Joey Bada$$ among the theological rappers

Folks are sleeping on Joey Bada$$. In the midst of a spiritual renaissance within hip-hop, Kendrick Lamar’s radical Christianity and Chance the Rapper’s black Christian joy have typically received more attention. They’ve both rekindled debates about asceticism, joy, and wrath. Yet, Joey Bada$$’s commentary in All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ should not be overlooked. It’s nothing less than a theologically rich, frontal attack on our political order.

I first found out about Joey through his song Paper Trail$. Not what one might initially expect, it’s a refreshing, vulnerable take on money and poverty. Joey’s framing here is so powerful that it impacted how I think about theological production. Horrid, oppressive theologies need to be subject to a materialist critique.  In other words, if you want to understand the capitalism and white supremacy of evangelicalism, you must follow evangelicalism’s paper trails.