Christian Hip-Hop
Hip-hop is huge?and filled with violence and cursing. But Christian emcees say they’re trying to make a difference.
by Steven Isaac
Hip-hop is huge in north america, with album sales topping $1 billion each year. That’s a ton of money, and a lot of it is spent on gangsta rappers like eminem, ja rule and 50 cent, artists whose lyrics are filled with cursing and crude language, sex, drugs and violence and who have given hip-hop music an often dark and negative reputation. But christian hip-hopsters like t-bone, john rueben, toby mac and ill harmonics say they’re trying to make a difference. Their mission: introduce the mtv generation to "the lord of all generations."
There’s no escaping rap. It’s the floor-rattling bass bump and staccato vocals that pulsate behind the bedroom doors of teens coast to coast. (Maybe even yours.) In a recent Breakaway online poll we asked guys to vote on their favorite style of music. The No. 1 answer was hard/rapcore. Hip-hop also topped the list. Yet why are teens attracted to a genre that seems to have more to do with baggy pants, backward ball caps and flashy jewelry than it does with music? Ask any hardcore hip-hop fan and he’ll set you straight: "It’s about keepin’ it real. It’s a mind-set, a way of life." Since vulgar and violent gangsta stars such as Eminem, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Ja Rule are off limits for Breakaway guys, how does the Christian rap scene rate? Is this streetwise gospel worth tuning in? We’ve talked to some of Christian rap’s movers and shakers, asking them about their art, their ministry and this growing musical phenomenon. Here’s what they told us.
THE ID, THE EGO AND THE EMCEE
Rap music has reinvented the art of bragging. And even for Christian hip-hoppers, the temptation to indulge is hard to resist. Some don’t see much harm in it. "If we’re gonna be realistic, every man has his level of pride or ego," explains Tik Tokk of veteran CCM rap group Gospel Gangstaz. "We can’t be so heavenly-minded that we’re no earthly good." But others see it quite differently. In fact, the majority of the artists we interviewed fingered ego, pride and a lack of real harmony between musicians as Christian hip-hop’s most visible blemishes.
Toby McKeehan (aka Toby Mac) is a member of Christian supergroup dc Talk, the founder and CEO of Gotee Records and now one of CCM’s most respected hip-hoppers. (His recent album, Momentum, took fans and critics by storm.) He’s worried about what pride is doing to Christian hip-hop. "One of the problems in the hip-hop community in general is an ego-type attitude when you’re on the microphone. And we do find it in the Christian ranks as well. It’s called a ‘hater mentality.’ You’re hatin’ on somebody because they sold more records. Or you’re hatin’ on somebody because they’ve connected with more people. Or they’ve sold out what hip-hop is by watering it down. Suddenly, you have all this division based on who’s ‘real’ and who isn’t."
CCM rapper John Reuben agrees. "Arrogance has always bugged me. I just don’t like pride." He added, "I don’t mind confidence. I don’t mind a friendly little ‘catchin’ rec,’ which means you might make a rhyme about getting a crowd live and puttin’ on a great show. That’s fine with me, but there’s a point when it seems like a lot of the artists cross the line and become so about themselves and being the best emcee.
"VIOLENT LYRICS AND THE TRICKLE-DOWN GANGSTA MENTALITY"
A lot of Christian hip-hop features violent lyrics. Instead of gunnin’ down gangstas on the corner, these born-again emcees blast the spiritual powers of darkness. To the uninitiated, such gruesome images are creepy and disturbing, but the rappers creating them are convinced they’re necessary to attract the unchurched urban audience they’re hoping to reach. "The world isn’t sugarcoating its music," declares up-and-comer Sevin, "so far be it from us to try to do that because [the listeners] won’t accept that. They want what’s real and what’s really goin’ on."
Others give a more spiritual defense. "I talk to people who carry guns, and I tell them to put down the guns and pick up a Bible," long-time CCM rapper T-Bone explains. "We’ve gotta realize that we live in a spiritual battlefield. How many preachers do we hear say, ‘Let’s give the Devil a black eye?’ It’s the same thing. There’s a war that goes on every day when I wake up: Satan against Christ. They’re battling over my soul. The Bible says we have authority through Christ to resist Satan, so the reason I use violent lyrics is because I want to let Satan know that he’s under my feet. They also make my fans think about the fact that I’m not scared of the Devil."
A few rappers, however, have consciously chosen not to use violent, gangsta-style imagery. Blake Knight and Playdough of Ill Harmonics are concerned about the effect some violent Christian rap may have on young listeners. Knight wonders if it isn’t a bit presumptuous to act like God’s hit man out to "cap demons." Playdough is concerned that such images might even entice teens into the hardcore gangsta world. "I grew up in the church," he said. "I grew up listening to Christian hip-hop, listening to artists like Gospel Gangstaz and T-Bone. Their music made me start to learn more about the hip-hop lifestyle than I ever would have known. It intrigues you, man. It’s something that, if you like that style of music, then you’re gonna start maybe experimenting with other stuff when you get older or when you get the chance to go buy something else."
Toby Mac was also skeptical about violent lyrics, but proffered a denominational reason for why they’re being used. "Everyone’s logic is going to be different," he said. "I think it’s a difference in subculture and background. I came up fundamental Baptist. That’s how I grew up, so talking about cappin’ demons isn’t something that’s on the tip of my tongue. Do I think that spiritual warfare exists? Yeah, I absolutely do. But using gangsta images to define it just seems a little disrespectful to me."
THE HIP-HOP MISSION FIELD
Most of the musicians we spoke with feel that their art is geared toward unsaved urban kids, not suburban Christians. Nearly all of them are zealously evangelistic, and several claimed Matthew 11:12’s reference to "forceful men lay[ing] hold" of Christ’s kingdom as an anchor for their edgy approach.
"I don’t preach a watered-down gospel," T-Bone told us. "My ministry is one of the most effective for reaching gang members. I would say 95 percent of the unsaved people that come to my concert are down at the altar by the time the show is done. Churches nowadays try to be so polite. They try to be so nice. You can’t be a sissy Christian! I think that kids need to hear it straight up in their face. There are a lot of knuckleheads. If you don’t tell them straight up the way it is [or] I sit here and preach a nice little gospel and try not to offend people, they’re not going to listen."
Indeed, the real art is in being aggressive and street-savvy without shying away from the references that really matter. The guys in Mars Ill "target ears with acoustic weapons, the music of the culture," rapping about pop icons such as Richard Gere, Shirley MacLaine, John Wayne, Han Solo and hoops star Reggie Miller. But they also introduce fans to ancient truths ("The God of Abraham and Isaac was the answer all these years"), connecting the hip-hop generation to God’s extended family.
OUR ADVICE: ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN AND YOUR EARS
Despite a wealth of good intentions, be warned: Some Christian hip-hop artists aren’t worth adding to your CD collection. (They mix egotistical posturing with violent themes.)
Yet Christian hip-hop’s greatest strength is its passion for reaching a lost, dying world for Christ. For guys ensnared by the hardcore gangsta scene, Christian rap can serve as a pathway to spiritual awareness and a liberating commitment to God.
Steven Isaac is the associate editor of Focus on the Family’s Plugged In magazine. Portions of this article first appeared in the July 2002 issue.
Photography / Uprok Records, Gotee Records, ForeFront Records, Flicker Records. This article appeared in Breakaway magazine. Copyright © 2003 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.