By Nico MachlittSTAFF WRITER
Kanye West is known to talk about religion and include it in his songs (“Jesus Walks,” “I Am A God,” “Yeezus,” and “So Help Me God”), but he is not the only rapper to do so. For a long time, there has been a connection between hip-hop and religion. Rapper and public speaker, Baba Brinkman, has turned this connection into a career. At his event last Wednesday, students and faculty in the Monroe Lecture Center listened as Brinkman rapped about everything from Neil deGrasse Tyson to Rick Ross.
The Hofstra Cultural Center, along with the Department of Religion, the Department of Environment and Sustainability, Hofstra University Honors College and the Department of Geology organized this event to help show another side of the religious conversation.
“The department is committed to providing a critical study of religion and an exploration of religion in all its different dimensions,” said Dr. John Teehan, an organizer of the event and professor in the religion department.
Teehan also explained why different religious approaches are important in a well-rounded education. He said, “Having someone who is taking an atheist view of religion is really just one aspect of understanding religion.”
Some of the students at the event felt reluctant to attend but left with a new perspective. “At first I was forced to be here for credit, but I surprisingly enjoyed the performance,” said junior and biology major, Katherine Cireseanu. “I respect Baba’s views on religion from an evolutionary perspective.”
Brinkman tours North America talking about religion and rap but his true passion is religious harmony. “There is a lot of animosity between believers and non-believers, and there is a lot of animosity between religions,” said Brinkman. “Once you have the perspective that we all have common roots and common ancestors, and our minds were formed by the same evolutionary process, that promotes acceptance and appreciation of your fellow humans.”
Brinkman’s unique way of thinking is what encouraged the religion department to have him as a guest speaker. “[Brinkman’s performance] presents a view point that often doesn’t get presented. It was an intelligent non-polemic view critique of religion and one that’s based on really cutting edge science,” said Teehan. “This is a field that is growing but largely unknown to the larger public so having this material presented in such an entertaining way jump starts an interest in this approach to religion.”
As Brinkman looks to the future of hip-hop, he sees religion being less of a factor. “I think that hip-hop is overwhelmingly religious because many rappers come from disadvantaged urban communities where religion is people’s bedrock of stability, their source of moral inspiration,” said Brinkman. “I predict that religion will be less of a factor in hip-hop. There isn’t now a majorly secular rapper but I think there will be. People are becoming more and more comfortable admitting that they don’t believe.”
