only people I knew in high school who listened to Mos Def were people of a similar demographic stripe. Fully aware of this, I still have listened to these CDs intently for years, unmoved by the fact that I’m just a statistic. And with every listen, I’ve fallen into a deeper and deeper appreciation of the craft that Def and Kweli offer.

Ashamedly, I have to admit that I am basically ignorant of the growth of these two artists over the past decade, knowing only that each of them have released several independent albums which I hope to obtain for myself one day. I can, however, speak to the immense critical praise that their debut production meritted. Allmusic calls them one of “the most intelligent rappers to grace the vapid hip-hop scene in the late ’90s.” Largely influenced by several social activist influences of the twentieth century, Def and Kweli emerged from the Brooklyn underground as articulate social critics of the violence and general depravity that quickly became associated with their genre, not to mention with African-American culture in general. Breaking stereotypes of the black man trapped in a vicious socio-economic cycle (a point they implicitly make in a soundclip opening the track “Brown Skin Lady”), they conceive of themselves and their work as less entertainment and more something like prophecy. The fusion of counterculture ideology with sensual beats and flowing rhyme is known in some circles as “conscious hip hop” so named for its appeal to transcendent human qualities such as wisdom, contemplation, ethics, and reason - features pervasively absent in the baser, more violent forms of rap and hip hop.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Mos Def and Talib Kweli is the mere fact of their success. To be certain, a major selling point for the Black Star duo is their simultaneously provocative and tight lyrical wordplay, cast over somewhat classy beats, a mixture of old school simplicity and jazzy sampling. Having first established themselves within the indie hip hop scene, their musical credibility has never been a question - and yet, these gentlemen began their career selling gold albums infused with moral exhortation and spiritual reflection (cf. the intro to Black on Both Sides, wherein Def waxes thoughtful on the need for people to realize that they are made by God). The only comparable entity that comes to my mind is that interesting creature known as “Christian Rap.”

The situation in brief.

Without doing much research, I think it might be a sound estimation that the first established combination of Christianity and rap can be found in dc Talk (even though they danced from genre to genre over time). While dc Talk made the idea of simultaneously rapping and loving Jesus plausible, their primary offering was novelty more than it was anything like aesthetic experience. Alongside rock counterparts such as Jars of Clay and Audio Adrenaline, a brand new market of alternative contemporary Christian music exploded into existence, and as this market expanded and matured, so did the diversity and complexity of its genres. As this pertains to Christian rap, one label took up notable prominence (probably due to a lack of competition): Gotee Records, founded in part by dc Talk member Toby Mac.

Likely without exception, Christian rappers (and their fans) draw from a peculiar sect of Christianity known as “evangelicalism.” Evangelicalism is generally characterized by post-fundamentalist disinterest in confessional concerns of the Church, and even formal ecclesial institutions in general, focusing the brunt of its energy, rather, on the more missionary tasks of evangelism and conversion of individuals. It may very well be the dominant religious presence in America, but if it is not, it is at least one of the largest - and if not the largest, at least one of the most powerful. This is evident simply in light of the fact the President George W. Bush - an evangelical - was elected for even a second term.

While one could write endlessly critiquing this trend, that’s not quite the agenda I have in mind. But as as the sins of a father often pass on to his generation, so do the main weaknesses of evangelicalism penetrate the work of its artists. I think these sins can be listed severally:

