What is Christian Rap?

Christian rap, also commonly referred to as Christian hip hop, gospel rap, holy hip hop, among other labels, is a sub-genre that has been around since hip hop began, but has more recently gained more mainstream attention. Seen by some as a corny form of hip hop, mainly of today’s rappers that focus on Christian themes prefer to be seen as rappers who are Christian rather than Christian rappers. It’s a subtle distinction, but I think the intention is to stay true to the edgy, in your face style of hip hop, while simultaneously exploring themes inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. So what exactly is Christian rap? Let’s get into it…

Definition:

As with the exploration of other rap genres, we first explore the definition of the words. The word Christian is defined as “of, relating to, or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings.” Based on this definition, we can say that Christian rap is rap music that is inspired by the life of Jesus Christ and His teachings from the Gospel. AllMusic.com defines Christian rap as “hip hop with religious and inspirations themes.” Wikipedia.org states that Christian hip hop is “is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization (Christian mission work), edifying some members of the church and/or simply entertaining.”

History:

The history of hip hop has always had a heavy Christian influence. Being a culture and musical genre that emerged from a predominantly urban, African-American community, it has always been vastly intertwined with various religious inspirations, including Christianity. With that said, not every Christian rapper chooses to focus on explicitly Christian themes in their lyrics. According to Wikipedia.org, one of the first explicitly Christian songs was a track titled “Jesus Christ (The Gospel Beat)” by rapper MC Sweet, released in 1982. Additionally, the first album which was entirely focused on Christian themes “Bible Break” by artist Stephen Wiley, released in 1986. Since then, Christian themes and lyrics have found there way into just about every rap style, including west coast, east coast, gangsta rap, pop rap, chopped and screwed, etc, making Christian rap very versatile. According to Wikipedia.org, “Christian rap has almost exclusively come out Protestant traditions in the United States, although there is a small Catholic Rap scene that has recently emerged, and there are also small Christian rap scenes in the UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada and many other countries where Christians reside and hip hop music is popular.”

Example Artists:

Stephen Wiley, MC Sweet, Michael Peace, T-Bone, Lecrae, Andy Mineo, TobyMac, KB, Propaganda, Lazarus, Group 1 Crew, Flame, Trip Lee

Christian Rap Playlist:

There you have it – a brief introduction into the genre of Christian rap! To dig deeper, go listen to more songs by the artists mentioned above, and browse the web for additional information and history about this spiritual genre of hip hop! If there are any songs or artists that we missed, leave us a comment below!

If you like this type of music, you should check out another awesome playlist here called: 10 Socially Conscious Hip Hop Songs that Make You Think Deep. CLICK HERE to check it out!

Mr. Hip-Hop Head