Although rumors and beliefs about Black people selling their souls are as old as this nation, the parasocial relationships of social media have taken the music industry to the next level. Currently trending the algorithm are clips of Jaguar Wright alleging rumors against some of the industry’s most well-known entertainers, TikTokers debating if 4Batz is an “industry plant” and discourse about Tyla joining the Illuminati.
Black people, and inherently Black music, have been seen as demonic since we sat foot in America. From the outlawing of drums, horns, and instruments in plantations throughout the colonies and The Caribbean to the demonization of blues and jazz as the Devil’s Music, or the practice of human sacrifice to achieve success and fame in the music industry, no amount of Bobby Jones Gospel can undo this. This belief as of late, has been amplified by Black social media users and content creators online.
To be fair, we have always been a superstitious people and in so, regulated to one set of religious beliefs or monolithic spiritual culture. Although, the church has been an integral part of Black culture and is the birthplace of many genres of American music. African traditional religions, Diasporic traditional religions, and Hoodoo have formed Black music and culture in America. Blues is commonly referred to as the soundtrack of hoodoo. Yet, it was the passing of anti-jazz legislation that solidified the connection between Black music and Satanism.
“Jazz was originally the accompaniment of the voodoo dance, stimulating half-crazed barbarians to the vilest of deeds,” says Ann Shaw Faulkner, president of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, a powerful alliance of women’s social and reform groups that launches a crusade against jazz in 1921.
Read ‘The Intersectionality Of Black Music Artists & AI: Are They Apart Of The Conversation?’
In the decades that followed and the genres created in the aftermath of the war against Black music, Black entertainers were always wary about how they were perceived by the public. All it would take is one petition or angry mob to deter their career in music. When hip-hop entered the scene, it inherited every belief that preceded it. The devil could be found on the 1s and 2s, right behind the DJ, while being on stage with the MC.
From N.W.A. being sued by the FBI to 2 Live Crew fighting for their rights in front of The Supreme Court, the newest Black genre was under attack. Like jazz, hip-hop was seen as something obscene, immoral, and demonic. When horrorcore, a subgenre of hip-hop that drew inspiration from horror films, Satan, and Southern Gothic aesthetics, rose in popularity, the belief was reiterated and affirmed.
What is often misunderstood about horrorcore is the usage of concepts and themes from horror and Satanism as an allegory to explain Black life in America. This was not outright Satanic worship but cries and pleas for help under the weight of the social ills of America birthed from its original sin of slavery. However, like the Black musicians before them, their musical expression was denied the humanity to be seen, acknowledged, and understood. Yet, nothing would rock the country more than Beyoncé’s 2013 Super Bowl halftime show.
The monochromatic Black outfit, the flames on stage, the “Roc” sign, and the power going out after her performance proved that she was a part of the Illuminati. Alongside her husband Jay-Z, another rumored member of the Illuminati, the celebrity couple has been accused of selling their soul for years. When Beyoncé sampled The Clark Sisters for “Church Girl,” a standout track on Renaissance, Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr. of Upper Room Church of God in Christ described the song as “sacrilege,” followed by a secondary comment directed at the singer: “The only thing I can account for some of this stuff is somebody done sold their soul to the devil.”
Looking To See These Conversations Live? Grab your tickets to the 2024 Essence Festival Of Culture
His comment, which is not the first time a pastor or high ranking church official has accused Beyoncé of devil worship, is ironic, since Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, the founder of Church of God in Christ, worked with “roots”.
“When you look at healing traditions, one of the things that they talk about is the rootwork or the rootworker, the person who can work with the spirit of the root or the spirit of the leaf, so to speak,” says Yvonne Chireau, Author of “Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition” and Professor of Religion at Swarthmore College and researches Africana religions and magic. “It’s not just healing of ordinary illnesses or afflictions. Healing also has to do with the healing of relationships. It’s a broader understanding of what healing and balance can mean. It’s not just physical, but it’s also spiritual.”
Although Bishop Mason claimed his roots were “wonders of God,” writes Chireau in “Black Magic,” rootwork, like Hoodoo, is an African American spiritual practice. If one does not elect to practice Christianity, that does not equate to worshiping the Devil. The question one should ask before engaging in conspiracy theories is why. To be completely honest, consumers are not entitled to know everything about celebrities’ lives.
Cambridge Dictionary defines parasocial as “involving or relating to a connection between a person and someone they do not know personally, for example, a famous person or a character in a book.” Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr. does not know Beyoncé. TikTokers do not know 4Batz. Unless you are Lee-ché Janecke or Thato Nzimande, you do not know Tyla. Also, when did African Americans start to internalize and believe conspiracy theories rooted in anti-Blackness? Is being Black not enough to be successful in the music industry?
Regardless of one’s spiritual belief or practice, or even the absence of one, the dissemination of anti-Blackness conspiracy theories and lies is inherently harmful to Black artists in the music industry, especially at a time when lyrics are being used in trials against rappers. It’s time to replace the Internet’s beliefs with your own.