1. Evangelical Hip Hop is confessionally shallow. Evangelicals’ basic suspicion of doctrinal nuance and distinction leads to a shallow understanding of the gospel and the world. This generates an obnoxious reductionism, wherein believing the gospel is reduced to having a personal relationship with Jesus, and the world is nothing but the battleground of conversion. Thus, each song can only become reiteration of a single, simple theme. This is fine, of course. The gospel ought to contain the entire narrative of the universe as it does involve the one in whom we move and live and have our being. But evanglical hip hop tells a lie by reducing that single theme of the entire cosmos to something so dimly existential as yours and mine own “personal relationship with Jesus.” A more robustly confessional influence would free Christian rappers to appreciate the subtleties of existence and maybe even enable them to celebrate aspects of their lives as created goods to be wholly received with thanksgiving.
2. Evangelical Hip Hop is vocationally confused. This is the classic problem of the parachurch. Christian rappers often view their own work as a ministry of God. That is, there is a very real and present consciousness among the Christian rap artist that not only is he an “ordained” minister of the gospel, but that he depends on that fact to validate his entire project. In the Bible we see that the ministry consists of things such as the preaching of the Word, the washing of the Baptismal Waters, the fellowship of the saints, prayer, the absolving of sins, partaking in Holy Communion, and so on - and all these things under the care of duly appointed elders. Both this and crafting songs for the general populace can be done unto God, with thanksgiving and his blessing - and both, too, can be said to be a response to our “calling” - but there is a very real sense in which we must never conflate these two things. This popular misconstruing of “the priesthood of all believers” has resulted in the abhorrent belief that the graces of the media of film, music, and writing are on par with the graces granted by the practices which God has specifically commanded and to which God has promised his certain blessing if we attend to them. Ironically, in attaching sacred importance to their labors, Christian rappers undermine the credibility of their own product and distract believers from the primacy and basic sufficiency of ordained means of grace. Rather than trusting in the encouragement of the sermon, many individuals feel that the grace granted through the publicly preached Word can be substituted with anything they like - even hip hop. This is clearly a problem that goes much deeper than a subgenre of a subgenre, but it certainly shows its fruits here.
3. Evangelical Hip Hop is a misapplication of a medium. While the saying “the medium is the message” may have some problems, there is some truth to it. Rap is a specific genre developed in a very specific cultural context by a certain people that gives it a special integrity. Evangelical wasps, to a large extent, do not share in the same history as most rap musicians. Thus, it ought to be an open question whether or not the medium of hip hop music is an appropriate medium for evangelical agendas. This is not to say that spoken word over percussion is somehow antithetical to the gospel, but it is to say that we ought to consider a bit more closely what sorts of things appropriately “mediate” the gospel.

What can we learn from Mos Def?

In these failures of Christian hip hop, we can see where Mos Def and Talib Kweli succeed. First of all, Def and Kweli have a fairly literate grasp of the world around them. Their interests aren’t so esoterically circumscribed by the phenomenon of personal conversion that they’ve forgotten the world around them and its complexity. They can comment on global politics and religion as much as they can talk about local the social and ethical complexities of urban living. That is to say that Black Star loves (or at least knows) the world they speak of.

Secondly, Def and Kweli don’t suffer from the same false pretenses that their Christian counterparts do. To be sure, there is some analogy between the prophetic tone of “conscious hip hop” and Christian rap, but even when Black Star is at its preachiest, it’s not at the cost of entertainment - which, to some degree, is what all music is. The bottom line for a sound rap musician is impressing his audience with his lyrical creativity and vocal competency, and this against the backdrop of head-bobbing beats. Christian hip hop forgets this sometimes, and as a result replaces aesthetic dynamics with frustrating didactics and propositional finger-wagging. But according to Entertainment Weekly, this is precisely what Black Star does not do. Christians should take note.

Finally, though, we should note that the Black Star project, like much of hip hop, is a community project. Just taking into account the liner notes, adding up the number of producers and performers that show up on a single LP, we count something like 14 individuals, many of these having well-established music careers of their own. No doubt Christians have employed such collaboration in their own hip hop efforts (cf. the DJ Maj mixtapes), but the mere collaboration is not the point. The point is that hip hop as a fixed genre is something deeply linked to a community of individuals, a community that informs and is even somewhat held together by its music. Whatever amount of criticism or social commentary that Def and Kweli offer, that criticism and the style in which they present is an organic outgrowth from the values and beliefs of their own people. Largely drawn from suburban middle class white kids, Christian hip hop seems to parody this.

