Kendrick Lamar and the Hebrew Israelite Movement

Hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar recently dropped his latest album DAMN. to widespread acclaim. As another artist like Chance the Rapper that integrates faith into his rap, Kendrick is a positive trend in hip-hop, while still retaining many of the characteristic themes of hip-hop. As I was listening to his album and perusing the lyrics, I noticed a theme in his poetry that I have not necessarily seen in other hip-hop. Now, to be honest, I donʼt listen to a ton of hip-hop so it would be difficult for me to tell you how common this theme is. Nonetheless, I was surprised to find it and have decided to write about it.

The theme I noticed is not just that Kendrick talks about God and faith (a lot of rap does mention God), but that the way he discussed faith was from a Hebraic orientation. For example, Kendrick used Hebrew words in his rap and also used themes drawn from the Hebrew Israelite Movement.

First, I must explain the Hebrew Israelite movement. The Hebrew Israelite movement is a trend among African Americans to identify themselves with either Judaism or the ancient Hebrew faith. The movement re-ignited in the late nineteenth century, partially with the help of Marcus Garveyʼs Pan-African movement from the 1920s-1930s. Adherents of this movement may call themselves Hebrews, Israelites, Black Israelites, or Black Jews. They claim that they are descended from the ancient Hebrew people. There are also black Jews who are adherents of normative majority-white Judaism, but they are not the exactly the same as the Hebrew Israelite movement, since, sadly, mainstream, white Judaism does not recognize that movement.

One argument the Hebrew Israelite movement uses is that the Africans sold in the Atlantic Slave Trade in the 1500s were often from Western Africa, places like Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria, and therefore the majority of African Americans are descended from those countries. It is indeed true that some modern-day inhabitants of those countries claim Jewish and Hebraic descent. Some of these indigenous people include Igbo Jews and the Lemba people.

Another African group claiming Israelite descent is that of the Beta Israel, or the Ethiopian Jews, also known as falashas. The Beta Israel were accepted by the State of Israel and allowed to make aliyah in the last few decades. Many of the Beta Israel now live in the land of Israel but still retain ties to Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has an interesting religious identity overall. The Christians of Ethiopia—the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church—have a biblical canon of 81 books, including the Book of Enoch. They also claim to have the original Ark of the Covenant in a monastery in Addis Ababa, guarded by a hand-selected monk his entire life. Additionally, Ethiopiaʼs last dynasty, which was overthrown in 1974, claimed descent from biblical King Solomon himself. In an ancient Ethiopian text called the Kebra Nagast (the glory of kings), the story is recounted how King Solomon had a baby with the Queen of Sheba, whom she named David Menyelek. The Queen of Sheba turned from idolatry and converted to Judaism under King Solomonʼs instruction and ended up taking the Ark of the Covenant from Israel at the bequest of an Israelite priest to Ethiopia. She then taught her people the worship of one God and Judaism. This story is bolstered by the fact that the Beta Israel knew of no rabbinic texts or of Hanukkah, even though they knew earlier festivals. The fact that they did not know the Talmud and Hanukkah means that they lost contact with the wider Jewish world before the Common Era, since Hanukkah was instituted in the Maccabean period (167 – 160 BCE) and the Talmud formed 200 to 600 years later. This critical point puts their origin presumably at the time of the Ten Lost Tribes or even earlier. Also intriguing is the fact that the Ark of the Covenant is not mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures after Solomon. This evidence suggests that the Beta Israel indeed did emerge at the time of Solomon and that the Ethiopian falashas and Ethiopian Church are descended from them.

The latest reigning monarch of the Solomonic dynasty was Ras Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael, who ruled from 2 April 1930 – 12 September 1974. (Ras was the title for young Ethiopian nobility.) The Tewahedo Church coronated Tafari with the regnal title, By the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Elect of God. They also gave him the imperial name Haile Selassie, meaning the power of the holy trinity. His coronated title was the traditional title for Ethiopian monarchs to hold. Because of this elaborate title, some diaspora blacks in Jamaica and Ethiopian citizens began seeing Haile Selassie as literally the power of the trinity—they believed he was the incarnation of the second coming of Jesus. These worshippers were called Ras-tafari, after Makonnenʼs pre-coronation name, Ras Tafari.

Rastafari believe that Haile Selassie is the incarnation of Jesus, and therefore the visible manifestation of the Trinity, whom they call Jah, or Jah, Jah, or I and I. They also follow some of the Torah laws and they believe that Haile Selassie (who is dead now) will return them to Zion, which to Rastafari is not Israel, but the ancient capitals of Ethiopia known as New Jerusalem (such as the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela associated with the history of the Eastern Orthodox Tewahedo Church). Rastafari follow a kosher diet and keep to biblical morality.

All this to show the Jewish-African connection, which has some very interesting manifestations, whether itʼs indigenous African groups claiming Hebrew ancestry, African Americans claiming Israelite identity, or Rastafari basing their faith on the Jewish faith. Kendrick Lamar, in his albums, is not afraid to discuss such matters and makes many references to them.

In the second track, DNA, Kendrick discusses the stereotype of how some people think that blacks are innately aggressive, itʼs in their DNA. In the track, he references Jesus, but he uses his Hebrew name, Yeshuaʿ. He seems to be saying that Jesusʼs confidence in his bloodline—i.e., being the son of God and the virgin-born of the blessed virgin Mary—is what allowed him to be successful (being born in that miraculous manner was Yeshuaʼs weapon).

