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Cornel West: professor turned rapper

Christian Century, Jan 2, 2002 by G. Jeffrey MacDonald

In his trademark glasses, three-piece suits and French cuff links, Harvard philosophy professor Cornel West doesn't exactly fit the baggy-pants-wearing image of a rap musician. But that hasn't stopped this best-selling author and nationally touring speaker from using rhythm and rhyme to connect with a younger black generation.

Last fall's release of West's first compact disc, Sketches of My Culture, from Artemis Records, marks his furthest departure yet from the norms of academia in a career-long quest to lift the mentality and spirit of black America.

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"He is observing and thinking on a different level that he needs to be able to translate to the streets in order for his writings tohave an impact," said Kwasi Thornell, canon vicar of Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, where West will give a lecture in April. "A lot of young people don't read anymore, but they do listen to rap music. He knows they're not going to read his books, but they might listen to his CD."

West, 48, has a track record of connecting with minds and hearts far beyond the ivory tower. His 1993 book Race Matters earned a spot on the New York Times bestseller list in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Now his goal includes reaching those who were just preteens when the nation watched police officers beat a non-resistant Rodney King, preteens who have come of age without "situating ourselves in a story bigger than us."

"Tradition is not something you inherit," West raps in "The Finale." "You don't gain access to it by means of osmosis. If you want it, you've got to fight for it." With a sound like a preacher who has musical accompaniment for his prayers, West pays homage to such civil rights heroes as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Medgar Evers.

And his Christian approach doesn't stop there. With his co-producers, he gives special thanks in the acknowledgments "mostly to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, without whom nothing is possible but with whom all things are possible." In his lyrics, West aims to purge what he sees as today's sins of black culture, such as leaving women to put up with "our male mess" and widespread usage of the word "nigga." He gets critical in the tune "N-Word," but only after recognizing that it is a "term of endearment" when used solely among blacks.

"You see, we need a renaissance of self-respect, a renewal of self-regard. And the term itself has been associated with such abuse," West says. "It associates black people with being inferior, subhuman and subordinate. So we ought to have a moratorium on the term. We ought not to use the term at all."

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, West grew up in Sacramento, California, with a U.S. Air Force administrator father and an elementary school teacher mother. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard in just three years, he earned a Ph.D. from Princeton and later helped build its Afro-American Studies Department. At Harvard, where he teaches philosophy of religion, he ranks among just 14 "university professors" whose distinction enables them to lecture at any school on campus.

Academic accolades don't count for much, however, among the fickle and sophisticated young connoisseurs of rap, according to Vibe magazine executive editor O. J. Lima. To get their attention, Lima said, a CD needs a hot beat more than anything else, but "I would say that the beats that are on [West's CD] are not hot at all."

"Cornel West is about to find out how hard it is to be a hip-hop artist," Lima said. "When you're a professor, you have a captive audience. They pay a lot of money for that. But when I'm at home in my living room, I have the option of taking the CD and throwing it in the trash."

Sales since the release on September 25 have totaled an unimpressive 1,040, according to Artemis figures. But the label still expects the CD to do well through licensing agreements, promotions during Black History Month in February and appeals to West's devoted followers. "With a CD like this, it just takes a little more thought" to market it, said Michael Krumper, executive vice president at Artemis.

--G. Jeffrey MacDonald, RNS

Cornel West: professor turned rapper

Christian Century, Jan 2, 2002 by G. Jeffrey MacDonald

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