Co-opting a genre that bears the mark of a culture basically alien to itself, Christian rap lacks the proper “street cred” necessary to make its testimony convincing. Much more, it makes light of the very romance and intrigue that rap music offers its outsiders, supposing that it can simply transplant a culturally saturated style from its origins, substituting in its own evangelical ideology and simultaneously sanitizing the genre of the very rough edges that distinguish it. Thus, no self-respecting music lover can ever take Christian rap seriously. It’s a classic case of divorcing form from content, a perennial no-no in all things aesthetic. Insofar as Christian hip hop does this, we must conclude that it is a failure.

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In short, I got really involved.

It’s not that I’ve ever been opposed to watching American Idol, but I tend to like musicians who are skilled in a particular genre, rather than being “all things to all people,” as any AI winner pretty much has to be. But the lure of Andrew Lloyd Webber this week—not to mention Christ and Pop Culture’s announced theme week—drew me in. Say what you like about Lord Lloyd Webber (or, as he was dubbed on another reality competition, the “World Wide Webber”), but he does write music that takes some focused skill to perform.

If you watched the show Tuesday and Wednesday, you already know who sang what and who got booted off. I have to admit that I was shocked. I really expected Jason (he who, after meeting with Lord ALW for a master class on “Memory,” exclaimed, “I never knew that song was sung by a cat!” Um, seriously? It is from a musical called Cats, you know.) and Brooke (who, I admit, I had begun calling “Bambi,” perhaps unfairly) to be in the bottom two. I did not expect Syesha or Carly, who gave probably the best performances of Tuesday evening, to land there.

Insert rant about voters’ lack of taste here.

What I forgot, however, is that large contingents of people vote for their favorites, regardless of how well they perform. I may not have watched American Idol before, but I have heard of Sanjaya. This realization led me to some disdainful thoughts about teenage girls and how “they’re spoiling it for the rest of us” by voting for Jason. Yes, us. I momentarily forgot that they have as much right (if not more) to influence the show as I, the first-time viewer, do.

Then I got a little cynical and started to wonder about the effect of votefortheworst.com on Wednesday’s results. (In case you don’t know, votefortheworst.com is a site that encourages viewers to, well, vote for the worst American Idol contestant, in order to keep him or her on the show.) I went and checked it out. Yup, they were advocating for Brooke, which could at least be part of why she made it to the safe couch. It could also be due to efforts on the part of strategic voters, those who don’t think that Brooke is the best contestant but who vote for her anyway, either because they think she needs the most help or because they want to provide their true favorites with weak competition.

So it may be a little naïve of me to only just now realize that American Idol isn’t always about talent, but thinking about viewers’ voting patterns has raised some interesting questions for me. First of all, if I think that American Idol promotes bad taste and I want to subvert it, is it ethical for me, as a Christian, to vote for the contestant that votefortheworst.com has nominated? (Just to be clear, I have no plans to do so—I’m simply raising a hypothetical question.)

Votefortheworst.com claims to be helping American Idol fulfill its “true” goal of entertainment, rather than its stated goal of discovering talent. The site’s “About Us” page declares, “We think that the less-loved contestants are more entertaining than the producer favorites, and we want to acknowledge this fact by encouraging people to help vote for the amusing antagonists that annoy the judges. VFTW sees keeping these contestants around as a golden opportunity to make a more entertaining show.”

Fair enough. The only problem is that entertainment, according to this definition, consists of listening to bad performances and of watching judges get frustrated by bad performances. I, for one, don’t find that very entertaining. I also don’t find it honorable, just, excellent, praiseworthy, or any other adjective from Philippians 4:8. Like CAPC’s own David Dunham, I appreciate Simon Cowell’s acerbity in assessing the contestants’ performances; that acerbity loses its freshness, however, if Cowell is forced into a situation where he’s responding more out of “you again?” than out of a desire to tell it like it is to people who need to hear the truth. After watching AI this week, I found that I don’t want to subvert the judges—I thought their assessment was right on. I do, however, want to subvert the other voters.

