Christian rap is a subgenre within rap music that addresses issues central to Christianity. It can also refer to it as gospel rap or hip-hop artists use Christian and to evangelize and to teach and entertain their congregations.
Beginnings
The first Christian rap album that was commercially released and distributed “Bible Break”. It was a song released in 1985 by Stephen Wiley, a young minister who sought to educate children about books of the Bible. Wiley is generally regarded as the father of Christian rap.
A growing movement
The Christian rap began to emerge in the late ’80s. Included PID (short for “Preachas in Disguise” which in Spanish means, “Preachers disguise”), SFC (acronym for “Soldiers for Christ” which in Spanish means, “Soldiers for Christ”) and Danny “D-Boy” Rodriguez (1967-1990), who was allegedly killed with a firearm because of his work bringing youth from a life of crime. The ’90s witnessed the proliferation of Christian rappers, Gospel Gangstaz involving (in Spanish, “Gangsters of the gospel”), whose members were gangsters gang members, the twins Dynamic duo Twinz (in English, “Twins Dynamic “) and DOC (short for” Disciples of Christ “which in Spanish means” followers of Christ “).
Christian themes in secular rap
The Christian elements have always been present in hip hop music, with or without the existence of a subgenre that were specifically to religion. In 1988 MC Hammer had a song called “Son of the King” (in Spanish “Son of the King”) followed the popular “Pray” (in Spanish, “Pray”) in 1990. 2pac’s music is known for its requests to God in their struggles with paranoia, DMX has a song that seems a prayer near the end of each of their albums and Kanye West had one of his biggest hits with “Jesus Walks” ( in Spanish, “Jesus Walks”). In an extreme case, Ma $ e left the music industry for four years to become a preacher. However, although some major rap artists professing Christians, their songs and their careers do not necessarily reflect explored or that faith. So they can not be considered Christian rappers.
Controversy
There is a struggle within the Christian rap about constituting the subgenus. Some people take the most conservative approach, which implies that hip hop needs to be openly Christian about Christianity. The music of rappers should be strictly a tool to preach and proselytize. Others argue that Christian rappers need not mention God in every song and they should pay more attention to how they are expressed. Hip hop professionals should not rely solely on the message, should also focus on creating music that grabs people.
