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CHRISTIAN RAPPER SAVED BY CIRCUMCISION--TWICE
ChristianityToday.com
May 30 2014
After a childhood encounter with terrorists, hip-hop artist raps for
religious freedom.
Timothy C. Morgan and David Daniels/ May 30, 2014
Back in the 1980s, a doctor in a remote clinic performed an emergency
circumcision to treat a young boy's severe urinary tract infection
in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea. Ruslan Karaoglanov was cured from
potentially fatal infection that day. But the Karaoglanov family
had no inkling that five years later, that circumcision would save
Ruslan's life during a bloody pogrom led by Muslim terrorists.
Ruslan, a rising talent in the Christian hip-hop world (known
professionally by his first name), retold the story to Christianity
Today. It was during the historic period in which the Berlin Wall
came down and the Soviet empire collapsed. In Azerbaijan, Christians
lived in daily fear for their lives as Islamic terrorists sought to
purge non-Muslims from the region.
Black January
The worst occurred in the early days of 1990 (today known as "Black
January"). Over seven days that month, violence between Azerbaijani
Muslims and the Soviet Red Army left an estimated 220 people dead
and 1,500 injured in Baku, the capital.
One day, armed men crashed through the door at the home where the
Karaoglanov family was living in Baku. They were seeking to find and
murder any Armenian males. Ruslan's Armenian father and uncles had
already fled to Moscow for safety. But Ruslan, about 5 years old,
had stayed with his ethnic Russian mother, Marina, and grandparents.
As three rebels with automatic weapons prepared to kill him, his
mother quickly exposed her son's circumcised penis to prove that his
was not Armenian. "No! No! No!" Marina shouted in Russian.
"We're not Armenians. Look, my son is circumcised!"
Armenian Christians traditionally do not practice circumcision, while
Muslims typically do. The militants were persuaded the Karaoglanovs
were fellow Muslims. After the harrowing episode, the Karaoglanov
family was reunited in Moscow at the end of 1990. They applied for
visas to the United States, and the family landed in San Diego to
build a new life.
Growing up on the fringes of American culture, Ruslan turned to
hip-hop to express himself. As an adult rap artist, Ruslan has opened
for Lecrae, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, and other top acts. He says his keen
awareness of God's protection of religious minorities has found a
place in his music, which he describes as "positive hip-hop."
Birthed in the late 1970s, hip-hop now generates a $10 billion a year
in revenue. Surveys show there are 45 million hip-hop consumers, ages
13 to 34, and 80 percent are white. Christian hip-hop artists, such
as Lecrae, often place their recordings at or near the top of the rap
album chart. Billboard magazine recently described Christian hip-hop
as a "welcome bright spot" for the religious music market, which has
seen sales decline 31 percent since 2009. Traffic to Rapzilla.com, a
leading Christian hip-hop webzine, grew fifteen-fold from 2008 to 2013.
Master of His Craft
Ruslan believes music is an overlooked way to reach a younger audience
with a message about the fight for religious freedom. He began the
first verse of song off his debut solo album, Carry On, rapping, "I
was supposed to die--no one would've noticed it." Later in a video,
"Please Pronounce My Name Right," he tells the story of the 1990
pogrom and how he survived.
Derek "Fonzworth Bentley" Watkins, a recording artist who has worked
alongside Sean "P Diddy" Combs and Kanye West, told CT he sees the
missionary pulse in Ruslan's music. "You cannot influence that which
you are not in proximity to," said Watkins. "A lot of Christian
artists . . . will not interact at a deeper level with folks whose
hearts have not been won by God. [But] Jesus went to those people.
That's something Ruslan really brings to the table.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/may-web-only/christian-rapper-saved-by-circumcision-hip-hop.html
ChristianityToday.com
May 30 2014
After a childhood encounter with terrorists, hip-hop artist raps for
religious freedom.
Timothy C. Morgan and David Daniels/ May 30, 2014
Back in the 1980s, a doctor in a remote clinic performed an emergency
circumcision to treat a young boy's severe urinary tract infection
in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea. Ruslan Karaoglanov was cured from
potentially fatal infection that day. But the Karaoglanov family
had no inkling that five years later, that circumcision would save
Ruslan's life during a bloody pogrom led by Muslim terrorists.
Ruslan, a rising talent in the Christian hip-hop world (known
professionally by his first name), retold the story to Christianity
Today. It was during the historic period in which the Berlin Wall
came down and the Soviet empire collapsed. In Azerbaijan, Christians
lived in daily fear for their lives as Islamic terrorists sought to
purge non-Muslims from the region.
Black January
The worst occurred in the early days of 1990 (today known as "Black
January"). Over seven days that month, violence between Azerbaijani
Muslims and the Soviet Red Army left an estimated 220 people dead
and 1,500 injured in Baku, the capital.
One day, armed men crashed through the door at the home where the
Karaoglanov family was living in Baku. They were seeking to find and
murder any Armenian males. Ruslan's Armenian father and uncles had
already fled to Moscow for safety. But Ruslan, about 5 years old,
had stayed with his ethnic Russian mother, Marina, and grandparents.
As three rebels with automatic weapons prepared to kill him, his
mother quickly exposed her son's circumcised penis to prove that his
was not Armenian. "No! No! No!" Marina shouted in Russian.
"We're not Armenians. Look, my son is circumcised!"
Armenian Christians traditionally do not practice circumcision, while
Muslims typically do. The militants were persuaded the Karaoglanovs
were fellow Muslims. After the harrowing episode, the Karaoglanov
family was reunited in Moscow at the end of 1990. They applied for
visas to the United States, and the family landed in San Diego to
build a new life.
Growing up on the fringes of American culture, Ruslan turned to
hip-hop to express himself. As an adult rap artist, Ruslan has opened
for Lecrae, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, and other top acts. He says his keen
awareness of God's protection of religious minorities has found a
place in his music, which he describes as "positive hip-hop."
Birthed in the late 1970s, hip-hop now generates a $10 billion a year
in revenue. Surveys show there are 45 million hip-hop consumers, ages
13 to 34, and 80 percent are white. Christian hip-hop artists, such
as Lecrae, often place their recordings at or near the top of the rap
album chart. Billboard magazine recently described Christian hip-hop
as a "welcome bright spot" for the religious music market, which has
seen sales decline 31 percent since 2009. Traffic to Rapzilla.com, a
leading Christian hip-hop webzine, grew fifteen-fold from 2008 to 2013.
Master of His Craft
Ruslan believes music is an overlooked way to reach a younger audience
with a message about the fight for religious freedom. He began the
first verse of song off his debut solo album, Carry On, rapping, "I
was supposed to die--no one would've noticed it." Later in a video,
"Please Pronounce My Name Right," he tells the story of the 1990
pogrom and how he survived.
Derek "Fonzworth Bentley" Watkins, a recording artist who has worked
alongside Sean "P Diddy" Combs and Kanye West, told CT he sees the
missionary pulse in Ruslan's music. "You cannot influence that which
you are not in proximity to," said Watkins. "A lot of Christian
artists . . . will not interact at a deeper level with folks whose
hearts have not been won by God. [But] Jesus went to those people.
That's something Ruslan really brings to the table.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/may-web-only/christian-rapper-saved-by-circumcision-hip-hop.html