CHRISTIAN HIP HOP

'Christian Hip Hop' (originally 'Gospel Rap', also known as 'Holy Hip Hop' or 'Christ hop') is a form of hip hop music which uses Christian themes to express the songwriter's faith. Only during the 1990s did the term "Christian hip hop" become descriptive of this type of music. While the audience is typically Christian, the music is also used in missions work for the purpose of evangelization. Christian rap and hip hop artists are professed Christians who often use their background as a positive issue to spread their religion.

Contents

History

Artists and style

Reaction

See also

References

External links

History

Stephen Wiley was the first artist with a commercially released and distributed gospel rap cassette with his 1985 tape ''Bible Break''. Rev. DeWayne GoLightly, known to many as Rev. Rap was the first Christian Rap artist without a commercially released gospel rap cassette. Rev. Rap also began writing and sharing the gospel in rap in the fall of 1985 in Madisonville, Ky. He produced his first cassette titled "The Word", (which includes his version of the Books of the Bible), and 5 other tracks in the summer of 1986. At age 54, Rev. Rap is the longest running Christian Rapper. In his 22th year of sharing Gospel Rap, he is considered one of the pioneers of the genre known as Christian Rap/Holy Hip Hop. Better known was the young Christian emcee Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez, who was murdered in 1989 in Texas.^[1] A tribute album was recorded in 2006, '', featuring several underground Christian artists.^[2]
In the late 1980s, several groups emerged which moulded the Christian hip hop genre over the next decade.