That leads me to my second question. If I don’t believe that the voting results reflect true talent, then what should I do about it? I can cast my own vote, sure, but that doesn’t do much to change the big picture. If I’m so irritated by the unfairness of the results that I begin to judge other viewers harshly, have I stepped too far outside the bounds of Christian charity? Should I stop watching? Should I seek out some sort of proactive solution, rather than just complaining about it? If so, what?

If Christians are to be “wise as serpents, innocent as doves,” are there ways for us to participate in American Idol subversively and yet truthfully?

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But as far as I can tell, enjoyment of American Idol tends to stem from four basic categories.  These are 1) an appreciation for musical talent, 2) enjoyment of hopeful people being put in their place, 3) a fascination with celebrity lives and personalities, and 4) the competition and exaltation of personal opinion.  For Christians, these categories should raise some basic questions about what it is that we actually love.

1) Appreciation for Musical Talent
There’s nothing wrong with appreciating a good singing voice.  But ask yourself; do you show this same appreciation for music in other contexts?  My fear is that the enjoyment of music becomes an excuse to indulge our enjoyment of other aspects of the show.  If American Idol were merely a talent show that did not include the judges, the initial rounds, or voting, would you be just as interested?  Can you truly avoid taking pleasure in some parts of the show that may be challenging to your faith?

2) Enjoyment of Hopeful People Being Put In Their Place
Do you take pleasure in people being cut down?  David made an excellent argument for the importance of enforcing objective standards.  But is it the standards you appreciate, or the witty comments?  Are you happy that a person has received helpful feedback on their talents (or lack thereof), or that they were embarrassed on national television?  Is it possible that you like feeling better or smarter than other people?  What value does seeing people torn down have in your spiritual life?  After a contestant leaves the stage, are you more likely to say, “I’m glad that person finally received some helpful teaching in the area of objective standards,” or are you more likely to say, “What in the world?!  If you stink that badly at singing, why would you go on the show?  What an idiot!  He/she got what they deserved.  I would never be that dumb.”

3) A Fascination with Celebrity Lives and Personalities
I never cease to be amazed at how much people know about their heroes (myself included).  How much interest do you have in the details of a person’s upbringing and background, challenges and qualities?  How much does that influence your evaluation of their talent?  Is your interest any different than the strong interest in celebrity that drives the paparazzi industry?  How articulate are you about their personal qualities and character traits?  Most importantly, is there a possibility that this fascination is the same as Idol worship?  After all, is there ANY aspect of the show that does NOT promote Idol worship?

4) The Competition and Exaltation of Personal Opinion
How important is it to you that your voice be heard (votes, water-cooler conversations, etc.)?  Do you find yourself caring deeply about sharing your thoughts as widely as possible?  Do you become emotionally invested in convincing people of your point of view?  Are you happy when your dislike of a particular contestant is vindicated?  How many times do you vote?  Are you unhappy with those people who vote for a candidate you dislike, or don’t show enough support for the one you do like?  What effect does it have on you when expert judges appreciate a different candidate than the one you most enjoy?  After all, how can a person say they appreciate Simon’s enforcement of objective standards, but then vote against those whom Simon seems to be most impressed by?

My personal tendency is to be attracted to the contestants’ personal qualities.  I become fascinated by what makes them tick, and what drives their hunt for glory.  Perhaps that is why I liked Katherine McPhee- she seemed to want to break into the music industry because she loved music rather than fame.  However, I found that this mild interest quickly became over-appreciation, as I argued for my perspective in every conversation about the show at work, school, or even church.  The slide from enjoyment to sin is a powerfully simple one in the American Idol world.

I realize all this is less than concrete.  That, I suppose, is the nature of dealing with a multifaceted national phenomenon.  My central point, though, is that the show is obviously built on playing to certain passions and interests that we have as humans.  Christians need to thoughtfully and introspectively ask why the show appeals to them personally, and then challenge those attractions in light of Scripture.

What do you think?  Are those four categories helpful?  What do YOU like or struggle with on American Idol?  Am I being too hard or not hard enough on the show?

