Page 170 - Aesthetic Formations Media, religion, and the Sense

The Sonic Architects of a New Babel 155

a Calypsonian. He ended the discussion by stating that he now preached
the message of the Lord while whining with the revelers behind the big
trucks on carnival day.
That was for him the only type of honest Christianity on the island.
Becoming such an honest Christian entailed recognizing the contesting
forces of sin and sanctity within. The Shadow was the most philosophical
therein.

Connecting the External Babel to
the Internal Dynamics

Father God I am just learning how to pray/First I thank you for the life of
everyone that’s here with me/Then I thank you for the love you gave me/
Why?/I don’t know/I don’t deserve it, and it hurts inside/Many a nights I
have cried, and called your name out loud/But didn’t call you when I was
doing good, I was too proud/ And still you gave me love, I wasn’t used to
that/Most people that gave me love ended up taking it back/That’s some-
thing new to me, so I’m asking you for time to adjust/Let me make it there,
I will be one you can trust/ What I stand for, I put my life on it, I do/I guess
what I asking is, show me how to stand for you/And I will rap for you, sing
for you, teach for you, reach for you/I will love you like you love me, uncon-
ditionally/And I will always be prepared, for whatever the mission will be/
Give the nutrition to me, and I will properly digest it/And when I give it
back, I’ll show you word well invested/And whenever I go, before I go, let
me give thanks to you my Lord, for my birth, for everyday that I’ve lived/
You gave me love most of my life, I didn’t know was there/In the name of
Jesus, I give you my life cause I care.

This a cappella prayer, by the American rapper extraordinaire DMX,
accompanied by a thumping dub rhythm, opens and closes the five-hour
radio program of DJ Shadow. His role, in the first hour of his show, which
was dedicated to social commentary, was of course that of the angry and
righteous Rasta. After that hour his other personas take over. However,

the distinctions were not that clearcut as there were always traces of his
other more hedonistic personas discernible when his Rasta Self took front
stage. Shadow endorsed Mammon’s products during every commercial
break.
That Mammon and God, capital and Christianity, are compatible is
lent extra credence in his choice of DMX whose pop theology resembles
that of the Shadow. Each of DMX’s albums contains tracks where he con-
verses with God and the Devil. DMX chooses God’s path, but leaves room