..Christian Rap

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.

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. A tribute album was recorded in 2006, The Fallen Soldier Compilation: A Tribute To D-Boy, featuring several underground Christian artists.
In the late 1980s, several groups emerged which moulded the Christian hip hop genre over the next decade. [[P.I.D. (Preachas in Disguise), dc Talk, S.F.C (Soldiers For Christ) and P.I.D. were a few.
The 1990s saw the continuing trend of funky rap artists blending faith and rap, such as D.O.C. (Disciples of Christ) who emerged out of Oklahoma as well as the Gospel Gangstaz from Compton and South Central LA. D.O.C. matured under the guidance of former Prince guitarist and vocalist Dez Dickerson, while the gritty Gospel Gangstaz were ex-Bloods and ex-Crips who began ministering to gang-affiliated street youths and winning fans from Interscope to Snoop Dogg. The Gangstaz' 1999 release I Can See Clearly Now became the biggest selling Christian hip hop record at the time and won the group a Grammy nomination. Another group emerged during the 1990s by the name of A-I S.W.I.F.T, a husband and wife team, with west coast style. Their albums 'Turn Yourself Around' and 'Tales from the Swift' gained the support of Kirk Franklin, the Grammy Award winning Gospel artist.
In 2003, The Cross Movement out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania released their breakthrough album Holy Culture. Their fifth release, Higher Definition, was nominated for the best Rock Gospel Album Grammy.

Artists and style

Many mainstream hip hop artists constantly make acknowledgements of their faith in songs but are not typically considered Christian hip hop artists, as the lyrics in many of their songs contain content considered offensive or objectionable by many Christians.
In 2006, Rawsrvnt signed with the newly formed Flavor Alliance Media Group and released a first for the industry — an all Worship Hip Hop album entitled In Rare Form featuring the hit single "Holiness" (Raw's hip hop version of the popular worship song). Rawsrvnt released 2 previous albums with more of a crunk/dirty south style. Other releases from Flavor Alliance in 2006 includes Craig Nice — self titled; Beyond Skillz — Past Tense; Fla.vor Alliance — A Little Off the Top. Pastor Tommy Kyllonen, aka, Urban D will release his 6th national release in 2007 entitled Un.Orthodox, under the label.
While many notable studios and artists share influence in Christian hip hop, no one style dominates. Christian hip hop features all conventional hip hop styles, such as East Coast, West Coast (or Left Coast), Dirty South or even prison rap.
Sites like Rapzilla and SphereofHipHop.com are premium and known destinations for Christian Hip-Hop. HolyHipHop.com exceeded 140,000 Digital Downloads in 2006, as the first website to offer digital downloads worldwide (others as well such as 3hmp3.com) . Christian hip hop themed videos and DVDs are also increasing in availability and popularity. Christopher "Play" Martin (formerly of Kid 'N Play) released a DVD on Amen Films entitled Holy Hip Hop which made it to Blockbuster Video Stores in March 2006.
Live events such as RapFest (held annually in August in New York City) as well as conferences such as Flavor Fest (held annually in November at Crossover Church in Tampa, FL), the Holy Hip Hop Music Awards & Artist Showcase(held annually in January in Atlanta, Georgia), and the Texas Holy Hip Hop Achievement Awards (held annually in Houston, Texas) have helped to foster the genre among evangelical youth and young adults. Other notable events include The Yuinon & H.P., based in Detroit, Michigan.
As artists and groups desire to make their music more relevant and effective to its listeners, the music continues to push the envelope. Groups such as Peculiar Image blend Worship & Rap over live music, to create a Fusion of styles that pulls generations together, in a Worship setting.

Reaction

As with many inchoate and newly formed musical genres and subgenres, Christian hip hop initially had difficulty finding an audience. Despite early rejection, Christian hip hop has managed to follow other forms of Christian music, such as Christian metal, in becoming a dominant force within contemporary Christian music. Christian music awards shows such as the GMA Dove Awards and Stellar Awards have added rap and hip hop categories. Many church congregations have adopted hip hop-themed musical worship. 2007 Holy Hip Hop Music Awards received appearances by Kurtis Blow, GrandMaster Caz and even Ma$e walked in unannounced and went to Pastor Eddie Velez on stage in front of a packed audience to apologize for saying that Christian rap was not of God five years earlier. 2007 Holy Hip Hop Music Awards also received a written endorsement letter from the mayor of Atlanta acknowledging the event's support by the City of Atlanta and recognizing its 7th year.
Christian hip hop has enjoyed some crossover acceptance as well. One of the most notable mainstream reactions to Christian hip hop was to KJ-52 (pronounced "five-two") and his single "Dear Slim," which was written to Eminem in an attempt reach him with the message of Christ. The song became famous and controversial among Eminem fans when it was featured on the hit show Total Request Live. KJ-52 began to receive hate mail (including death threats) from Eminem's fans, though KJ-52 claimed that the song was not a "diss". This also led to the single being disparaged by VH1, an issue the artist addressed in his song "Washed Up."
The United Kingdom has also recently received Christian hip hop with groups such as BoomboomTown, Ministri of Defense, and One Love; although their music has been increasingly played in underground Christian hip hop circles, they have yet to achieve mainstream success. The Christian hip hop scene is also growing in Japan, with artists such as Yoshi Blessed and Hinds 57 who is now in the comedic pop group BAD. In other countries Christian hip hop has been growing in recent years, for example in Germany and South Africa.
Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/