Gospel Rap

Overview
Gospel Rap, also referred to as Christian Rap and Holy Hip Hop, is a tool that’s used to convey the message of Salvation. Popular gospel rappers of the 21stcentury include, but aren’t limited to Lecrae, Andy Mineo, Trip Lee, KB, Flame, and Tedashii. The CCM’s (Contemporary Christian Music) goal was to break down barriers, so that everyone had the opportunity to hear the gospel, while enjoying what they heard.

History
Gospel rap is exactly what it sounds like; it’s a combination of the traditional gospel message with a rap style spin to it. Most of gospel rap’s roots comes from traditional, upbeat African American gospel. Typically for black artists, gospel choirs form a foundation for traditional performance of songs. Another key component of gospel rap includes the secular rap genre. Gospel rap combines all kinds of rap style to deliver the message of Salvation. Most of gospel rap’s Gospel rap started off as a grass-roots movement. Gospel rap, being only about ten years younger than mainstream hip hop. The beginning of gospel rap is debatable. It’s believed that it was started in the 80s, however some believe it was started in the 90s. The first known holy hip-hop song is said to have been recorded in the 80s. M.C. Sweet’s Jesus Christ was one of the very first, recorded in 1982; the lyrics of this gospel song became a very popular tool in Sunday school. Then there are groups, such as L.P.G. that have been rapping in their actual churches since 1984. In the beginning, many of the gospel rappers had to deal with a lot of adversity because the outside world didn’t like what they were doing. Once pop and rap became a popular mix then people became more accepting of gospel rap in the 1990s. The increased acceptance of holy hip-hop in the 1990s is where most people get their 1990s figure. Texas played a major role in the development of home of Knolly “Rubadub” (rock), Lil Raskull, and Nuwine. Lil Raskull and Nuwine became very popular in the gospel rap community. Of course the development of the Worldwide Web helped the expansion of gospel rap. Today, gospel rappers have many different ways to reach their audience. There are many different ways such as, iTunes, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, Soundcloud for people to experience gospel rap. There’s more money in gospel rap, the gospel rappers now have the ability to make the quality of gospel rap very similar to the quality of the traditional rap.

Defining Features and Conventions
The purpose of gospel rap is to spread the gospel to a younger audience. Delivering the gospel through rap is more entertaining and more relatable to the youth. One of Lecrae's older songs is titled “In Ya Hood”, portrays the sole purpose of gospel excellently, to bring Jesus in parts of the country where no one thinks about. The goal of gospel rappers is to add enough current problems that many youth struggle with, while including the perfect combination of the gospel. This is their (gospel rappers) occupation, therefore their goal is to get a paycheck, but always remember the ultimate “paycheck” of eternal life with Jesus. Gospel rap challenges the mindset of the youth, their goal isn’t to tell their listeners what they want to hear to make them feel better about the sins they commit. The gospel rappers tell their listeners what Jesus wants everyone to know, they don’t shy away from any topics. There are several gospel rappers that rap on controversial topics, such as homosexuality. Gospel rap is becoming a very important part of the Black church. Just like gospel rap, the Black church is more of a prophetic church which “challenge(s) the status quo and often use temporal standards to determine religious conviction. Gospel rap has many opposers, but twice as many supporters. It wasn’t easy to finally get it accepted in some churches, and some homes as an acceptable style of music. It’s important for people to remember that “rap is a STYLE of music, not lyrical theme”. People’s misconception of what rap is causes the oppositions.

Opposition
Although many people have fallen in love with gospel rap, not only because it gives people something they can dance to, but also because of the powerful, important message it delivers. The medium of rap is a very unconventional way to present the gospel, which is part of the reason so many people are firmly against it. People like Dan Horn disagree with gospel rap because the “heavy beat” distracts the listener from actually receiving the message the song attempts to deliver (TGC). According to the Scripture, God also cares about the method of delivery, and gospel rap is looked upon as too much of a secular manner. Others say that gospel rap is too secular, not focused on the right message, and heavily centered on paychecks. Others also believe that the only reason why gospel rap exists is because they’re using gospel rap to get to mainstream rap. One gospel rapper, Flame, proclaims that “I’m not in the industry just to get to the industry”. This verse indicates that mainstream rap isn’t his goal. That’s why people come to the conclusion that rap music is incompatible with gospel because communicates a different message. It expresses sentiments that contradict the very message of God that the gospel loves.