Jamie Broad, Liverpool University: “I don’t play with the Bible”: An Examination of How the Bible is Employed in UK Christian Rap

The paper will examine the use of the Bible by rappers in select UK Christian rap songs, analysing lyrics to identify musical presentations of a Christian identity. The paper will examine how specific texts are appropriated and employed lyrically, using examples from songs where verses are quoted directly. In doing this, the paper will also focus more broadly on how the Bible is presented in the songs. The paper will argue that presentations of the Bible as a weapon are employed both externally, as a challenge to other rappers and internally as weapon against self. In each case, the understanding of the Bible is linked to the presentation of self and the construction of a Christian identity post-conversion.