Ebony A. Utley, Ph.D. is an expert in popular culture, race, and romantic relationships. Her critically acclaimed book,Rap and Religion: Understanding The Gangsta’s God addresses all of the above by closely examining the juxtaposition and seeming hypocrisy of references to God within rap music. Utley asserts that religion has always been part of theurban environments that birthed rap music, and she shows exactly how a God sanctioned gangsta identity can be empower