Black people are on stage and now Jesus is trending.

If you’ve ever seen anyone walking around in a hoodie with FEAR OF GOD on the back, you know what I’m talking about...

Apparently, the brand name Fear of God ‘stems from clothing line founder Jerry Lorenzo’s deep religious background and is inspired explicitly by Oswald Chambers’ devotional book My Utmost for His Highest.’* Founded in 2013, Fear of God and Fear of God Essentials are standard leisurewear for rappers and wannabe rappers all over the world. (+ me, for though I am nor rapper nor wannabe, I do have a heart for this brand.)

Fear of God founder, Jerry Lorenzo

I remember years ago trying to start a magazine by the name Christ Couture and my English friend’s business manager father talked me out of it. The name would be an issue, he said, only a few people are going to want to identify with Christianity. At the time, he was probably right. But now, people all over the world are walking around with the name “God” on their clothing – and not in pursuit of some sort of evangelical mission.

I have worked for Christian organisations for over a decade and the prevailing news stories suggest that the Church is dead. “Pews are empty!” cry newspapers run by underpaid staff in rural villages. It’s true, they are. One Christmas Day morning in the depths of Suffolk, myself, my husband, his father and his father’s wife made up forty percent of that morning’s attendees. (I’ll leave you to figure out the numbers) But this stone cold awe-inducing building was a far cry from the auditorium sized halls of the Pentecostal churches I attended as a child with my family where thousands gathered to sing, shout and cry to the God we often called Jehovah. These places still exist and they are only getting bigger and bigger. Is it perhaps because media outlets refuse to acknowledge these places as “Church” that they do not see that the number of Jesus followers is not declining at all? Because in fact, He is probably more famous than ever before as the West concedes to immigrant populations. And in the UK I see that happening with youth culture largely because of exposure to the black voices in their midst. Because when black people were given space to make noise in media, culture and art – they brought their God with them. (The irony of course will not be lost on many of you that it was Westerners that made such a big deal out of bringing God to Africa so many years ago. But I’m not here to talk about that – that is for another day.)

He (Jesus) is probably more famous than ever before as the West concedes to immigrant populations

Football stadiums, where the last guy I dated told me is the only non-religious place where “spirit” is mentioned (and with gusto), first provided this view into the godly lives of the black and famous. Kneeling on the pitch in celebration of victory, young black boys held up their trophies to the God of their youth, mouthing, “Thank you!” Today, with companies in every industry seeking out black people to show serious consideration of diversity, the names Jesus and God are synonymous with their outpouring. (Ninety-nine per cent of black people I have come across are from some religion or other – usually Christian or Muslim. I actually know none who were raised atheist.)

I heard two guys on a very bro podcast (lots of banter and generally no faith chat) the other day, talking about their relationship “icks” (things that put them off) and I was surprised and delighted when one of them said that his “ick” was a woman who didn’t believe in God. He is a Christian and apparently his co-host, who is a Muslim, is a virgin and waiting to find his bride. Both men are in their late 20s and with so many women of faith struggling to find a partner I LOVED hearing this.

Rapper Stormzy does not identify as a gospel artist – and nor is he – but bring me the fan who doesn’t know that Stormzy is a Christian and I’ll show you a fake fan. His references to God and prayer are frequent and unapologetic. They stand in tandem with who he is, not in spite of. I remember about a decade ago attending an Anthony Hamilton concert – another non-gospel-identifying musician – and in the middle of the set he got down among his fans and held an altar call. He prayed and asked if any of us wanted to know more about Jesus. Not at a church, not at a Christian festival but at a concert in a mainstream large capacity venue in Central London.

This June, I watched Pharrell’s debut show for Louis Vuitton in Paris at Pont Neuf during which he played his newly composed song, JOY (Unspeakable) backed by full gospel choir. You can listen to it in your own time but I want to draw your attention to the lyrics:

Joy Joy, joy

I've got (JOY!)

Wonderful (JOY!)

Great joy (JOY!)

Powerful (JOY!)

I'm talking 'bout (JOY!)

In the morning I got joy (JOY!)

In the noon day I got joy (JOY!)

And late in the midnight hour (JOY!)

I got joy

When them blessings come through (When them blessings come through)

When them blessings come through (When them blessings come through)

When them blessings come through (When them blessings come through)

Yeah

(JOY!)

This joy that I have (JOY!)

World didn't give it, and the world (JOY!)

Can't take it away, I got it (JOY!)

I got it, I got it (JOY!)

In my walk, (JOY!)

In my talk, (JOY!)

In my home, (JOY!)

(JOY!)

(JOY!)

(JOY!)

(JOY!)

(JOY!)

If you want it you can have it (JOY!)

If you need it you can have it (JOY!)

Love, peace, joy, joy (JOY!)

When them blessings come through (When them blessings come through)

When them blessings come through (When them blessings come through)

When them blessings come through (When them blessings come through)

God gave you (JOY!)

(JOY!)

Thank God for joy, (JOY!)

Thank you God for your joy, (JOY!)

Power, peace, (JOY!)

Joy (JOY!)

(JOY!)

Joy

That’s a LOT of joy; it’s a word that appears quite a lot in the Bible (you’ll find it amidst the pain and debauchery I promise…) and one you’ll be hearing a lot in this upcoming Christmas season. Pharrell, I’m told by my non-Christian musician friend, references God in nearly all of his interviews and thanks Him at his events. And even if you aren’t interested in the cutting edges of fashion and music, there are many black public faces now openly referencing faith.

If you’re still reading, you might well be thinking, “What is she talking about? Black people aren’t the only ones talking about God in the mainstream!” And you’d be right, but I would argue back that many of the people you’re talking about are walking in Christian spaces involved in what they would see as “Christian mission”. Black people on the other hand, are trying to get paid lol and that involves working in secular spaces where salaries keep up with the RPI (Retail Price Index). And where they go, God goes with them. In their thank you speeches, in interviews about their upbringing, in their Instagram bios. It’s a move and people are moving.

Because the thing is, no one seems to care about being “good” anymore and belief in God is no longer the default. Case in point: you can no longer frogmarch a man down the aisle to marry a woman carrying his baby under moral duress. He doesn’t care, she may not. People are not running to the pews of this country because of a need to fill a spiritual void. But people care about being cool and it seems that putting black people front and centre means God is now trending. What an interesting revival.

Tola x

PS. Look, I’m not saying that wearing the word “God” on your clothes makes you a believer in said God, but it at least openes you up to the conversation. One that probably isn’t being had on the hard pews of a traditional English church building on a typical Sunday morning.

* https://feature.com/en-gb/blogs/feature-sneaker-boutique/the-history-of-jerry-lorenzo