Father Crunk

"Roll deep, and buy your own drinks, for one knows not what someone has put in that appletini." --- Fr. Bailey

The New York Times

June 17, 2006 Saturday
Late Edition - Final

A Hard Core, Hip-Hop Spiritual Journey

BYLINE: By BRENDA GOODMAN

SECTION: Section B; Column 4; Metropolitan Desk; Religion Journal; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 892 words

DATELINE: ATLANTA, June 16

Just as the sun started to burn through the smog on a recent Monday morning, the Rev. Ricardo Xavier-Zatwon Bailey, 32, a priest at Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church here, loosened his collar, slipped on his headphones and rolled up to a radio-studio microphone.

''Yes, party people, it's Father Ricardo Bailey coming at you live and hard core from the basilica at Q-100.''

Sandwiched between songs by the likes of Trick Daddy and the Pussycat Dolls, Father Bailey has a weekly gig on one of the most popular morning shows in Atlanta, ''The Bert Show,'' where he has been introduced to listeners as ''Father Crunk.''

That an ordained Catholic priest might call himself ''Crunk,'' a hip-hop fusion of the words ''crazy'' and ''drunk,'' might seem outrageous enough, but what is really making Atlantans choke on their morning coffee are his radio riffs, which take their cues as much from the pages of People magazine as the Book of Proverbs.

Recently, for example, the subject of his discussion was a rumored bar fight between the tabloid princesses Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson.

After Ms. Lohan supposedly sent a drink to Ms. Simpson that Ms. Simpson, in turn, supposedly ignored, Ms. Lohan supposedly proceeded to berate Ms. Simpson publicly.

Father Bailey saw multiple lessons in this supposed exchange.

''When you go to the club, Atlanta, roll deep,'' he said, advising his listeners to travel in packs. ''That way, people won't be ready to start some drama with you if you've got some homies around. When you go to the club, Atlanta, buy your own damn drink. Like I said before, you have no idea what somebody put in that appletini.''

Father Bailey closed by advising: ''Jesus rose above the drama. So can you.''

Another talk, titled ''Stop Dippin' and Dappin' if You Don't Know What's Happenin','' compared speculation over the paternity of Katie Holmes's baby to the fallout after the Virgin Mary's pregnancy. ''Folks were hating on Mary,'' Father Bailey said. ''They were filling Joseph's mind with the fact that he better kick Mary to the curb because he wasn't that baby's daddy.''

See the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John for more details, Father Bailey said, and stop ''fanning the flames of haterology'' with gossip.

When Father Bailey goes on the air with his brand of divinely inspired dish, the telephone lines light up.

The first question from callers has typically been ''Is he for real?'' said Jeff Dauler, a producer and co-host of the show. Then they want to know where and when to find him on Sunday.

Father Bailey, who grew up in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood here, was ordained in 2003.

He insists that he is for real and that his street-smart sermonizing is not for show.

''That's just who I am,'' he said. ''It's not an act. The parishioners are used to it.''

Apparently so. He has become so sought out that the Archdiocese of Atlanta had to give him a dedicated link on its Web site.

His popularity is a great relief to Catholic leaders here, who were not sure that having one of their priests on a radio show that made a name for itself with a gag that outed cheating spouses was such a good idea.

''We were very, very reluctant,'' said Gareth N. Genner, president of Holy Spirit Preparatory School, the school associated with Father Bailey's church. ''There was so much about the show that wasn't a good fit with our mission in terms of the content.''

(The school, in fact, does not let students listen to the whole show. Instead, they get a digital copy of the program and play the 10-minutes of Father Bailey's segment over the loudspeaker on Monday mornings.)

Father Bailey says he is careful to walk a line that entertains but does not stray from Catholic teachings, and he tones it down for Sunday Mass.

As one of just 250 black Catholic priests in the United States, Father Bailey knew he already stood out. He simply decided to use that to his advantage.

Being called ''crunk'' does not bother him, he said, because the word has evolved to mean superexcited or hyped up, not intoxicated. ''When I go to the pulpit and tell people to get crunk for Jesus, I'm not telling them to get 'crazy drunk' for Jesus.''

Still, he knows that not everyone digs his steelo (translation: style).

''I know there are some people who probably have a bad taste in their mouth and say I don't represent what a priest is supposed to be,'' Father Bailey said. Remarkably, he has heard from only three.

Mr. Genner, too, said he had heard few complaints about Father Bailey's approach.

''The only issue we heard is whether we should have been prepared to engage with Q-100 at all,'' Mr. Genner said. ''By engaging with them, we are supporting a media style which is counter to our faith.''

Their rebuttal to those concerns, he said, was that it was important to ''engage culture.''

''You can't lock yourself or your faith in a closet,'' Mr. Genner said.

And Mr. Genner said Father Bailey seemed to be reaching a population that they could not have otherwise engaged.

''We've heard from people who say they haven't been to church in 40 years who come to see Father Bailey,'' Mr. Genner said. ''There are evangelical churches in Atlanta which attract people because of their style and presentation, and I believe Father Bailey is the perfect antidote to that. He tells it to you the way you want to hear it.''


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