Oh, and one last thing.  In the spirit of fairness, I have to admit that if you changed the category of “Musical Talent,” to, “Athletic Talent,” many of these same questions and arguments would apply to the professional sports industry (NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.)!  Those of us who skip American Idol but watch 6 hours per week of baseball, football, hockey, basketball, or other sports should be extremely careful before we condemn a show that’s on for a mere hour per week.

• The Case for Simon Cowell
• A Jew on Jesus on AI
• Confessions of a First-Time American Idol Viewer

Click here to listen!

Click here to listen!

About three weeks ago, Ben and I sat down and discussed American Idol, including the morality of American Idol’s infamous audition episodes, whether or not Christians should embrace and support Idol Gives Back, and more. Also, we give out our Christ and Pop Culture Awards for Voting Shows.

We love feedback. If you’d like to respond you can comment on the website, send an email to christandpopculture@gmail.com or best yet you can leave a voice-mail at 206-888-2471. We would love to respond to feedback on the show, so do it now!

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The music in this episode is by SoberMinded and awesome rap duo featuring our own writer and co-founder, Alan Noble. Check them out!

• Podcast #26: I Am [Not Using That Stupid] Iron Man [Cliche]
• Podcast #25: Speaking of Narnia…
• Podcast #24: Pop Culture’s Startling Lack of Restraint - Sexuality and Nudity

“That sounded like a cat being set on fire and run through a car wash for extinguishing. It was the most awful sound I have ever had the displeasure of hearing.”

Those words, while a bit exaggerated, are all too often the types of expressions that come from the mouth of American Idol judge Simon Cowell. Known as the “bad-boy” of the panel of judges for the pop-music competition show, Cowell is not afraid to tell it “like it is.” His honesty, while being a bit harsh and over the top itself, is a breath of fresh air in a culture of political correctness.

One need only contrast two of the judges to see how vastly different Cowell is from the reigning culture. Paula Abdul consistently offers feedback to the singers which is meaningless, often indiscernible, and half the time in contradiction to claims she has made previously. The motive behind Abdul’s asinine comments is politeness. She is wary of offending singers, or making them feel bad. Conversely, Simon Cowell doesn’t hesitate to announce that a performer sounded like cheesy karaoke from hell, even as the audience roars with “boo” from behind him. And it is this forthright honesty and grip on quality standards that makes me appreciate American Idol.

We live in a culture that is constantly asserting three major ideas: (1) People Have A Right Not To Be Offended; (2) Truth is Subjective; and (3) There Are No Standards For Good Art. In our culture it is often asserted that people have no right to say anything that another person might disagree with. Whole law suits are acted out on the basis of this right to never be offended. We hear this type of idea expressed often in the early editions of AI, where spurned idol wannabes recite their offendedness to the camera. Usually it goes something like, “Who does Simon think he is, saying that about me! I know I can sing and he’s just a jerk!” In response to this ideology, however, AI offers up a dose of reality to what are often some of the worst singers in the history of existence. Those who have been told all their life that they are really great singers receive a wake up call: “You really are that bad!”

Postmodernism, as a movement, developed the already rising idea of subjective truth , which says that no one has a right to say what is right or wrong,  true or false, etc. The fact that the three judges of AI can evaluate a person as either good or bad flies in the face of this philosophy. They suggest that there is indeed such a thing as good singing and that certain people’s performances don’t fit within those standards. Those who would contend that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” (which may to some degree be true) are forced here to wrestle with the notion that there are some artistic expressions that simply aren’t that good by any reasonable standards. Being a Pop-Vocalist requires certain hallmarks, and has a certain standard. All those auditioning for AI, and striving to be The American Idol must abide by those standards, and Simon Cowell will do his best to see that they do.

Of course, American Idol isn’t a Christian television program (no matter how many times they sing “Shout to the Lord”), but it does reflect some principles that Christians can and should appreciate: Honesty, objectivity, and reality. Of course the derision and humiliation of individuals on the show can be perceived as a negative by Christians, and I suppose some believers will want to accuse Simon Cowell of being the anti-Christ. But I am actually inclined to disagree. If Simon Cowell is helping people to stop taking themselves so seriously then maybe the culture will start taking God more seriously. I won’t hold my breath. But in the meantime I think I’ll enjoy the occasional episode of American Idol and remind myself that some people really do sound like screeching chalk when they sing, even when its not politically correct to tell them so.

