‘My Savior; I Call On’
DJ Khaled dropped a new album late last month that surprisingly features the usually explicit hip-hop icon Eminem expressing his love for God. What in the world is happening here? Rapping about Jesus and faith with no cuss words? This is a far cry from the Grammy Award-winning rappers foul language fuelled music with some of the most controversial lyrics in mainstream music history.
“Bible at my side like a rifle with a God-given gift / Every single day I thank God for / That’s why I pay so much homage / Praises to Jesus,” and, “So my Savior, I call on / To rescue me from these depths of despair / So these demons better step like a stair / Because He is my shepherd / I’m armed with Jesus, my weapon is prayer.”
This is what Eminem raps in the track Use This Gospel from producer DJ Khaled‘s 13th studio album God Did.
Originally released by Kanye West (Ye) in 2019, as part of his album Jesus is King, in its newest avatar, produced by Dr. Dre, with the collaboration of DJ Khaled and Eminem sounds like a completely new track.
While the lyrics are partly inherited from the original song, Eminem’s rap introduces a new perspective.
Now Here’s What’s Amazing
Khaled Mohammed, popularly known as DJ Khaled is a professing Muslim who is also a hitmaking DJ that has produced music for countless artists. He released the new studio album titled God Did on August 26th 2022. By the 31st of August the album was No. 1 on the Itunes chart.
God Did boasts a star-studded tracklist made up of Jay-Z, Drake, Future, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Sza, Latto, and many more. Notably, the title track features a four-minute Hov verse plus the usual impressive performances from Lil Wayne and Rick Ross.
The Real Slim Shady
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, most famous for “The Slim Shady LP” rode the foul-mouthed, freestyle rap and underdog story train to fame. Violent, irreverent rap lyrics that included stuff about murdering his wife or extensively taking drugs has in the past said he is spiritual but didn’t believe in God.
In fact, his words (and the marketing practices of the entertainment industry more broadly) were once the topic of a congressional hearing in 2001, with one representative saying, “When you hear the words about raping your mother or killing your mother, I think that the industry should be embarrassed that that’s award-winning entertainment.”
However, he has talked about God in previous songs, dating as far back to his first album from 1996 called “Infinite.”
In the track titled “It’s Ok,” Eminem raps: “In the midst of this insanity / I’ve found my Christianity / through God and there’s a wish he granted me / He showed me how to cope with this stress and hope for the best / instead of moping depressed.”
According to Rapzilla, Eminem, who called himself a “Rap God” a few years back was praying before his shows in the early 2000s, and “Then he’d go on to rap some of the most profane hip-hop of all time.”
Eminem has also through the years, openly discussed struggling with mental health issues. In times past, his dark imagery was the exact opposite of God-glorifying. But in recent years, it appears he has turned to the Bible.
Back then, it may have seemed unlikely that Eminem would ever top any Christian music charts, but here he is in 2022 professing faith in Jesus.
Use This Gospel
Kanye shows up with Eminem for the remix, in which the two rappers spend 3 minutes and 43 seconds rapping about how their faith in God protects them and gives them hope.
The chorus begins with a declaration from West, who in recent years has professed to become a Christian.
“Use this Gospel for protection. It’s a hard road to Heaven. We call on Your blessings. In the Father, we put our faith,” West sings. “King of the Kingdom, our demons are tremblin’. Holy angels defendin’. In the Father, we put our faith.”
Eminem begins his verse, which focused heavily on the attacks of Satan and how God has been helping him. “Use This Gospel (Remix)” is one of the few songs on the album that does not feature explicit lyrics.
Later in the verse, he says: “So my Savior I call on to rescue me from these depths of despairs/So these demons better step because He is my shepherd/I’m armed with Jesus, my weapon is prayer/Soon as I squeeze it, I’m blessed like sneezes/Call me Yeezus, I’m F’d in the head, maybe I’m bonkers/Regardless, never claimed to be flawless/Long as the mistakes I’ve acknowledged.”
However, Eminem was featured in the MTV Video Music Awards end-August and took the stage with Rapper Snoop Dog for a groundbreaking performance inside the metaverse. They both glorified marijuana though the multi-platinum recording artist did say he was sober.
Eminem is not the first hip-hop artist to surprise audiences with a sudden change in their music style.
Previously, pop-star Justin Bieber and Kanye both seemingly embraced the Christian faith, as reflected in their music.
Sources: Variety/Auralcave/Uproxx/Relevant Magazine/Christian Post/Twitter/Instagram
Derek J. Wheeler 