Religion in Hip-Hop, Part 2: Unpacking the Methodology

L. Benjamin Rolsky While a significant component of our collective work as scholars and historians of religion, the critical method cannot fully capture the data under study because it never fully touches the ground.

Religion in Hip-Hop, Part 1: Exploring the Religious History of Kendrick Lamar

L. Benjamin Rolsky Lamar’s words may indeed be best understood through a method that foregrounds uses or functionality over content, but to read these words is to build an archive for millennial religiosity and spirituality in the twenty-first century through a nearly ubiquitous art form and commercial industry—hip-hop.

Humor is Not Just Entertainment: 7 Questions for David Feltmate

David Feltmate Popular culture scholarship is actually quite difficult, but people seem to think it is easy. It is not enough to just watch TV or listen to music, you really have to dig into the significance of the material and its social importance.