• What Do We Truly Like About American Idol?
• A Jew on Jesus on AI
• Podcast #25: Should Christians Cast Down their (American) Idols?

“Oh, you like 50 Cent? Then you gotta hear Lecrae man! Hold on, let me show you this one song he’s got, it’s dope, you’ll love it”

Both parties sit there uncomfortably as the song plays.

“So, what’dya think? The cool thing about them is they are Christian too! It just goes to show that you can be a believer and listen to cool music”

“Yeah, that was good, I guess, but did that guy just brag about nodding his head to ‘Jesus music’ as if he looks drunk?”

“Well, no, he wasn’t bragging, he’s just enjoying music that talks about God.”

“Okay, but he did say that everyone looks at him when he’s driving around listening to this music right?”

“Yeah….well..”

“I don’t know, it just seems to me that these guys want to look and sound like thugs while they talk about Jesus. I think I’ll stick to people that really are thugs.”

Maybe it wasn’t Lecrae, maybe it was Family Force 5, DC Talk, MXPX, or Audio Adrenaline*; and maybe the conversation was slightly different. Maybe the listener said flat out, “this song sucks,” or “why would I listen to Christian hardcore? That defeats the whole purpose.” My point is that we’ve nearly all been in a situation where we’ve been embarrassed by the poor quality of popular Christian music.

There’s been a lot of discussion about what’s wrong with modern Christian music and why it lags behind most secular music in originality and overall musical quality. But all this criticism has not brought about much change, and for several reasons. Perhaps the main reason little has changed is that criticism is the easiest response to any situation. It is a lot harder to do something about the state of Christian music (or “Christians making music”) than it is to criticize it. With that in mind, I would like to offer a list of ways that we can practically help improve the quality of Christian music, instead of merely complaining about it.

1. Consider whether or not the music you buy is really worthy of praise. Often times we can be easily swept into the fervor of Christian consumerist culture, which like it’s secular counterpart, tells us how great a musical artist is and how desperately we need to get their latest album. For many, if the CD is sold in a Christian bookstore it has already past their quality test. In this age of iTunes, Amazon, and Myspace, there is no excuse for not listening to a CD (or samples) before you buy it. Honestly question the quality of the music: “How does this music glorify God?” ; “Is this actually good music, or just an imitation of the world’s music?” The bottom line is that as long as bad music is profitable, it will be made.
2. Be willing to search for something better. We are busy people. And the marketing from Christian labels encourage us to be lazy by pushing their artists and music on the radio, TV, and in magazines. Thankfully, we also live in a time where it is easier than ever to get access to quality, excellent, praiseworthy, Christian music. Yes, it will take time, and you may have to listen to a lot of awful music to find something worth supporting, but the simple truth is that as we find and support Christian artists who do make excellent music, we are actively reshaping the popular Christian music market.
3. Encourage musicians in your church to make good music. There is a temptation we can have when we meet people in our churches who make music to avoid criticism at all cost. These people are our friends, and they are making music to glorify God. How could we criticize the songs they write? Well, if we love them we need to speak the truth in love. Encourage them to keep making music, and when possible support them financially. Go to shows. Buy their albums. Spread the word about them. But also encourage them to improve, to mature, to not be content with merely copying what they hear on the radio. If we blindly support those believers around us who make music, then we will perpetuate the poor state of Christian music. We must be willing to encourage and admonish, in love.
4. Spread the word. Yes, I’m asking you to take a risk, to perhaps be like the person in my opening example who confidently and eagerly shared their favorite music to someone else. And sometimes, the reaction you receive will be one of disinterest or disgust. But the best way to help Christian music improve is to show people that there are alternatives–great ones at that–to what is typically marketed as “Christian music.”

