“A rapper is coming here—and he is black!” Authentication of rap music in the Finnish gospel music scene, 2005–2020

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article I analyse how gospel rap music is authenticated as a Christian practice in evangelical culture in Finland. The research data consist of interviews with nine self-identifying Christian rappers as well as media coverage of rap music in the evangelical press between the years 2005 and 2020. I first show how Finnish gospel rap music is embedded in the general late modern religious landscape, which is marked by therapeutic individualism, confessionalism, and striving for personal development. Secondly, I discuss how social diversity is performed in evangelical culture through rap music. Finally, I show how some rappers are engaged in grassroots anti-racist interventions in their musical activities, while the larger evangelical culture often remains reluctant to address the theme of structural racism in Christianity. In the conclusion, I argue that gospel rap music is a diverse and thriving refashioning of Protestant Christianity in an age when the appeal of Christianity in Finland is generally diminishing and Christianity is losing its former position as the dominant religious identity.