Today,
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, marks the release of
Sho Barka‘s
Talented Xth album.
The well-produced and though-out project comes from an artist who used to be signed to the biggest Christian rap label around (
Reach Records)
but who now says that, although he’s still firmly a believer in Jesus
Christ, he’s no longer interested in making music for the “Christian
market.”
It’s also garnering some buzz for the song
“Jim Crow” that was previously titled
“N—a Island” and uses that term within its hook.
The subject matter tackles the narrator’s frustration about what
constitutes blackness in America – a topic publicly discussed as
recently as last month when an
ESPN personality called former
Baylor University quarterback Robert Griffin III a
“cornball brother.”
I talked to Sho Baraka about the song and its title a few months ago at the release party for
Lecrae‘s
Gravity record here in Houston. In
our conversation,
he explained why he changed the title and even gave a parental advisory
that this particular song may not be one you want young children
repeating.
You can stream the album in full with the player below. I’m also told there are
edited versions (aka “Colored Island”) available on the physical CD format.
And while this song/album are buzzing because it’s being released
today, it’s not the first time a Christian rapper has used the “n-word”
on his record.
Plenty of MCs fresh off the street continued to use the term in an
affectionate tone on their post-conversion albums and 20 years ago the
group
S.F.C. (Soldiers for Christ) featuring the
Alliance of Light who would later be known as top-selling rappers
Gospel Gangstas) even tackled the entire notion of the word on the song
“Kill that Spirit.”
Question: Is the “n-word” off-limits for Christian rappers?
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