Music at Mars Hill: Is Nicki Minaj Possessed?

Last updated on: October 9, 2012 at 11:59 am by Luke Larsen

Music at Mars Hill: Is Nicki Minaj Possessed? 2012-10-09T11:59:02-06:00 Luke Larsen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Music at Mars Hill is a weekly column by Luke Larsen that seeks to find God amidst the newest trends in both mainstream music and independent music.

As is typical, the Grammy Award show this year had its fair share of ups and downs — the ups including Adele’s standout performance and Jennifer Hudson’s tribute to Whitney Houston and the downs being just about everything else. However, what stood out as being particularly strange to me about this year’s awards show was that issues of spirituality and Christianity remained at the forefront of the show thematically. Framed by LL Cool J’s prayer for Whitney Houston and Nicki Minaj’s whacked-out The Exorcist homage, I was caught off guard by how much Christianity was still at the forefront of creative thought in our culture.

However, it seems as though there is a certain part of Christianity that pop artists are more inclined to address. Nicki Minaj’s performance was essentially a coming-out show for the more artistic, creative side of her branding. In her performance of her new songs “Roman’s Revenge” and “Roman Holiday”, she played her alter-ego: a boy named Roman Zolanski who is undergoing spiritual and societal pressure. In an interview with Hip Hop DX, Minaj recently explained the character:

“I had this vision for [the Roman character] to be sort of exorcised—or actually he never gets exorcised—but people around him tell him he’s not good enough because he’s not normal, he’s not blending in with the average Joe. And so his mother is scared and the people around him are afraid because they’ve never seen anything like him. He wanted to show that not only is he amazing and he’s sure of himself and confident, but he’s never gonna change, he’s never gonna be exorcised. Even when they throw the holy water on him, he still rises above.”

It’s clear enough that Nicki Minaj is, of course, not making any kind of religious or spiritual statement. Instead, it seems like she is more interested in using the imagery as a device to talk about herself and her quest for greatness (albeit in a bit a pretty half-baked manner). Ever since Lady Gaga wrote a pop song about Judas Iscariot and the betrayal of Jesus though, it seems like just about anything is possible. So what’s the big controversy all about? Should we be offended by Nicki Minaj?

It seems that in our culture when someone wants to be “artistic” or “creatively daring”, they usually end up doing something that will offend church-goers — which, let’s just admit, is no big challenge. While most people were more offended by the fact that you couldn’t dance to the new songs, prominent members of the Catholic Church have already raised a flag about the performance, even stating that it’s up-in-the-air whether or not Nicki Minaj is possessed. While the song and performance did put the Catholic Church in a position as being “the haters”, so to speak, this pop star isn’t exactly making a serious attack on the church.

Not only do I not think Nick Minaj is possessed, I also think it might be a good idea to rethink how and when we protest certain parts of our culture as the Church. We already know what pop culture thinks of us for the most part, so are we protesting just for the sake of protesting? Are we getting offended because we think we’re supposed to? If we’re honest with ourselves, is it our pride, or the glory of God we are worried about protecting?

Previous Post

February 14, 2012

When Games Matter: On Love and Gaming

Next Post

February 15, 2012 What Memes Mean: Facebook Parenting And The Backlash Against Wuss Culture

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz