There are a couple of things that I have learned about many of the Dead End Hip Hop fans. First, they dislike me. Wait… let me scratch that. According to the comments on the webisodes I was featured in, they hate me.
It’s OK, I can deal with it. The reason why they dislike me so much is the fact that I’m a huge Christian rap, or ‘Holy hip hop,’ fan. I will be honest and transparent, I do listen to more than just holy hip hop though (you can actually see me on the Big Sean Finally Famous review and the Casual The Hierophant review). With that said, I try to bridge the gap at times for the genre on the show/site. After the Church Clothes review, the crew and I delved more on the subject of the “christian artist title” issue. We talked about how it is going to be a bigger issue with the break out of Lecrae being accepted into mainstream hip hop.
We were right.
XXL did a brief write-up on Lecrae, and Ambassador (a pioneer of holy hip hop) wrote a very informative open letter to XXL in response to the write-up. Some people may have not read it or care, but this was a huge “line drawn in the cement” within the holy hip hop community. Some rallied — and some ranted — towards the letter. But, at the end of the day… did Ambassador make a small solution or a XXL mistake?
Ambassador makes some very valid points in this letter. The world is simply not going to accept the message of Jesus Christ, so holy hip hop artists shouldn’t try to “appease” regular hip hop fans. Ironically, it’s fine if Muslims, 5 Percenters, Buddhists, Atheists or even Satanists speak on their beliefs within their lyrics, but if Christians do it… it’s too preachy. It’s a double standard that holy hip hop artists have to deal with regarding this issue.
Holy hip hop speaks against 99.9% of what’s heard on the radio and videos aired on TV. Therefore, acceptance is going to be very limited. One key verse in the bible is Luke 9:26, which states “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.“ With that stated, it goes against the rules to be ashamed to be called a Christian rapper, or a Holy hip hop artist.
On the other hand, many people feel that this debate only inserts a wedge between the holy hip hop community. Many artists in this genre catch heat for having hidden agendas. As I stated in the” Is Christian Rap Relevant” webisode, there are several styles within the genre. The two that fight the most are the pastoral versus evangelical artists. With that being said, the majority of Evangelic artists that reach out to the world have a bigger fan base and make more money.
Therefore, when many profusely christian artists (not necessarily taking shots, Ambassador) bring it up, they are really just jealous. Many Holy hip hop artists feel as if they get lumped in with overly preachy, “pastoral” artists and want recognition as lyrical artists. Within many of their minds, it’s about reaching the souls and meeting the people where they are. Many artist feel that they are not defined by the label placed upon them, but how they impact the lives of their fans.
I don’t expect one post to end this debate. It is possibly going to put more gasoline onto the fire. One thing I will do is offer final thoughts from Myke C-town (I know what you’re thinking… “of all people, C-town???!!?!”).
After we got finished with the Church Clothes review, we continued talking. One of the things that he said (and has stated in many other reviews) was that he was attracted to any artist as long as they were honest and stuck to their beliefs, even if he doesn’t agree with their point of view. I think more artist need to realize that revelation. It all boils down to transparency.
Fans, Christian or otherwise, will respect an artist for having a transparent message. When you look at one of the reasons why Jesus was so influential, it came down to his honest, sometimes brutal transparency.
So the next time you grip the mic, whether you have holy in front of your hip hop title or not, keep it transparent and honest. Can I get an Amen? Spread The Soup.
props to Chican George for being bold enough to cover such topics in this venue. Which is not an easy task. Let me just say this about the whole Christian Rap label. There has always been spirituality in hip-hop since day one. Some of it christian and some not. I speak from someone who has been in the game for a while and used to write for many joints like The Source in its prime. In the late 80’s and early 90’s rappers, like Big Daddy Kane, Brand Nubian, Grand Puba, Rakim, Poor Righteous Teachers just to name a few spit their 5% and Muslim theology over some of the tightest beats and their music is known as classic hip-hop, no one called it 5% rap or Muslim hip-hop. Lets not forget groups that came later like Wu Tang Clan, who repped the 5% Nation to the fullest. You could hear Farrakhan and Malcolm X over loud bass drops and sirens in many Public Enemy song. Ice Cube after departing from NWA declared his allegiance to The Nation Of Islam on many of his songs. KRS has repped the 5% nation in various times in his career and then dropped Spiritual Minded as a born again christian a few years back. Daddy -O of Stetsasonic was both Muslim and 5% at points of his career and is now a Christian and working with several NY Christian rappers (check http://spiritualmindedmagazine.com/daddyo-pt1/ & http://spiritualmindedmagazine.com/daddyo-pt2/). Jin the Chinese rapper who ran thru everyone on 106 & Park’s Freestyle Fridays and then signed to Ruff Ryders Records is now a christian rapper and gives great credibility to the sub- genre. Erykah Badu and Queen Latifah are past members of the Five Percent Nation; GURU (RIP) and Wu-Tang Clan are currently affiliated. Lord Jamar (Brand Nubian) released The 5% album explaining what its all about. You can hear the influence of NOI and 5% nation of Gods and Earths on many of today artists, and yes Christianity as well.
