To evaluate E-40's lyric solely through archaeological records misses its cultural function. The phrase was never meant to serve as an academic defense for peer-reviewed theology journals. It operated as a direct counter-attack against colonial portraiture.
For centuries, Western iconography was dominated by Warner Sallman's 1940 painting, Head of Christ. That portrait, showing a pale, blue-eyed man with smooth, flowing brown tresses parted down the center, was printed over 500 million times on prayer cards, church fans, and living room wall hangings across the globe. For Black Americans, this Europeanized depiction separated biblical history from African and Semitic roots.
Rap artists have spent decades reclaiming those narratives through lyrical wordplay. In 1993, Wu-Tang Clan referenced ancient Israelites wearing natural styles. By 2006, E-40 adapted that heritage to fit the energetic pulse of the Bay Area. When he said Jesus had dreadlocks, he sanctified Black hair. He took a hairstyle historically criminalized by employers and school boards and crowned it with holy lineage.
The street folklore was simple: if Jesus walked the desert without modern European grooming tools, exposed to dry heat and wind, his hair would naturally mat and lock. By drawing on this collective memory, E-40 offered listeners a vision of a Messiah who looked like the young men dodging police cruisers on MacArthur Boulevard.
