Religion in Music

The amount of music that I have been exposed to on this trip is unreal. I love listening to music and the new genres I have discovered are a nice refresh from what I have listened to in the past. Music plays a really important role in my life and it is my main source for self reflection and "me time" in general. However, with all the new music I've gotten to listen to, I picked up on a lot of reoccurring themes with religion. If music is supposed to appeal to multiple people, then why would it exclude so many people by talking about things like religion? Talking about religion in the first place divides music into the two demographics of atheist/agnostic versus religious. Then depending on what God/gods you are talking about then you split it again into mono- and poly-theistic. For me, I think that adding a religious perspective creates an extra layer that allows the listener to dive deeper into the artist's opinion.

The idea that music is for you and your personal reflection is a little hard to sell. In the end, it's art. And the fact that it is art means that the artist is expressing him/herself and trying to reach out to other people with similar thoughts and beliefs. Many musical artists are misunderstood because of this, and is probably what scares many great singers/songwriters from sharing their talents. Religion is an incredibly controversial topic that once an artist brings it up their is a major discussion about that artist's opinions.

Let's take an artist like Kanye West. He is known for his obvious obsession with himself and how he has a strange superiority complex. This concept is practically confirmed by his song, "I Am a God." But also the song talks about how he struggles with the concept of a God by saying:

Even though I'm a man of God,

My whole life in the hands of God,

So y'all better quit playing with God

To me (and keep in mind that my opinion is probably not the same as what  Yeezus' was when he wrote the song), this says something about Kanye West and his position in a class-based society. The song is all about the crazy privileges he has as a celebrity, and how it makes him seem superior to others around him. I mean, think about it: he is treated as if he has some kind of special powers. Why else would you give him massages and croissants by his command? But at the same time West has difficulties with how people are "playing with God." Is he not playing with the idea of God in the same exact song?! It shows how conflicted the idea of a God really is to him.

Religion in music is incredibly intriguing and so cool to research / develop your own opinions about. Kanye West is so popular and he has an insane amount of influence on culture and media to the point where he could practically lead a nation (as if he were a God). While that is Kanye, the idea of religion in music in general is interesting to see how people can express themselves. For Kanye, he is conflicted with his perception of a God and how he is similar to what he believes is a God. For others, they explain how important faith is to them. All of this is a form of expression that is fun to explore on a deeper level.