As believers, we have a unique understanding of the world around us. We have a worldview that allows us to have great insight into the workings of humans and their relation to each other and God. We also have a command to “work heartily as unto the Lord” (Col 3:23). Which means that the music that Christians should be making should be excellent, it should be the kind of music that draws praise from all people–because it is made to glorify God, not man. Instead of being a source of embarrassment, the music identified with our Faith should be a testament to the wonderfully creative God who saved us. While it is easy (and even kind of fun) to sit around criticizing all the ways Christian popular music is bad, there are practical things we can do which will make a difference towards improving the quality of our music. And since there are very simple and practical things that we can all do, the question becomes: “Are we criticizing Christian music because we enjoy tearing things down, or are we really concerned about seeing change?”

—-

* My point in bringing up these artists is not to call them out as examples of bad Christian music, but to honestly address what I believe is the common situation where a believer becomes embarrassed when he/she tries to show a Christian band to an unbeliever or anyone who has not grown up listening to popular Christian music.

• An Open Call
• Another Open Call
• Worship Team Arrested for playing “Rock”

TV: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The Details: In Fall, 2008 Lucas will debut his first attempt at a TV series (lets just forget Young Indiana Jones). The all-CGI show will focus on the events that took place during the Clone Wars and will span 100 episodes. Currently the series does not have a network to carry it.

What I’m Excited About: The word is that Lucas has really been putting a lot of effort to make this show a success. One of the reasons, or so I’ve heard, that the show hasn’t been picked up by a station is that it’s targeted to teens and adults. The networks can schedule adult cartoon comedies and kid’s cartoons, but an adult cartoon drama is difficult to place. The good news is that it won’t be another Droids. The show promises to be dark, dramatic, and epic.

What I‘m Afraid of: Lets not kid ourselves here, Lucas hasn’t really pulled off a good Star Wars story since Return of the Jedi. The last thing I want to watch is CGI, Space CNN. In addition to the potential the show has of being a dialogue and plot galactic train wreck, there’s the issue of CGI graphics. Shouldn’t computer graphics allow us to get beyond blocky, Christmas-Special-claymation style character models? I understand that Lucas had to stylize the characters to make them work with as CGI, but there has to have been a better style than what they came up with.

Film: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Details: On May 16th we get the second installment in Disney/Walden Media’s Chronicles of Narnia adaptation which promises to be darker, more epic, and have more battles (including an all-new battle scene created just for the film!).

What I’m Excited About: What excites me most about this entire series being adapted is the prospect of millions of people reading Lewis who wouldn’t otherwise. Even when he’s writing for children, Lewis’s wisdom and understanding of the Christian faith is astounding and tremendously beneficial to readers of all ages.

What I‘m Afraid of: As much as I don’t want to be a crusty old English major, I keep coming back the stance that most books are better off as books. I felt The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe presented Aslan, and therefore Christ, as a grandfatherly god who only the evil, bad guys feared, unlike the Aslan of Lewis’s novel who quite rightly strikes the fear of the LORD in all people. I’m very much afraid that this next installment will continue to present a very human, although heroic, Aslan while over emphasizing the action/adventure portions of the story. Those that read the book will be introduced to Lewis’s stunning portrayal of our relationship to an almighty God, but those who only watch the film might only see Aslan as an otherworldly hero–which scares me.

Politics: The Presidential Elections

The Details: On November, 4th the elections for the next president will be held. The top contenders are Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards for the Democrats and Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney for the Republicans.

What I’m Excited About: I’m most excited about getting a new president. I’ve never been as torn up and confused about the abilities and honesty of a president as Bush. Without getting into a debate about the war or Bush’s record as a president, there are certain issues that are very important to me that I want the next president to address, for example: Global Warming, even if there is debate about whether or not the earth is getting hotter and why, I believe that as good (and extremely wealth) stewards we should do the wise thing and do whatever we reasonably can to protect the environment–even if we have to drive less or ride the bus; Iraq, I have no solutions, but something needs to be done there ASAP; and Globalization, I want a better policy of rewarding countries who don’t violate human rights and who do support the rights of workers.

