"We Missed a Lot of Church, So the Music Is Our Confessional"

In this study, Luethe examines the connection between "Rap and Religion" taking an interdisciplinary approach to the subject matter. Through a close reading of the lyrics and the musical "texts" by a variety of the genre's artists the author seeks to enhance an understanding of the influence of both religion on rap and rap on religion. Additionally, the analysis provides a narrative of the historical background of the relationship between music and religion in what has been referred to as "the Black Atlantic".

Martin Luethe received his M.A. at Bonn University in the fields of American Studies and Anglo-American History (Cologne) and is currently a fellow at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) at Gießen University, where he is conducting graduate research on "Motown and the US Recording Industry of the 1960s".