“Baby Got Book!”

BabygotbookA reader writes:

Perhaps, you’ve seen this music video—“baby got book”–but I had to flag it all the same. My best friend who is a Baptist sent me this link. I found it very funny and its two references to Catholicism were lighthearted and friendly. According to his bio, the singer “south paw,” a graduate of Kentucky Christian University on a full ride tetherball scholarship, started his own “new, super cool church in Cleveland Ohio.” Perhaps, good clean humor can foster dialog amongst different religious groups? Sure takes a little of the pressure off.

Thanks for the link. I’d seen the video a piece back and thought seriously about blogging it, because it is quite funny–and moreso the more you know about Bibles. I also appreciated the two Catholic-friendly references in the video, especially the second. When I heard the second, I thought, "Oh, he didn’t have to do that. That was real nice!"

The thing that stopped me from doing so was . . . well . . . my almost total ignorance of rap music. I got the feeling watching the video that there were references to different secular rap songs in it, and I was concerned that some of these might be to offensive rap songs, even though this video itself is totally clean. In fact, I know that there’s at least one reference of that nature to a highly offensive rap song in the vid. What they do is turn the reference on it’s head so that it’s a kind of totally-clean poke at the offensive song, but–as the Emperor Cartagia explained–"Humor is such a subjective thing."

Having said that, if you’re willing to take the risk of seeing a clean Christian parody of offensive rap stuff,

GET THE VIDEO.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

33 thoughts on ““Baby Got Book!””

  1. We’ve got precedents for turning something bad on its head into something good.
    Too bad that there are smutty elements to the original song. Without them, it might be a guilt-free celebration of healthy women who aren’t starving themselves to look a certain way (No offense to the naturally very slim because that’s nice too, esp. if it’s your natural build and you’re healthy that way) 🙂

  2. THAT was great!! Thanks very much for the link Jimmy.
    I don’t really care for hip hop and rap music (I prefer old Motown, Memphis Stax, and 60s and 70s soul to the current crop) but I have heard more of it than I would care to admit. This video is peppered with loads of references to other hip hop tracks, including the original “Babay Got Back” on which it was based.
    The nods to Catholics were great too.
    Nice to have a bit of light-hearted fun once and a while.

  3. What a way to start my morning! I think even Sir-Mix-Alot (of the original, “Baby Got Back”) would be proud of this homage. A keeper for sure.

  4. I actually heard this one during the morning show of a local COUNTRY radio station recently.
    I’m not at great fan of rap, but this guy does a pretty decent job. Thanks for sharing the video, Jimmy.
    It’s even helped me learn something new – a Thompson Chain bible…with big red letters!

  6. The Catholic references include:
    1. a mention of Mother Teresa and
    2. a mention of the number of books in the Bible, with Catholics having even more (with the tacit implication that “more is better”)

  7. I thought I caught a couple of other Catholic references:
    3. “I keep those chicks that do devo[tional]s.”
    4. “And I’ll greet her with some holy kissing.”

  8. Protestants have “devotionals” (like the prayer of Jabez), and “holy kissing” is something St. Paul mentions in Romans I think (“greet one another with a holy kiss”).
    If you look closely at the scene where he’s proposing, the woman is already pregnant. A funny little gaffe. (The woman is his real wife, so don’t worry, the child is legitimate). 😀

  9. Actually, we used to do devotionals in my family when I was growing up (we were Protestant), so I think that’s a larger reference. There is a mention of holy kissing in the Bible, so that may not quite be one either, though it’s true that Catholics seem to have been the ones to keep the practice alive.

  10. Actually, we used to do devotionals in my family when I was growing up (we were Protestant), so I think that’s a larger reference. There is a mention of holy kissing in the Bible, so that may not quite be one either, though it’s true that Catholics seem to have been the ones to keep the practice alive.

  13. “SuperSize Me” is a pretty good way to describe the Catholic Faith — for example, we are not covered in snow, but transformed.
    And, Marcus Grodi is always saying that where the Catholic outlook is both/and, the Protestant is more often either/or; or rather, in this case either/or and but(t)??
    Whimsy

  14. I loved it! The video reminded me of the giant family KJV Bible that my dad bought me when I was 18–he suggested that I take it with to church (I was a Pentecostal then; it would have worked fine).
    We need to do all we can to encourage Catholic young people–and the old ones too–to grow familiar with the Bible.

