Where is the Love?

by Sylvie Shaw
The Black Eyed Peas appeal to humanity's compassion with one of their early singles - Where is the Love?

'I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder

As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder

Most of us only care about money makin'

Selfishness got us followin' our own direction

Wrong information always shown by the media

Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria


Kids wonna act like what they see in the cinema' 
(Pajon, Adams & Board).




The lyrics lay down the philosophy of this globally-brilliant hiphop group. They question society's ills, listing issues from war, to racism and violence - and see the answer in a faith that spreads love, compassion and right (and moral) action. Directed at youth culture, the Black Eyed Peas use the vehicle of the voracious music industry to ignite young people to a faith beyond that of mainline media, to compel them to action over what they see are negatively shifting social values.

'Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity

Whatever happened to the fairness in equality

Instead of spreading love we spreading animosity

Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity'




The group feels weighed down, not only by what they experience and observe is happening in society, but maybe are also weighed down by their sense of responsibility to raise awareness and encourage the practice of peace and acceptance. 


The group has positioned themselves within the realm of protest or message songs, a sometimes religious, sometimes secular genre of the highly commodified music industry, where 'faith songs' seem out of place or on the edge. But increasingly, music with religious themes is entering the pop charts, although those with political messages, whether focused on social justice, environment and peace, are far less apparent in mainstream (superficial) pop.

Music with a religious or spiritual message acts to blur the boundaries between the sacred and the profane, but what is surfacing in the sacralised merging of pop plus religion is the redefining of religious boundaries. As traditional mainline faith declines in the west, especially the weekly obligation of church attendance, what is emerging, or what has emerged, has been dubbed by Rupert Till (2010) as the 'sacred popular'. As forms of religious worship shift from the pulpit to the religious moshpit, dimensions of religiosity are increasingly located in the realm of experience culture that bursts forth in a host of popular music genres that are invited into places of worship to update the practice - but perhaps not transform it substantially as music is implicit in religious ritual. 




Accompanying the celebration of pop music in experiential religion is the interweaving of messages of love, peace and spirituality both incorporated within the secular music industry and the ‘new’ forms of faith worship. In his article 'Rap music, hip-hop culture and 'the future of religion in the world', music theorist Robin Sylvan (2010:301) states that 'peace and love spirituality is not simply superficial sloganeering, but something that must be put into practice amid the difficulties of daily life'.




'That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under

That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down

There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under'

Sylvan shows that although there has been a decline in institutional religion adherence, there’s been a blurring of boundaries between sacred-profane and religious-secular, and an expansion of expressions of religiosity. Sacred themes and spiritual messages have not disappeared at all, but have been absorbed into Till's (2010) 'sacred popular', and become an intimate player in both the (profane-secular) industry - and the (sacred) religion.

'Gotta keep my faith alive until the love is found

ask yourself

Where is the love?'

Questions

- Why does Sylvan suggest that hip-hop has been a great vehicle for the crossover pop religion?

- Where is the love? In what ways has pop music transformed religious ritual and, in what ways has religion transformed popular music?

References

Sylvan, R. 2010. Rap music, hip-hop culture and 'the future of religion in the world'. In E. Mazur and K. McCarthy, Eds., God in the details, 2^nd edn., 291-306, Hoboken: Taylor & Francis.

Till, R. 2010. Pop cult: religion and popular music. London: Continuum International Publishing.



Image source:
http://pixabay.com/en/acoustic-guitar-bridge-strings-21184/