So I have a story to share with y’all today and I couldn’t make this up if I tried. So last week as I was on my way home from a long day’s work I ran into some young dudes giving out CD’s to try and promote their rap group. Since the CD was free and I didn’t have to hear them freestyle in my face at an uncomfortably close range, I decided to pick one up, but I promised myself I wouldn’t be an ASSH0LE like I typically am, and dash it in the streets when I was out of their range of vision, but I would actually LISTEN and give their music a chance – which was a BIG F*^KING MISTAKE.
As I put the CD in my car and pressed play, I was greeted with a familiar Biggie Smalls instrumental that got me HYPE as SH*T and ready to start jamming:
But after the first 2 bars, I realized what I was saying wasn’t matching the lyrics coming out of the speakers, and as I rewound it, I realized I wasn’t rapping along with Biggie at all - it was some pencil-neck, scripture-quoting, watchtower-selling Seventh Day Adventist rapping this:
“You know who the heck is this/
Praisin’ him at 5:46 in the mornin, crack a dawnin/
While the Devil yawnin, trying to keep a tear in my eye/
So I praise him in the dark for some light/”
I laughed out loud harder than a nigga on Maury who just found out the kid isn’t his. And it wasn’t even the corny lyrics that pushed me over the edge, but it was more about the fact that these “Christian” kids were willing to sacrifice the validity of their beliefs all to enjoy a hypocritical endeavour and/or make a thinly-veiled and weak ass attempt at using the medium of hip-hop to connect with the “ungodly” so they can rope them into the church,
Christian Rappers let me make you very clear of two points:
1) You shouldn’t be listening to hip-hop; and
2) Real Hip-Hop doesn’t lend itself to being apart of Real Christianity [Hell, ANY religion for that matter]
To my first point, the reason I have problems with songs like:
Is because when a Christian rapper remixes a secular song, it is obvious that he/she actually LISTENS to the secular music that they are now redoing. The problem I have with the Warning “remix” is the fact that the rapper knew damn well that Biggie’s song was full of curses and ended with Puffy getting shot in his head piece – yet they still found it appropriate to remember the lyrics well enough to imitate them and create this Christian rap. They also knows DAMN WELL that they shouldn’t be listening to lewd and lascivious music [by their religious standards] so how can they justify listening in the first place, much less remixing?
And to my second point, Christian Rappers need to understand that Rap music is simply not built to be godly. It was created as the uninhibited voice of the street and it will ALWAYS be that, so attempting to bastardize into Gospel is ridiculous.
Christian rappers, I understand that you want to convert people and that’s cool as long as you aren’t pushy DOUCHEBAGS about it, but if you want people to take you and your faith seriously, don’t try to connect with them on a street, hood level, but canonize and propagate the wonders of CHURCH music, not trying to turn 50 Cent’s “I Get Money” into an ecclesiastical success.
That's why we are coming to KILL it...!
This Is Your Conscience
24 Comments, Comment or Ping
lincolnanthonyblades
Ladies& Gentlemen, What Are YOUR Thoughts On Christian Rap/Rappers??
Oct 10th, 2011
BoomBam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ8d39xQBUg
Go to 0:40 (Watching the whole thing is a joke too)
LadyGaga – Pokerface Christianfied by Southern Baptists.
I can understand why people of any religion will take secular music and changing the lyrics to suit themselves. Children like what their peers like. The lyrics may not be understood, but it is fun to dance and listen to with your friends. So to keep the same music and apply more appropriate lyrics makes sense to me.
Oct 10th, 2011
KemaVA
I agree 53.47% with the premise of this post. It seems that you are taking issue with a Christian artist taking a Hardcore rap song and making it Christian-y. Yea… thats just wrong! lol!
However, I wouldnt think anything was wrong with Christian Hip Hop if they could have their own Kanye-esk producers and lay down hot 16s about the hardships of being a Christian laced with clever metaphors. After all isnt real hip hop about telling YOUR story.
Oct 10th, 2011
Crystal Promo-Fernandez
But isn't gospel their music??
Oct 10th, 2011
Crystal Promo-Fernandez
I'm still waiting to hear an actually good christian rapper!
Oct 10th, 2011
HerCommonSense
I agree with the article mainly based on the fact that Hip-Hop doesn't need a Christian classification, just like it doesn't need a feminist classification, or a disabled classification…the rap community is what it is, and if Christians want to partake in it, that's totally fine, but I take issue with them trying to create a separate community because that's just unnecessary division..
Oct 10th, 2011
HerCommonSense
I really hate seeing Christian hip-hop videos where the dudes are dressed thugged out and talking all rough and aggressive when that's not how they would act in church, so why portray that image on screen in your music videos?
Oct 10th, 2011
HerCommonSense
You also have to look at the bigger picture that so many religious entities ask their parishioners to not listen to or follow secular music, yet it seems fine for the artists to not only do it, but then remix it for the masses.
Oct 10th, 2011
KemaVA
Hip hop is not just thugged out-ness. Thats where they take the wrong turn.
Oct 10th, 2011
ATLienSince82
The problem that no one wants to talk about is the fact that these Christian rappers suck!
And does Kanye qualify as a Christian rapper for Jesus Walks??
Oct 10th, 2011
ATLienSince82
Let me hear some Christian Crunk and I guarantee you I'm slappin somebody!
Oct 10th, 2011
KemaVA
Theoretically it can happen… Realistically I just dont see it happening unless someone like Jay-z catches the holy ghost. Now that would be something to behold!!!