My point to all of this is like I said they has and will always be spirituality in hip-hop but like George mentioned in the piece ppl have a problem when you start talking about Jesus and using the word Christian. When we can get rid of the titles and stop letting certain things divide us and argue amongst ourselves, their is some good music with a message (Iet me say here there are some wach christian rappers just as there are some wack secular rappers, but there are many good ones as well, just listen to http://spiritualmindedmagazine.com/ep98-i-dont-take-gospel-rappers-serious/ and you will see some brothers repping God that have skills). You have the right to not feel the message, but not to diss anyone else’s beliefs. I could go on, but I think you see where Im coin from… Again I applaud Chican George for being bold enough to cover such topics and shed light to artists like Ambassador here on Deadend Hip-Hop, like the Source did many of the the artists I mentioned above and many more. I hope to see more relevant articles on positive artists, we have more then enough coverage, airplay and video play of the negative. I love to see more of a balance. DeadEnd Hip-Hop I thank you for allowing George spread his wings and I hope to see more of that sprinkled in here from time to time, even if its not the popular thing to do!!!!!
Like Lecrae said once (this isn’t at all an exact quotation): “If I’m a Christian rapper, then Lupe is a Muslim rapper.” There’s an inherent bias against rap with a Christian vibe because (drumroll) there’s an inherent bias against the Christian message itself. It will never be attractive to tell people to take up their cross, deny themselves and follow Christ who alone forgives sins. But for some reason, Muslim ideology has an easier time getting acceptance in hip hop… ?
I don’t expect mainstream hip hop to ever respect the true Christian message. They might respect a positive Christian message, and they might respect Christian artists who are skilled, but they’ll never respect the message. That has to be accepted up front. So let’s put out the best art possible while realizing some people will accept the truth of the Gospel and many won’t. If Jesus Christ couldn’t make most of the world love him, neither will we.
If you’re interested in knowing the truth, check this out: http://jaylafe.com/about/the-gospel/
Amen @ChicanGeorge! I agree with you, especially about transparency, sometimes brutal transparency. Many times if people can’t feel familiarity to what you are saying, they tune the artist out, because either they don’t feel the artist understands, as well as feeling as though the artist is not worthy to speak on the topic. What qualifies you becomes the question, and passion peaks its head back up, through the artistry-if the artist allows it. I appreciate Christian rap, and Holy Hip Hop. I receive them both as Christian music, so I don’t separate the two as a fan. I just praise Jesus.
If it is supposed to be Christian anything, if it lines up with the Word with the right spirit, I am for it. If it doesn’t, I am against it. I love what Jesus loves, and I hate what Jesus hates. I understand that there is a difference in evangelical and pastorial artists, and I understand people may not want to be grouped in the pastorial category. Sometimes people group the pastorial as forceful, and perhaps that could be one reason artists are not apt to be called that. I understand some want recognition as lyricists, “this is what I am doing, the craft is called this.” Some may not feel as pastorial is rapping. But as I understand it, when you are “flowing on behalf of Christ”, or “allowing Him to flow through you”, you are ministering, not only to God, but yourself, and hopefully the people. A minister is serving or attending. The greatest among you is He who serves, Luke 22:26. Prior, to this verse, the people around Jesus were talking about who would be the greatest. Jesus is the greatest among us all and came as one who serves. We must get back to the Servants mentality of serving, as in Luke 22:27. Pastor means elder, overseer, or shepherd. If we could stop looking at ourselves as God, and understand that we are His flock. When He communicates the music a certain way, we shouldn’t change it to fit the public. We cannot be a friend of the world and be a friend of Jesus at the same time. If baal be baal follow him, but if God be God follow Him. Focus must be removed off of self. “Do you agree with such and such?”….”well the bible says,” “No, not what the bible says, do you agree with….?” “I am dead to self, so my opinion does not matter, but I can show you what it says in the Word.” Amen. It does not mean that God does not care about what we care about, but if we cast all our cares on Him…..Jesus said, I am or I must be about my Father’s business. We must be a friend who serves. We have to have relationship with Jesus in order to Hear Him. John 15:15 NIV, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” If we go to witness on behalf of Christ, and have not spent time with Him on the regular, it is like going somewhere after not having a bath for 2weeks or more, getting in someone’s face, and saying, “Blessed be the Lord!” No one is hearing what we are saying, but they are spectating and pushing away what they are smelling.
To God be the Glory.
Awesome article ! I wish MORE of this was published !! LEGGOOO !!
@daviddiaz Thanks, we should have more coming soon. Make sure you continue to repost the article! Spread the soup!
Gospel rap will always be stuck in the genre of gospel because its the gospel of Jesus Christ and not everyone believes the gospel.You can’t force feed your views on everyone else and like it or not, we are the most culturally diverse nation on the planet. What you can do is what Jesus said to do, preach the gospel but if someone rejects the gospel shake the dust off of your feet.
@oddessey I agree, you can’t force feed anything to anyone. If someone doesn’t accept your music, than just shake the dust off. Thanks for posting and reading. Spread the soup!
Remember that people hated Christ for doing God’s work, so in return the world will most definitely hate us for doing His work. The “title” in front of your genre of hip-hop is just that…it’s a TITLE!!! Your music will speak for itself, and at the end of the day God knows the hearts of every artist. On the same note though, if you’re representing Christ then make sure that you’re sold out for the Kingdom.
@kyrstlyke Really great points. Do you feel that most artists are sold out for the kingdom tough? Thanks for responding! #spreadthesoup
being a christian rap artist is hard you get hate from both sides ppl in the church and ppl in hip hop. and i’m starting to not like the christian rap label either because i talk about alotta topics in my music but i get judged automatically…..
another thing DEHH should do a GRAVITY review
@a=AJB4 So true, you get hate on both sides and learn that you can’t please everyone. Sadly, the juding is going to happen on both sides as well. Continue to keep doing your thing and I pray that God gives you peace as you continue your career. Thanks for reading the article and Spread The Soup!