I subscribed to the Wade-O Radio Show podcast a while back, to stay in touch with the latest in Christian Hip Hop music. While there are a plethora of Contemporary Christian music radio and Gospel music radio stations nationwide, American broadcast companies have yet to latch on to the exploding Christian Hip Hop scene, which (as of this writing) is already decades old. Thank God for the internet! Christian Hip Hop is alive, well and thriving, over the not-so underground net stations.
Jesus-glorifying lyrics interwoven between punchlines, spit over trap beats injected with moog basslines and phaser/flanger effected melodies are running rampant across the genre today. And the music is colorblind. You won’t be surprised to hear a seasoned young black Christian rapper—KB—alongside a white Christian PGA golfer—Bubba Watson—spittin’ lyrics for Jesus. Likewise, it’s not unheard of to hear a Contemporary Christian songstress like Kari Jobe lay down a hook for a Lecrae track. The music is on fleek, and the kids hungry for Jesus are absolutely loving it.
Now, if you don’t understand a word of what I just said, take heart. You’re exactly who I’m writing to, friend. While I dig the sound and feel of the music, I’m just too old to personally relate to much of it. It’s not that I don’t understand it, because I do. It’s just that the young brothers and sisters aren’t really speaking to the needs and struggles of a dad with college-age kids, a wife of 10-plus years, a mortgage and property taxes, and the troubles of the world that they haven’t even come across yet.
See, I’ve got bad knees, high blood pressure and my bedtime is usually right around 10pm these days. With that said, I’m not looking to be “turnt up” on the floor, after hours, even listening to Jesus music, especially when I’ve got church in the morning! My body just doesn’t respond to hyper beat music of any genre the way it used to. Plus, once I got saved, I actually gave up a lot of that type of music because it took my back to Egypt, spiritually. So, while I admire current Christian Hip Hop’s creativity, I honestly would rather leave it for my kids and the generation between theirs and mine. I’m not hatin’ at all, because young brothers like Bizzle, Sevin, and Trip Lee are in heavy rotation on my iPod (yep, still rockin’ the 80GB classic instead of my smartphone). My question is simply this: where is the Christian Hip Hop for the 30 and 40-plus crowd?
I am a child of the 80’s. Okay…really I was born in 1973, so…yeah; I’m old by some standards. I loved Hip Hop from the time I was introduced to it around the age of eight. Hip Hop was always with me through every major life event, like a tried-and-true friend. Even when it transformed from feel-good-vibe to pop-pop-pop-murder-murder, I still kept it close to my heart. Then, Jesus called and I answered. I was 36 years old at the time. One of the first things he commanded me to do was to distance myself from the style of music I’d grown up with. I did, faithfully praying that God would replace it somehow. Maybe he would give me a love for Contemporary Christian music, or set my heart ablaze for Gospel. Instead, he brought me full circle to Hip Hop, by introducing me to Lecrae’s music. I was immediately smitten. This young brother spit expertly crafted lyrics reminiscent of Rakim, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane and even DJ Run. Not only was he speaking about the kingdom of God, but the beats and instrumentals used were bananas!
Lecrae’s music opened up a door to the world of modern Christian Hip Hop, that I never knew existed. There was just one problem. Not all Christian rappers were effectively representing the kingdom. There were a few older artists on the underground circuit, pushing their songs, but their messages were dull and ineffective. I think this may have inadvertently placed an age cap on the Christian Hip Hop culture, because today’s artists are not really interested in reaching out to the older community of fans. If some old-heads jump on the bandwagon, it’s all good, but the youth are the primary target for these artists.
That can be a problem for several reasons:
- In Matthew 28:19, Jesus told the disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations.” He didn’t put an age cap on discipleship. As I said, I was saved at the age of 36. Personally, I would have loved to have a dope Christian Emcee speaking life into relevant situations I dealt with, as a new convert.
- Many mature, new Christians coming to faith are turning away from the Hip Hop of the world. If today’s artists hit them with this attitude, “Yo, this really isn’t for you. Why not go check out that gospel station on WXXX radio? Be blessed, fam,” there’s a real possibility that some of these new converts will go right back to the music that kept them in bondage.
- Where is it written that at 35, you should stop listening to Christian rap and move on to a new genre? For me personally, I can’t just turn it off. I gave up my collection in the first place because I believed, by faith, that God had something greater in store for me. But, on the real, do you know how hard it was to give up my NWA, Tupac, and Run D.M.C. collections!? Tomorrow, some 50 year old straight from the hood will give his heart to God. He’s going to want to give up his Dr. Dre and Public Enemy collections. Should he be given the ultimatum to either get with the young crowd of Christian artists or start listening to Hillsong United?
Now I digress. There are some brothers out there my age who are blazing paths for Christ, while speaking to the old-head crowd and the youth as well. That’s right, I’m looking at you Lavoisier; you too, KJ 52. Sho Baraka, under the banner of Louis Portier, is also holding it down for the 30-plus crowd. Even Da’ T.R.U.T.H. is doing shows dressed grown and speaking on grown-grown-man struggles. So my generation isn’t entirely left to conform or fend. But, with that said, it would be nice to see and hear more mature Christian artists produce music for the brothers and sisters who simply want to hear the message of the gospel laced over a slower tempo beat. We are, after all, still alive and still hungry for the gospel over Hip Hop instrumentals.
I would think that a savvy DJ might recognize a market for Christian Hip Hop fans over 35. Tracks toting lyrics like, “This ain’t a song for you to get turnt up; I’m tryin’ to keep your soul from bein’ burnt up,” might find its way to that crowd who grew up listing to East Coast lyricists of the 80’s and west coast O.G.s of the 90’s. Generation X is now the parent generation of doomed millennials, and a lot of us are turning to the Lord. As such, we need Hip Hop glorifying God, that we can actually relate to. Tell me friends. What are your thoughts on the subject?
Bro. E, On The Beat 