INTERVIEW: Ambassador speaks on the Meek Mill / “Amen” / Pastor Jomo situation

During a tour stop in Houston this past weekend, I sat down with one of Christian hip hop’s elite (The Ambassador’s Christology is often cited at the G.O.A.T. album within the genre) to discuss the recent dustup over “Amen.”

For those who may need a refresher, Meek Mill’s “Amen” song and video uses a traditional black church organ riff and lots of religious language praising the pleasures of women and liquor. Pastor Jomo K. Johnson led a public campaign against the track and the two had a conversation joint phone call about the topic on Philly’s Hot 107.9.

Meek later offered an apology on BET’s “106 & Park” and Jomo dropped his boycott. But since Mill, Jomo, and The Ambassador all hail from the “City of Brotherly Love” I figured this might contribute to the ongoing discussion about what type of content defines sacred, secular, or blasphemous hip hop music.

You may have also seen my interview with Da’ T.R.U.T.H. about the same topic. It’s interesting how similar their responses are given that these conversations were recorded at separate times without the other one in the room. They weren’t given any sort of heads up on what questions I would be asking either.