This book explores an important aspect of hip-hop that is rarely considered: its deep entanglement with spiritual life. The world of hip-hop is saturated with religion, but rarely is that element given serious consideration. In Street Scriptures, Alejandro Nava focuses our attention on this aspect of the music and culture in a fresh way, combining his profound love of hip-hop, his passion for racial and social justice, and his deep theological knowledge. Street Scriptures offers a refreshingly earnest and beautifully written journey through hip-hop's deep entanglement with the sacred. Nava analyzes the religious heartbeat in hip-hop, looking at crosscurrents of the sacred and profane in rap, reggaeton, and Latinx hip-hop today. Ranging from Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Lauryn Hill, and Cardi B to St. Augustine and William James, Nava examines the ethical-political, mystical-prophetic, and theological qualities in hip-hop, probing the pure sonic and aesthetic signatures of music, while also diving deep into the voices that invoke the spirit of protest. The result is nothing short of a new liberation theology for our time, what Nava calls a "street theology."

"Nava introduces an intervention into the excesses and shortcomings of two of the major theological movements of the 20th century: Latin American liberation theology and Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of beauty, the via pulchritudinis. He notes how liberation theology underdetermined beauty as a suspicious distraction from social justice, while the theology of beauty, in liturgy and beyond, overdetermined beauty through a fixed cultural lens. . . . This erudition and range make the book’s most compelling case for itself." - America Magazine

"Nava explores the connections between religion and hip-hop, revealing the overlooked theological roots of the genre and its potential to change the world." - US Catholic Magazine, "What We're Reading"

"“Using examples from current hip-hop artists, as well as popular artists from the past, Nava passionately describes the blending of religion, politics, culture, and aesthetics in hip-hop music.”" - Reading Religion

"A stylistically playful yet materially serious examination of public theologies done from and for the margins. Any courses focusing on the intersection of 'faith/theology' and 'culture' would benefit from Nava’s work." - Religious Studies Review