I was born like this, since one like this
Immaculate conception
I transform like this, perform like this
Was Yeshuaʼs new weapon

Kendrick sees Yeshuaʿ on his side, that they are in the same fight. Later in the song, Kendrick raps

And Nazareth gonna plead his case
The reason my powerʼs here on earth
Salute the truth, when the prophet say

Kendrick seems to be saying that the people of Yeshuaʼs time did not accept the truth, but Kendrick is continuing his prophetic message.

In the next track, Kendrick says that heʼs an Israelite and that they will be punished for not following the Torah. The track is called, Yah, a shortened form of Godʼs divine, four-letter name, the Tetragrammaton.

Iʼm not a politician, Iʼm not ʼbout a religion
Iʼm a Israelite, donʼt call me Black no moʼ
That word is only a color, it ainʼt facts no moʼ
My cousin called, my cousin Carl Duckworth
Said know my worth
And Deuteronomy say that we all been cursed

Although Lamar does not identify with religion, he still has strong socio-religious ties to the Israelite movement, of which heʼs a part. He considers this identity more important than his black identity even. His cousin, Carl Duckworth, whom he mentions later, was the one that introduced him to his royal Israelite heritage (know my worth), but the flipside of that it entails responsibilities—follow the Torah laws of Deuteronomy or experience the curse, which he mentions in another song.

In the song Lust, Kendrick says that a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

Lately, in James 4:4 says
Friend of the world is enemy of the Lord

In the track Fear, Kendrick again references his cousin and mentor Carl Duckworth. Lamar plays a recording of Duckworth leaving a message on the telephone. Duckworthʼs message is about how Lamar needs to return to the Lord and follow his statutes.

Whatʼs up, family? Yeah, itʼs yo cousin Carl, man, just givinʼ you a call, man. I know you been havinʼ a lot on yo mind lately, and I know you feel like, you know, people ainʼt been prayinʼ for you. But you have to understand this, man, that we are a cursed people. Deuteronomy 28:28 says, The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart. See, family, thatʼs why you feel like you feel like you got a chip on your shoulder. Until you finally get the memo, you will always feel that way…

The reference to a chip on the shoulder and feeling that way is his song Feel, where Kendrick says that no one is praying for him.

At the outro of the track, Lamar plays more of Duckworthʼs recording:

Verse two says, You only have I known of all the families of the Earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. So until we come back to these commandments, until you come back to these commandments, weʼre gonna feel this way, weʼre gonna be under this curse. Because He said Heʼs gonna punish us, the so-called Blacks, Hispanics, and Native American Indians, are the true children of Israel. We are the Israelites, according to the Bible. The children of Israel, Heʼs gonna punish us for our iniquities, for our disobedience, because we chose to follow other gods that arenʼt His son, so the Lord, thy God, chasten thee. So, just like you chasten your own son, Heʼs gonna chastise you because He loves you. So thatʼs why we get chastised, thatʼs why weʼre in the position weʼre in. Until we come back to these laws, statutes, and commandments, and do what the Lord said, these curses are gonna be upon us. Weʼre gonna be at a lower state in this life that we live here in today, in the United States of America. I love you, son, and I pray for you. God bless you, shalom.

In sum, Lamar considers himself an Israelite and feels he needs to repent of his sins and return to the Lordʼs statutes outlined in the Torah, the five books of Moses that begin the Bible. He cites Jesusʼs Hebrew name, Yeshua, and also calls God by his Hebrew name, Yah.

In a collaboration track with DJ Khaled, Kendrick Lamar also uses Jesusʼs Hebrew name. In Holy Key, Lamar raps:

I donʼt wear crosses no more, Yeshuaʼs coming back
I ainʼt scared of losses no more, I see life in that

So even though he is personally religious in his devotion to Yeshua, he does not identify with religion as a whole.

Finally, in his song i, from his 2015 album to pimp a butterfly, Kendrick explicitly connects himself to his Ethiopian royal heritage. In the track, he has a man speaking about his Solomonic heritage.

Well, this is my explanation straight from Ethiopia
N-E-G-U-S definition: royalty; King royalty – wait listen
N-E-G-U-S description: Black emperor, King, ruler, now let me finish
The history books overlook the word and hide it
America tried to make it to a house divided
The homies donʼt recognize we been using it wrong
So Iʼma break it down and put my game in a song
N-E-G-U-S, say it with me
Or say no more. Black stars can come and get me
Take it from Oprah Winfrey, tell her she right on time
Kendrick Lamar, by far, realest Negus alive

As I mentioned before, negus is the Ethiopian word for monarch or king, and is the word used in the title of the ancient Solomonic work Kebra Nagast. With this track, Kendrick shows that he identifies with Ethiopian-Israelite royal Solomonic heritage. Heʼs the realest negus alive.

In total, I was surprised to see this imagery and content in Kendrick Lamarʼs album. I had heard he had faith, but I didnʼt know that he identified with the Israelite movement. As an historian and a scholar of religion, this association is very interesting to me. Not being very versed in rap music, I was intrigued to see such connections. So I donʼt know if Kendrick is one of the only vocal Israelites or if it is very or fairly common in rap music. Have you seen this theme and imagery in other rap and hip-hop music? Shalom.

Listen to his album here.