What I‘m Afraid of: I have no idea who to vote for.

Music: Sufjan Stevens’ Next Album

The Details: Okay, so he hasn’t officially announced a new album yet, but since he didn’t release a Christmas EP this year, we know he’s busy working on something. Potential candidates for the next entry in his 50 states series (which will probably never be finished) are Oregon, Rhode Island, California, and Minnesota.

What I’m Excited About: Hands down, Stevens is the one musician making music from a Christian worldview who I believe really does it right. The music is played well, the arrangements are moving, complex, lush, and original; the lyrics are well-written and witty; and the singing is sincere. As believers I firmly believe that we should be supporting people like Sufjan Stevens who strive (and succeed) at making excellent art to the glory of God.

What I’m Afraid of: While Stevens makes amazing music, I do believe that at times he is more in love with the strangeness of his music than anything else. He seems, at times, to oscillate between intimate, sincere story telling and utterly detached musical experiments. Experimental music which is made just to be experimental is a pet peeve of mine. One of my biggest fears is that he’ll release an album that favors the experimentation over the sincerity of, say, Illinoise.

Books: Cormac McCarthy’s Next Novel

The Details: As with Stevens, we don’t have an official announcement that McCarthy will release anything this year, but I think it highly likely. First, we have the New York Times blurb last July stating that the author signed a new two-novel deal with Alfred A. Knopf. Second, he released a novel in 2005 and both an novel and play in 2006, and given his age it seems like he’s trying to get as much out while he still can.

What I’m Excited About: Having read and study McCarthy extensively, I’ve always noticed Christian themes, imagery, and ideas in his works, but in his last two, The Road and The Sunset Limited, he has directly engaged the question of God’s existence, particularly in relation to the inherent meaningfulness of relationships we have in this life and how they seem to reflect some transcendent Truth. In addition, his writing style has gotten less and less difficult, which means that more people have been able to read and engage McCarthy. It’s my hope that his next two novels will continue to develop these Christian themes and thereby encourage other people to ponder the more important questions in life.

What I’m Afraid of: McCarthy will turn 75 this July, and while we have not heard any indication that he is in poor health, old age is catching up with him. One of my biggest fears is that McCarthy will pass away before he edits and publishes his last two works. I’m not very concerned that these novels will be sub par; he has yet to disappoint me.

Video Games: Fallout 3

The Details: To be released in Fall of 2008, Fallout 3 is an RPG by Bethesda Game Studios (the developer who created the very successful Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), which presents the story of a character who wakes up in post-apocalypse American. You begin the game in a sealed fallout shelter and journey to find your father in the wastelands outside of the vault.

What I’m Excited About: Oblivion was an amazing open-world game which allowed you to truly feel as if you were exploring and interacting with a living world. But the art style felt like circa 1982 D&D with the walking skeletons, goblins, and evil enemies that look like they were taken off of the cover of a bad heavy metal band. Fallout 3 promises to give the open-world game play of Oblivion with an art direction that highly appeals to me with its representations of a fallen world. But perhaps the most exciting aspect of the game is the prospect of a post-apocalypse American. The nature of post-apocalyptic tales is to take us out of our comfort zone and to force us to question what is meaningful in life and whether or not our society is just. Such tales form the perfect setting for exploring human nature in all its corruption. If properly done, this game could be both entertaining and intellectually compelling.

What I’m Afraid of: While games such as Bioshock have shown that video games can both entertain us and cause us to question our own sense of morality, Bethesda is not know for its clever plots. My guess is that Fallout 3 will be an extremely interesting and addictive game, but will fall short of asking players to question things like human nature.

2008 looks to be an interesting year on all fronts, and I look forward to discussing these things with all of you throughout the year. In the comments, I’d love to hear what pop culture events you’re most looking forward to this year.

• E3 Dialogue - MadWorld
• 4 Reasons Country Music is Actually Kind of Good
• Golden Globes