Erik Nielson is an associate professor of liberal arts at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Va. He is co-editor of The Hip Hop and Obama Reader , and beginning in spring 2018 he and hip-hop artist Mad Skillz will co-teach a class on hip-hop and politics. Nielson blogs about hip-hop and the broader culture here.

Daniel White Hodge is an associate professor of intercultural communications at North Park University, a Christian school in Chicago where he is also director of the Center for Youth Ministry Studies. He is editor of The Journal of Hip Hop Studies and author of The Soul of Hip Hop: Rims, Timbs and a Cultural Theology; Heaven Has a Ghetto: […]

Imani Kai Johnson is an assistant professor of dance at the University of California, Riverside, where she founded the “Show and Prove” hip-hop studies conference, held every two years.

Matthew Harris is a scholar of African-American religion, popular culture and religion, and black studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He wrote a paper on “self-deification” in hip-hop for 2016’s “Show and Prove” hip-hop studies conference.

Robert Tinajero is an associate professor of English at Paul Quinn College in Dallas. His areas of studies include rap and hip-hop culture.

DJ Khaled is a musician and record producer. He is also a Muslim, of Palestinian descent, and many of his works reference his belief in Allah. Contact via his representatives at United Talent Agency.

Shauna Lee Lange is an artist, illustrator and designer who is also a liturgical arts adviser to churches and other sacred spaces. She has identified trends in North American contemporary sacred arts that include a return to organic materials, a focus on mysticism and exoticism and a preference for minimalism. She is based in Connecticut.