KANYE WEST

BOOKS:

1.Utley, Ebony A. Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangstas God. California: Praeger, 2012. 190. Print.

-This book is comparing rap and religion. Explaining what that truly means and how you can cross those two. Talking about multiple people who have come from a black church and showing the ongoing criticisms of that culture.

​2. Kanye West: a biography. Bob. Schaller, Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press 2009

-This book is a biography on the life of Kanye, showing his life growing up, his love for music, and telling his story.

3. Miyakawa, Felicia M. Five Percenter Rap: God Hop's Music, Message, and Black Muslim Mission. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2005. Print.

-This book is about the five percent nation and its role in hip-hop music and culture, with the help of interviews, lyrics, documents, etc. This helps talk about the role of religion in the rap and hip-hop industry.   

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ACADEMIC ARTICLES:

1.Barnes, Sandra L. "Religion and Rap Music: An Analysis of Black Church Usage." Review of Religious Research 49.3 (2008): 319-38. Print.

-This article by Sandra Barnes provides us with information about the black church and the gospel rap that the church has created. Even though it may not all be about religion it allows us to compare it still to Kanye and his music.

2. Kanye West. Musk, Elon. Time, Apr 27-May 4, 2015, Vol.185(15/16), p.24  

-This article by Elon Musk speaks upon Kanye and his beliefs and his belief in himself, showing his strength and power for his culture. Comparing where he started to where he is now.

3. Fried, C. (1999). Who's afraid of rap: Differential reactions to music lyrics. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29(4), 705-721.

-This article by C. Fried provides us with an insight into the negative world of rap. In this article they show a study which compares rap music to country, and other types of music showing the stereotype against rap. This can help me show you that rap music isn’t all about the violent themes as everyone portrays it to be.

4. Pinn, A. B. (2009). Rap music, culture and religion: Concluding thoughts. Culture and Religion, 10(1), 97; 97-108; 108.

-This article by A. B. Pinn speaks about how the religious point of view of rap fits in with culture, allowing to discuss how Kanye fits in with the everyday straight forward culture.

5. Beautiful Dark Twisted Pedagogy: Kanye West and the Lessons of Participatory Culture. Antero Garcia. Radical Teacher, 01 October 2013, Vol.97, pp.30-35 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

-This article by Antero Garcia speaks upon how a teacher uses media to help show that culture should be reflected more in todays classrooms. She uses Kanye’s album to show how the media can offer more than you think on cultural shifts. Which allows for the discussion that Kanye can have an impact on culture and religion.

 

​INTERNET SOURCES:

1."Kanye West- I Am a God." Genius. Ed. Rick Rubin. Genius Media Group Inc. Web. <http://genius.com/Kanye-west-i-am-a-god-lyrics>.

-This source is the lyrics to one of Kanye’s songs called “I am god”, showing how he truly feels, saying it’s all about Jesus and not his religion, comparing himself to Jesus.

2. Lyons, Margaret. "Does Kanye West Think He’s God? Or Has He Given Up on God?"Vulture. New York Media LLC, 1 June 2013. Web. <http://www.vulture.com/2013/06/does-kanye-west-really-think-hes-god.html>.

-This source is speaking on the topic of what Kanye thinks about himself and why he would start writing these songs about how he is god, and about starting his own religion.

3. “The Church of Yeezus”,Yeezianity. 2014. Web. <http://yeezianity.com>

-This source is about Kanye’s religion, in which people believe and want to follow for the rest of their lives. Stating that “the one who calls himself Yeezus is the highest living human being”.

4. “Kanye West”, Peoples magazine. 2017. Web <http://people.com/tag/kanye-west/>

-This source is an overview and a sneak peek into the life of Kanye, with his friends and his family.

5. Josh. “Kanye West on religion and Jesus Christ”. The Phorum, 13 May 2009. Web <http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/93979-kanye-west-on-religion-and-jesus-christ/>

-This source is an interview between a reporter and Kanye, speaking on the topic of religion and Jesus, asking what Kanye truly believes in and why. Getting an insight into the religion world of Kanye himself.

6. Michael Heal. “Religion in Hip Hop: A RapGenius Overview”. Genius. 11 January 2013. Web < https://genius.com/posts/1560-Religion-in-hip-hop-a-rapgenius-overview>

-This source is talking about the history of religion in rap music. Going through the decades looking at where it first started and how it has become the rap it is today.  

7. Fantano, Anthony. "Kanye West - Yeezus Album Review." YouTube. @Theneedledrop, 18 June 2013. Web. Feb. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vns-81egipQ>.

-This source is a review by Anthony Fantano, on his YouTube channel he gives music reviews for all kinds of albums, but on this specific one he is giving a review for Kanye West’s album Yeezus. I choose this one because this album relates more on the topic of religion, but there are more reviews for Kanye’s other albums as well on Anthony’s channel.

8. West, Kanye. “Kanye West [@privatekanye].” Instagram. 2017. Web <https://www.instagram.com/privatekanye/>

-This source is the link to one of his social media accounts, this Instagram account shows pictures of his life, family, music, albums, etc.

9. West, Kanye. “Kanye West – Jesus Walks.” YouTube. @KanyeWestVEVO. 24 December 2009. Web <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYF7H_fpc-g>

-This source is the link to one of Kanye’s songs “Jesus Walks”, from the album The College Dropout. This song was made to have an open embrace to faith, which would attract a lot of viewers and buyers.

10. West, Kanye. “Kanye West – No Church in The Wild.” YouTube. @KanyeWestVEVO. 29 May 2012. Web <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJt7gNi3Nr4>

-This source is the link to another one of Kanye’s songs “No Church in The Wild”, from the album Watch of Throne. This one features one of Kanye’s really good friends, JAY-Z, who is featured in multiple songs throughout Kanye’s albums. This song is made to show that you must fight for yourself because there is no one else there to save you.