I used to hate rap music. Really. A bunch of guys talking in bad rhymes over electronic drum machines and synthesizers. Paah-leeze! Then, a few years ago, my son started to get into "Christian rap." I tried not to over react. I mean, alot of teenagers get hooked on much worse. My son wasn't doing drugs, or dying his hair purple, or piercing his navel... he was just listening to DCtalk and Tobymac. (I know, I said Christian rap... bear with me for a minute OK?). So, anyway, I started listening to what he was listening to - trying to evaluate the message and style - and to my surprise I found my feet responding to the rhythm and my head bobbing to the beat... I actually liked it. And the message - while not terribly deep - was positive and Christ-centered at least. Soon I found myself actually suggesting that we listen to Momentum in the car! (It feels so good to confess) The next thing that happened is what REALLY changed my perspective. My son picked up a CD by a group called "The Cross Movement." At first, I reacted to the style of the music like a four-year-old reacts to his first bite of spinach. This was definitely NOT Tobymac... these guys sounded like real hip hoppers! I was even sure that I distinctively heard the words "bling," "crunk," and "dope" in those songs! As a responsible parent, I decided to evaluate the lyrical content more carefully. So I listened. And I listened. And I listened some more. And I was absolutely blown away! These guys were rapping about real life issues and spinning a message of hope and salvation aimed directly at a culture that eats, drinks, breathes and sleeps hip hop. And they were doing it with credibility - writing and spitting (that's slang for singing rap songs, for my fellow white conservatives) - out of their own struggles and representing the truth in a language and style that gets the attention of their intended audience. This was not just music... it was ministry! The next thing that got my attention was the skill involved in the lyrical content on the songs. They were deep, and moving, and clever, and even funny. I still remember how hard I laughed the first time I listened to "The Bridge" and heard the line, "I'm glad I finally found a bridge that connected me, 'cause I was all out the way, like Schenectady." But seriously... the rhythm and rhyme of hip hop, when it's done skillfully, requires alot of talent. The use of language to communicate a message in a compelling way is what this genre is all about. And the guys from CMR we really opening my eyes to this in a big way. I was hooked. The real kicker, though, and the reason that I am convinced that hip hop is a major tool that God is using to reach a part of the culture that the Church has long neglected, is that hip hop music is built upon the power of words. The beats and rhythms are important, but the real heart of the tracks is the lyrical content. No other form of music provides the kind of platform for communicating ideas and teaching truth that hip hop does. The freeform style of rap also allows the artist to spit deep content that just wouldn’t fit very well in other types of music. And it all comes across with power and conviction because IT BUMPS!After I discovered The Cross Movement, I checked out their web site to learn about other artists on their label. That’s when I first heard Flame! Now here was a cat who knows how to jam but who spits some of the deepest and most Biblically sound theological content that I had ever heard in any form of so-called Christian music! Tracks like Sola Scriptura, Context, and Rewind challenge the listener to look to the Bible and study its truth. Then there’s GodHead! Youve gotta be kiddin me mayne! A Christian hip hop artist spittin about the Trinity and talkin about cats from church history like Sabellius and Athanasius dealin with subjects like monotheistic monarchianism and the hypostatic union in a song that bounces!?! And it works because hip hop is a word-centered style of music.Another track that blew me away was War of the Minds, which holds out hope to folk strugglin with depression and mental illness. The more I listened, the more I was seein that holy hip hop is a powerful tool for teaching, discipling, and evangelizing communicating solid Biblical teaching in a relevant and compelling way.Now it’s true that any form of music or expression can be twisted, and the enemy has been using hip hop for years to communicate self-gratification, hate and lust to an eager audience. But look what the Lord is doin fam! Hes takin it back and raising up young talented artists to rep King Jesus and call a hurting world to the hope of the Gospel! Now we’ve got cats like Lecrae and Tedashii, Thi’sl and Trip Lee (go young brotha!), shai linne and Timothy Brindle spittin word-centered rhymes and takin it to another level. And it works because hip hop provides a framework for didactic ministry with relevance!So I got me a MySpace page to get in touch with my favorite artists, and to promote their ministries. Check out the artists on my Friends List and some of the videos on my Profile. You’ll be blessed!
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