To some, Christianity and hip hop seem antithetical. Not so in Kenya. There, the music of Julius Owino, aka Juliani, blends faith and beats into a potent hip hop gospel aimed at a youth culture hungry for answers spiritual, material, and otherwise.

Mwenda Ntarangwi explores the Kenyan hip hop scene through the lens of Juliani's life and career. A born-again Christian, Juliani produces work highlighting the tensions between hip hop's forceful self-expression and a pious approach to public life, even while contesting the basic presumptions of both. In The Street Is My Pulpit, Ntarangwi forges an uncommon collaboration with his subject that offers insights into Juliani's art and goals even as Ntarangwi explores his own religious experience and subjective identity as an ethnographer. What emerges is an original contribution to the scholarship on hip hop's global impact and a passionate study of the music's role in shaping new ways of being Christian in Africa.

| Cover Title Contents List of Illustrations Foreword Preface Acknowledgments 1. Intersections, Overlaps, and Collaborations 2. Cultural Preferences, Christianity, and the Street 3. Hip Hop's Recasting of Christianity and Gospel Music in Kenya 4. Kama Si Sisi Nani? Juliani's Gospel of Self-Empowerment 5. Media and Contested Christian Identities 6. Juliani: Lyrical Genius with a Socially Conscious Message Conclusion: Parallel but Intersecting Paths Appendix: Shops Selling Juliani's Exponential Potential Notes Glossary Discography Bibliography Index | "Opens a window on one dimension of how younger, politically conscious Kenyan Christians express their faith."—Christianity Today

"Well written, entertaining, and eye-opening."—Daily Nation

"Refreshing and highly informative."—Christian Century

|Mwenda Ntarangwi is an associate professor of anthropology at Calvin College. He is the author of East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization .