Hip Hop

Some tracts leave you shaking your head and saying, what?!? This is one such tract. It's an 8-page cartoon tract from Good News Publications, and it very much wants to appeal to black culture.

The tract starts with two African American boys discussing hip hop. One wears a backwards baseball cap, and the other wears a hoodie. That's how you can tell they're from the hood. The hoodie dude is an insufferable know-it-all, determined to Save his ballcap-wearing friend.

Hoodie declares that hip hop can be found in the Bible. He backs up this dubious claim by telling a story about Jacob, who spent one night wrestling with a stranger who turned out to be God. According to Hoodie, God ended the fight by touching Jacob's leg, instantly dislocating the hip. "Jacob hip-hopped from then on," Hoodie says, making one of the worst jokes in history.

"The rest of his life," Hoodie continues, "Jacob's 'hip-hop' reminded him that God's way was best."

What?!? God beats up a guy, then breaks his leg, just to prove he's the best. Is that the message? That we should do what God says, because otherwise he might break our legs? Very inspirational. And why did God beat Jacob up, anyway? Some context would have gone a long way toward having this story make sense. Of course, squeezing in some context might have necessitated the cutting of the hip joke.

And Hoodie isn't done with lame jokes. Next, he tells his ball-capped buddy to R.A.P. - Recognize you haven't done things God's way, Admit there's only one way to clear your sins, and Pray for God's forgiveness. Ball Cap announces he is "down wit that". Not down WITH that, down WIT that. Because that's how they all talk, I suppose. While Ball Cap prays for his eternal soul, Hoodie proceeds to break the fourth wall and talks to the reader, saying that we "can have eternal life, too."

This tract achieves the rare status of being so bad it's good, or at least more interesting than most. I'm willing to bet large sums of money it was written by a white guy, someone who thinks he knows something about black people but really doesn't know squat. I hate to be the one to break it to you, dude, but stereotypes do not a culture define.

I'd be curious to see how black people will react to this tract. Will they be swayed by Hoodie's story and R.A.P.? Or will they do like I did, shake my head and say, What?!?

That would be fly. I'd be so down wit that.

Likely to Convert - 0h, please!
Artwork - 6
Ability to Hold Interest - 5
Unintentional Hilarity - 5
Intentional Hilarity - 0
Level of Disturbing or Offensive Content - 4