Christian Rap

Tagged as: Christianity, Music Oct 29

Music is a wonderful thing. Throughout the ages, it has been created and enjoyed by man. It has ranged from the beat of the drum to the clang of the cymbal to the strings of the violin.

In and of itself, music is innocuous. It is the words, lyrics, and association that we attach to these series of notes that give them their meaning. That brings me to the point where I wonder at the derision of specific genres of music. While I’m not a fan of every type of music (hardcore rock comes to mind), I do wonder sometimes at the motivation that people have for judgment.

Over the years, I’ve often heard both Christians and non-Christians deride so-called Christian rap (aka Gospel Rap, Holy Hip Hop, and so on and so on). Basically it’s music that identifies itself as hip hop with lyrics that could in someway be identified as Christian. It seems that people mock it because they think that the combination of a culture of sex, drugs, and money that is often associated with the hip hop culture cannot be combined with what they perceive as stodgy, conservative Christianity. Since they cannot go hand in hand, it’s worthy of derision.

And yet I can pretty readily admit that I listen to and enjoy some of the music in this genre. While I’m most definitely a fan of a wide variety of music (classic pop, r&b, show tunes, alternative, trance, and more), some of my favorite artists might very well be clumped into this group.

Why I enjoy Christian rap:

1. Like-mindedness – While a lot of the groups and artists that I listen to don’t constantly mention the name of Jesus Christ, I enjoy listening to them because I know that we come from the same place. We’re more alike than different because we are more fundamentally similar than to someone who does not share the faith.
2. Lyrics – Hardly anybody on the radio even has interesting lyrics. It’s the same old game of sex, money, and women. Soulja boy? Hardly stimulating.
3. Creativity – So granted, I don’t listen to a lot of underground secular rappers. But in my experience it seems that Christian groups that I listen to are much more wiling to try new things than the factory-pressed tracks heard on the radio.
4. Keeping It Real – This might seem extremely strange in a genre that many people think of as utterly fake, but I think that they’re being more real when they create their works. They’re using their entire being, from their background in the ‘hood all of the way to their conversion because of Christ. They’re not trying to hide these things, and I can respect that.

So I don’t enjoy ever single Christian rapper that I listen to. Far from it. But the same is true across the board for all musical genres. Personally I enjoy those Christian rappers that like to talk about life, just like how I like to talk about life here on this blog. But that is my own taste.

Even though it’s been popular in society to mock the Jesus that I believe in (Jesus is my homeboy anyone?), I won’t be party to it. I rather wonder why people act that way. Is it because (in the case of Christians) they’re insecure about being so in-your-face about the faith? Or perhaps it’s because (in the case of non-Christians) they haven’t experienced the same change?

Whatever it is, I might not ever know.

If you want to check out some free songs:
List of free (and legal) Christian hip hop mp3s

Some of my favorites are:

• 4th Avenue Jones (which have disbanded)
• L.A. Symphony
• Pigeon John (formerly of L.A. Symphony)
• Grits