Christian Rap and Hip Hop Christian Music

Christian Rap and Hip Hop

March 5, 2006 – 9:53 am

Two turntables and the Son of God
Hip-hop ministries move beyond the underground

One day, Ben Brickhouse just sat his mom down and read her some of his rhymes. Slowly. “You saying all of that?” she asked him.

“Now I’ll say it fast,” he said, and started rapping about the Lord.

“That’s why I didn’t like it. Because I couldn’t understand it.”

That’s OK. She didn’t grow up on the sounds of scratching and mixing, two turntables and a microphone. Most of his group did, though. Brickhouse, Angela Smith and Aijné Williams are P.R.O.O.F., part of an underground of holy hip-hop artists that are growing in number across the country.

Today it’s the younger sibling of the mainstream, with a lot of quality from hot beats to tight lyrics. Most of the DJs, rappers and producers consider themselves ministers. They’re preaching the word of God and trying to lead people to Christ, and do it without coming off corny.

Emcees in the mid- to late 1980s credited with starting the scene are people like Stephen Wiley, Michael Peace and D-Boy Rodriguez. But not a lot of people knew about them. Christian rap got more exposure with the success of the controversial dc Talk.

They weren’t considered as authentically hip-hop as the pioneers, said Efrem Smith, co-author of “The Hip-Hop Church: Connecting with the Movement Shaping Our Culture.”

Still, they were able to connect with a younger audience in a way that wasn’t being done in Christian music.

“They brought a lot of convergent styles

to one place using rap, soulful R&B and pop. They got the industry to pay attention to that market,” said Tricia Whitehead, spokesperson for the Gospel Music Association.

The music’s popularity has grown in recent years. Since January, about 40 percent of the albums on the Christian R&B/Hip-hop chart were hip-hop. Black gospel, which is largely hip-hop and R&B, was one of the most popular styles of gospel music in 2005.

But in the beginning, holy hip-hop was treated more like a stepchild. It was the place where weak emcees went to practice because the perception was that it was the minor leagues.

“If you weren’t good enough to be a mainstream emcee or get a secular record deal, then you had to become a Christian and do Christian rap,” said Smith.

That’s changed.

“Production values have gotten better,” said Eric Faison, vice president of affiliate relations for Superadio Networks. The company syndicates Club Virtue, a gospel hip-hop radio show on STAR 94.1, hosted by Grammy winner Tonex. “For a while it just wouldn’t hold up to what else is on the radio, and now it does.”

Members of P.R.O.O.F. admit to finding a lot of the early stuff uninspiring. (The group’s name stands for Preaching the Reality Of Optical Faith.) In Brickhouse’s dorm room at Old Dominion University, the trio hangs out before attending their weekly Bible study and talks about how the rhymes weren’t that great, the beats only so-so.

“Personally, I feel like at first, there were only a small number of people doing gospel hip-hop, so they were all accepted,” said Williams. “Now that there are so many more people doing it, it’s a higher quality.”

For Brickhouse and Angela Smith, the realization that holy hip-hop could be done really well came when they heard The Cross Movement, a well-known group out of Philadelphia.

“First, I thought they were lyrically tight and talented,” said Smith. “I was like, ‘Man, this is what I wanna do.’”

All of the Christian rap he’d heard before was corny, Brickhouse said. This wasn’t. The music was hot.

Aside from people spending more time in the lab perfecting their craft, the emcees have been boning up on theology, said Phil Jackson, co-author of “The Hip-Hop Church.” There are a number of them who have degrees and who’ve been to seminary. It’s not a requirement, but it doesn’t hurt when people are already suspicious of whether hip-hop can be a ministry. The lyricists who know basic theology can say something on the mike and then break it down after the show for the doubters.

“Cats can have mad skills and crazy production, but that can be smoke and mirrors when it comes to being able to be a steward of the movement of Christian hip-hop,” said Jackson.

Efrem Smith says the movement has four elements: it represents Christ, uses elements of hip-hop culture, deals with social justice issues and is more concerned with people becoming Christians than with winning awards. To make the kind of impact mainstream has made, holy hip-hop needs more support from churches and radio. Too many people are still buying into the stereotypes of violence and misogyny in hip-hop.

So what does that mean for the music? Maybe God will keep it underground so people stay humble, Jackson muses. Maybe with the maturity in the production, lyrics and exposure, more people are warming up to it. Even Brickhouse’s mother will meet him halfway – she’ll listen to gospel heavyweight Kirk Franklin. It’s a start.