Rappers you didn’t know were raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I love Jehovah’s Witnesses and I have been attending their meetings when I have the means. At least, I don’t miss their annual memorial service.

Until I understood them, I had some weird thoughts about their denomination. So on a fateful day, I opened my doors to them, and we had an interesting conversation. After we concluded the discussions, I hated myself for being judgmental. Furthermore, I realized that we all have individual battles to fight and that it’s of no use fighting the battles of others when you do not know what caused the war.

What struck me the most about the JW’s whiles speaking to them was that they believe in Pragmatism. Instead of relying on some miraculous happenings, they prefer to grasp life by its neck and do the things which are required of them. They also believe that it is their basic duty to spread the word of God to others and that is why they are mostly seen sharing magazines; the most popular of them being ‘The Watchtower’ as well as other materials which bother on how to live a more practical Christian life.

‘The Watchtower’ sought to look for answers to life’s basic questions such as; Is Life Worth Living?, Does God Care About Us? As well as Will Suffering Come To An End?’

However, the general Christian teaching separates the world into two categories of people; the believers and the unbelievers. Actions, according to Christian teaching are also classified into godly and worldly. Somehow, any action which doesn’t give praise to God is classified as ’worldly’.

But information available indicates that a lot of musicians who are involved in rap music are JW’s.

There must be a missing connection. What is with these JW’s and rap music, especially when they are known to be very strict about a lot of things?

Here, we take a look at some rappers who were raised or have had a connection with JW:

Notorious B.I.G

The late rapper whose real name is Christopher Wallace was raised as a JW by his mother, Voletta Wallace.

Ja Rule

His real name is Jeffrey Bruce Atkins. Aside from being known as JA RULE, he’s also known as Jah. His grandparents largely raised him as a JW. This was because his father left the family when he was very young, and his mum was also very busy with her profession as a nurse. His mum, Debra Atkins left the JW when he was 12 years. The denomination might have influenced his choice of stage name, JA RULE.

Tupac Shakur

The revered rapper died on September 13, 1996, six days after an unknown gunman in a white Cadillac shot him four times in his chest. He is also reported to have been brought up as a JW.

Donald Glover

He uses the pseudonym ‘Childish Gambino’ for all his rap and music projects. He said that a computer program created the name. He is also a gifted DJ, a standup comedian and a YouTube sensation (with his comedy team, Derrick Comedy).

In an interview, he confirmed that he was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. He revealed that his parents tried so much to keep him ‘away from the temptations of Satan’ so much so that he wasn’t even allowed to watch The Simpsons. Mimicking his parents, he revealed that his parents would say to him, “Bart Simpson’s a bad influence, the Simpsons are no go.”

Xzibit

The rapper revealed that because his parents were JW, they didn’t particularly care about rap music. He explained that anytime they caught him listening to rap music with his headphone, they would get the headphone and break it into pieces. He got fed up and decided to rap his stuff so that his parents will not be able to take that away from him.

Interestingly, all these rappers excelled in the rap game and are all top rappers in the world. Is there some kind of discipline that might have played a role in the success of their career which was likely influenced by their religious denomination?

Ghanaian rapper Okyeame Kwame, has said that his kids attend Jehovah’s Witness meetings though he doesn’t believe in going to Church. Is there is a secret that he wants to tap for his kids? Both his kids are upcoming rappers who have already featured on at least one track with the father.

In a recent interview, he said that he doesn’t attend church because he feels that it is better to communicate directly with God than to go through another man (a pastor). He also revealed that his wife and kids are Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Micheal Jackson was a Jehovah’s Witness. Even when he was disfellowshipped, he still insisted that his children attend their meetings.