  16. The girl speaking in the first sequence said that the preachers like her because she is “like Mother Teresa”

  17. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible is one that has an apparatus where you are directed to other “verses” in the Bible related to the topic that Thompson thought that the current “verse” was about, so that theoretically, you could follow this chain of references to learn all that the Bible had to say about a topic. Of course, that leaves out the possibility of missing teachings, that apart from poetry and proverbs, there aren’t “verses” in the first place, and of course the possibility of misinterpretation.
    Whimsey, the snow-on-manure thing is, as far as I know, a polemic against Lutherans, not genuine Evangelical Catholic belief, where we are to preach the Law, and also preach the Gospel, and where we are to daily live in contrition, faith, and obedience. Forensic justification (which is what your Baptist friends mean when they ask if you’ve been born again – (although it is also very similar to Enthroning the Sacred Heart of Jesus – so if they ask for a date, you can tell them the truth, to what they are really -asking-) – is no mere snow on a dunghill. It is a true legal forgiveness of sins. Christ took our guilt, we received His righteous standing. But it doesn’t end there. We believe in the way of the Cross, the spirituality, or theology of the Cross, and then, when we die, the judgement of works (the purifying fire mentioned) and the instantaneous act of God’s grace making us without the bent towards sin, and healed of the damage of sin in us. What the Roman See teaches that purgatory is about. I don’t know if Rome has any statement about the duration of purgatory. IIRC, the Orthodox and Orientals have a different understanding, but I don’t recall what that is.
    Just an FYI.

  18. Hey, it’s great that Evangelicals are “Supersized!” Uhmm. I was just giving an example, dude. Others include the communion of saints, a belief in a personal guardian angel, the sheer size and age of the Catholic church . . . ya know, we’re just SuperSized. (Which of course we make SuperSized mistakes, too.)
    But of course the obvious reference is our SuperSized Bible.
    SuperSize Me!

  19. Whimsy,
    No, evangelicals aren’t supersized. More like pickle loaf. There’s meat, and then there’s strange stuff, and then there’s holes. Of course, Catholicism *seems* that way to me, too 😉
    I am so not looking for a fight or controversy here!

  20. Too, too funny. And the references to the different translations were great, too.
    I was in high school when “Baby Got Back” came out, so I really enjoyed how he turned that on its head.

  21. I noticed that this guy’s church is in Irondale, AL. That’s where EWTN is, too…

  22. There are some good things happening with Catholic hip hop too, check out http://www.phatmass.com
    These musicians LOVE our church and they LOVE Jesus. I think they are great evangelists to the popular culture.
    n

  23. unfortunately, im not crazy about this video. My sister and I, both <25, discussed the song, and we confessed that neither of us could hear this version without thinking of the smutty lyrics of the original. Probably many in our generation would be reminded of lyrics like "My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun," in listening to this song...

  24. this is eerily similar to the ‘dork’ squabble. I suppose we shouldn’t be imposing our crosses on others. Personally, it’s kinda nice to supplant the original lyrics with ‘holier lyrics.’ After all I can bearly remember the original ones anyway.

  25. I’m going to have to agree with Naomi’s post. I could not watch the video without being reminded of the sexual lyrics of the original. However, I do appreciate the link as it reinforces my belief in the cultural captivity of Christianity, especially in Protestantism.

  26. “it reinforces my belief in the cultural captivity of Christianity”
    Paul, Christians can take the fight to the enemy by using popular forums, such as music, movies, and the internet, without giving in to the amorality that dominates such industries. It is a mistake to think that all rap is evil, just as it is a mistake to think that all MEN are evil.

  28. Thanks for the comments. However, I have by no means made the mistake of thinking all rap is evil or that all men are evil. I’m simply attempting to point out that taking a rap like “Baby Got Back”, and adding Christian lyrics to it is not taking “the fight to the enemy” as you have put it. “Taking the fight to the enemy” would be condemning the majority of rap for it’s demoralization of women, family, men, and sexuality. As Christians we are not of this world, so the making of a Christian parody of “Baby Got Back” just does not sit well with me.

  29. I think it also highlight’s how immature and shallow the original song is. I mean how vastly superior is the lyric: ‘me so holy’ to that of the original. Adds a bit of perspective.

  31. Paul,
    Your opinion is understandable. I was making an analogy with the ‘all men are evil’ line, and didn’t mean to sound like I was saying you said that. I still think that this song is a good way to contradict the original. For instance, Christians celebrate Christ’s birth on the day that pagans used to worship the sun god. such things are done to educate people who know of the evil and who normally would never hear of the good.

Comments are closed.