Good art?

Now some will say that this woman Tamara is doing a good thing. And I approve of it and applaud her effort. I think her lyrics are terrific and her desire to lift up Y'shua is clear and good.

Then the question comes, is this good art?

One re-poster said of her, "Tamara Lowe - White Girl Greatest Rapper Ever - Tamara Lowe raps on TBN.wmv" Wow, that's like Ray's pizza in New York. The greatest and the best pizza in NY. Of course there are dozens of Ray's competing with each other. Or in Sydney there are coffee places that have 'the best coffee' in Sydney. Who voted? Who has the authority to decide?

OK< that's culinary. This is art. And art has its own measure, doesn't it?

JC Jaress said in an article on evaluating art<
"1. Hold Your Opinion(s)
You may like or dislike the subject matter, application, composition, colors, theme, etc. - this is fine and understandable and inevitable - but if you wish to evaluate the work, set your emotional responses aside momentarily."

Jaress then cites History and Craft as judges 2 and 3. Of history, "2. History
To evaluate a particular work of art, or artist(s) for that matter, we need to place the work within its historical context: When was the work produced? And where? By whom? Man? Woman? Collaborative? What were/are the historical implications of this particular work? How does it compare to other works produced in that time and place? How does it compare to other works by this artist? And other artists of that time?" and of craft, "The "intention of craft" must be understood to place the work within a context that we can begin to understand and talk, relevantly, about the work."

Frances Schaeffer wrote the famous essay, "Art and the Bible." I read that in the 1970s and found it rich and helpful in evaluating things that I find distasteful. I don't have to like something, say Modern Art, to find it excellent. I don't have to like rap music to find some very well produced and excellent rap music. I don't have to like classical music, although I do, and sometimes it's the 'liking' of a thing which makes the evaluation that much harder. I might be swayed by the pleasure of the theme or the content if I'm trying to decide if a thing is good or bad art.

That's where I am with this woman rapper.

She says the right things, although apparently bagging the very medium on which she is sending out the information is a bit disingenuous.

Even so, the 'amen' that rises up within me as Tamara raps this poem should not influence my decision about the art being good or bad.

I think her rapping is pretty ordinary. I think if a real rapper had been given the poetry she wrote, I would much prefer it.

What do you think?