Oct 10th, 2011
BoomBam
I was a big fan of DC Talk, a rock Christian group, when I was younger, and it didn't matter to me then what was their or our music. (After thought: maybe it worked for DC Talk because it was their original composition)
I don't listen to rap Christian music because it has always sounded corny as heck, but I can see why it is around.
Oct 10th, 2011
KemaVA
*Starts singing/rapping*
G'on praise him… if you dont give a what!!!
"I come in the church, waving my hands, throwing up praise and doing a dance"
Knuck if you're blessed
Oct 10th, 2011
Paul Brown
To be fair, rap at it's infancy used used RnB and soul music and tailored to tell its story, and those two genres were rooted in gospel music. Why act as if rap is so sacred that it can't be borrowed from and used to reach a segment of a population that normally wouldn't be reached?
Oct 10th, 2011
LPinCLE
Typically I agree with your post but I think your using some misdirection here. Your issue is really with inidividuals re-making songs. The generation before ours actually had a point of the critique that hip hop borrowed heavily from their music and we only shook off that criticism when production in hip hop became good enough to stand on its own.
This remake phenomena does not only exist in christian rap but also in every U.S. local market. Artist remake hit songs to try & get their lyrics listened to by newer ears. 50 Cent gained popularity using this to his advantage. The difference was 50 actually was more talented than some of the artist whose songs he was remaking.
GRITS, Da Truth, BB Jay and many other Christian rappers actually make good music. Although it may not ever be your taste Lincoln.
Oct 10th, 2011
The_Mad_HATER
it aint about just remaking songs! if christians want to call secular music devil music then why are they remixing devil music?? just make gospel!!
Oct 11th, 2011
ST Baby
So have any of you heard of Lecrae, he is christian hip hop singer..if you have, what do you think of his music ?
Oct 11th, 2011
CocoAChanel
I like lecrae… and tedaashi… cross movement (they were really talented)…
And so what if we said that these "rappers" were doing Gospel. But Gospel that's non traditional. Because to the extent that its spreading the good news, it is gospel… Gospel can come in different beats and sounds, but its still Gospel. So if we were to draw a diagram… Gospel is a bigger circle than rock, hip hop, rap or r and b. Those can fit into it, but it does not necessarily fit into those circles. All of this to say, there are two issues (as many of you have said): 1. Remaking music and 2. Remixing Devilish music.
I think taking issue with remaking secular songs to include gospel lyrics is fine (so long as you are assuming that christians should not be listening to all secular music– hip hop, r and b, etc– and therefore, remaking it would be some form of blaspheme. I think remixing music from a genre that is classified as entirely devilish is also fine (so long as you believe this genre is entirely devilish). But I think a third issue to take up is what Gospel and hip hop music are. Is it the sound? the production? musicality? lyrics? the arrangement of all of these things? the content of this arrangement? Is Nelly singing still hip hop? Is weird Al Yankovic rapping still hip hop? Is Destiny's Child singing amazing grace still gospel? Is DMX rapping a prayer still hip hop?
Classifications are tricky and I think its entirely unfair to say that hip hop can not be gospel…
That is all.
Oct 13th, 2011
ReallyTho
I understand where you're coming from with this post but being Seventh Day Adventist, I feel offended by "it was some pencil-neck, scripture-quoting, watchtower-selling Seventh Day Adventist"
Oct 14th, 2011
Ron
I would suggest that you talk to talented Christian rap artists (or rappers who are Christians) on this subject such as Lecrae, Phanatik (Brady Goodwin), Lavoisier, Braille, Savion, Theory Hazit, etc. I would like to think that if you drove a Ferrari and the wheels fell off, you would not assume that all Ferraris are no good. So your heavy handed judgement needs to be tempered with some knowledge from a Christian who is truly skilled in lyrical content. Find them on twitter or facebook.
Oct 15th, 2011
Ron
And to my second point, Christian Rappers need to understand that Rap music is simply not built to be godly. It was created as the uninhibited voice of the street and it will ALWAYS be that, so attempting to bastardize into Gospel is ridiculous.
Something struck me about your above statement as odd also because there are plenty of people that would argue that rap music does not represent the streets anymore and it has not for some time. Also I would suggest that rap music IS INHIBITED because big corporations have decided what the 'streets' want to hear. Im glad to say that it was not always this way.
Oct 15th, 2011
Itsmrglass
Hum,,,,,,,, well said, but I disagree. Christian rap was the medium in which I was introduced to a relevant Jesus. I have two points as well, first if you're not a Christian don't comment on Christian things and two do your research. Jesus Christ himself preahed a relevant word to the culture of his time. For example agriculture. Mustard seed ,,,,. So if hiphop is the culture, then why is it wrong to do the same???
I'm sorry you ran into some wack Christian rap artist. However it's Christian rappers that rep Christ well. I encourage to go deeper than what you experienced, the world is not square.
Jan 30th, 2012
Luke Williams
I know this is an old post, but some of you are saying you've never heard any good christian rappers, which is fair enough, but they are around if you know where to find them. Check out the 116 Clique, a group of awesome christian rappers from the states. Specifically look out for Lecrae, Trip Lee, Pro, Tedashii.__Also, hiphop/rap is about telling your story, and often thats because the world doesnt understand where youre coming from. So from that point of view there shouldnt be anything wrong with original, talented christian rap. (Note I do agree with your disapproval of christianifying secular songs). Also, most of the stuff from the 116 Clique applies to Christians just as much if not more than to non believers, theyre not always about trying to "convert" or "force their religion/beliefs on you". Music expresses feeling, so chances are the guys who gave you the CD meant it that way, and were simply hopeful that you might get something out of it too.
Again, sorry for posting so late, but I hope this clears up some apparent misunderstanding.
Mar 19th, 2012
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