When you hear the term holy hip-hop, what immediately comes to mind? Do you think of Christian emcees who throw dope concerts and put out hot CDs? How about guys who are out there just trying to get give people the gospel and get them saved? What about those dudes that are trying to make everyone disciples? It’s true that all of these are correct in one way or another, but I want to ask another question. What value does holy hip-hop have to you? Do you simply see it as a form of entertainment that gives you an alternative to what the world is putting out, or is it something more than that to you?
If a poll were taken of the Christian rap fans around the world, I’m pretty sure that the majority would say that they listen to it because it sounds good and because it’s Christian. Most probably don’t even give a second thought to the idea that a lot of the music they’re listening to is trying to teach them something about the Bible and deepen their relationship with God. They’d much rather gloss over the lyrics, repeat a catchy chorus or two, and ride out to the bass-heavy beat. This isn’t a knock against anyone, because I used to be that person. I started listening to holy hip-hop because I knew that as a Christian it wasn’t doing me good to continually listen to secular rap and digest its message. When I found holy hip-hop, I immediately knew that it would be a great alternative to what I had been listening to, without sacrificing being cool or forced to listen to my parents’ gospel music. I was just happy that it was Christian rap & that it sounded good, but the lyrics never really sunk in.
Entertainment Value
After being introduced to this style of rap, I was hooked. Over the next few years, I spend hundreds of dollars purchasing CDs and filling my ears with the banging beats, regardless of who the emcees were, just as long as they sounded hot. More or less, you could say that I was in it for the entertainment value, which is where I think a lot of listeners are currently at today. Whatever song was hot, that was my anthem, and that’s what I was telling everyone about. My friends and I talked about the dope punchlines, the sick beats, and what songs were hot, just like we would talk about any music. Songs like “The Light (The Blazin One)” or “Know Me (Huh, What?)” quickly became songs that were played at every campus ministry meeting & retreat that we went to. We could recite the lines backward & forward, but how many of us really grasped on to what Cross Movement was trying to get across in their album. I don’t think many of us did, at least not those of us who played the album ‘til it burned out the laser light.
For the longest time, the genre was nothing more than entertainment to me. I was on every street team possible, reviewing everything I could get my hands on (the good & bad), and attending any concert that I could get to. I loved the music for the music, but the message never sunk in. I remember clearly the night when I realized that the music was nothing more than entertainment to me, even being a believer. The night before, a friend and I had gone to a church in Raleigh, NC to see Cross Movement perform at a youth conference; it was a banging concert that I’ll never forget. I met so many online friends that night it was ridiculous. That next day, Saturday, this same friend and I drove to Charlotte so that we could see Cross Movement perform again, this time with the full crew that was traveling with them as a part of the Platinum Souls Tour (Corey Red & Precise, Da’ T.R.U.T.H., FLAME, and J.R.). During the tail end of the concert, I clearly remember Duce (Ambassador) telling the crowd that many of them had planned on going out to commit some kind of act of sin as soon as the concert was over and urged them that if they wanted to live for God, then it needed to start tonight. I figured I was already a Christian and following God, so I just brushed it off. It wasn’t even a few hours later that I fell right into a sin that I’m still regretting seven years later. It was after that incident that I began to realize the impact of the Word of God and that this music was much more than just entertainment.
It wasn’t immediately after, but after some time, I got to a point to where I really started listening to the music with a new ear and began soaking up the Biblical messages that these artists were trying to get across. All of a sudden, tracks like Cross Movement’s “Off the Hook” began to make me weep with sorrow because I could finally grasp the truth that they wanted me to have so desperately. The music came alive to me and was much more than just something to listen to just for the sake of listening to it; instead, it was the Word of God in the form of hip-hop music. At this point, I still wasn’t studying my Bible as I should, but it was this music that sparked growth & change in me, and got me back into a position to be out from under God’s hand of discipline.
The Need for Edification
The music had become a source of edification for me. Even though I was still listening to it for entertainment reasons, it was speaking to me and teaching me the Word of God, even when I didn’t realize it. It eventually got to a point where the music was keeping me spiritually nourished, especially during the times when I wasn’t attending church as regularly as I had wanted. It wasn’t long after that the true value of holy hip-hop began to shine forth: instruction! And it is on this topic where I want to spend the remainder of this article.
When the light bulb came on, my view of the music totally changed. But, I want to know, has this happened to you? Are you still listening merely for the sake of being entertained or are you letting the music affect change in your life? When was the last time that an album motivated you to open up your Bible and begin studying the Scriptures? Have you ever read through liner notes and looked up every single Scripture that an artist referenced? If you’re not at that point, I strongly urge you to consider your reasons for listening to the music and readjust your listening ears because you’re missing out on so much. There is so much spiritual meat to be had in holy hip-hop, especially these days, that it would be a shame if it was passing you all by.
These days, I listen to certain albums and I’m pulling out all kinds of Biblical truth; and, a lot of times, I sit and wonder how many people are getting the same thing out of this album that I am. Is the other guy who purchased Timothy Brindle’s Killing Sin being motivated to crucify his flesh just like I am? Is he goaded by “Pressing into the Kingdom” or captivated by “The Excellency of Christ,” like it’s grabbing me? I wonder these kinds of things, and I really hope they are. It’s for this reason that I get excited when I hear that a ministry like ReachLife is putting together a curriculum based around an album and getting people to open up their Bibles and study Scripture. I wish more artists would do this so that the listeners don’t get lost in simply enjoying the music.
That being said, I want to challenge you, the reader, to examine your holy hip-hop collection and gauge whether or not you’re being edified by it. If not, take the time to go through the liner notes and note any Scripture references that they cite, and then look each of them up. Once you do that, listen to those songs and see if they don’t impact you in a new way. If they don’t have verses in the liner notes, listen to the songs and see if you can figure out what the song is talking about and see if you can find Bible verses that relate to the song. How about a song that you really like listening to, why not take the time to develop a study on the song’s topic and walk your way through the Scriptures? If you do this, I promise that you’ll begin to see your music in a new light and begin to appreciate the work that these artists put into making their songs; and, at the same time, you’ll undoubtedly grow in your spiritual walk.
It’s Important to Us
This is a subject that’s very close to my heart and something that Trailblazin Ministries strives to highlight in our ministry. Take a look at our music reviews and you will see that they aren’t your typical review that says “this album is hot,” but we take the time to point out the spiritual truth that you can find by listening to these albums. We don’t want to recommend an album just because it sounds good, but we want to recommend it because you’ll get something out of it. We attempt to do the same thing with our hip-hop devotions, which directly relates to the points of edification that I just spoke about. We give you a holy hip-hop song and the Scripture that it’s based on, and then give you a fully developed devotional study that came from that song.
Trailblazin Ministries wants you to know that we’re not special because we can find these kinds of things in the music. You can do it to because you have the same Holy Spirit that we have; you just have to be open to listen to the message behind the music and have a heart to study the Word of God. We’re here to help you, so feel free to hit us up with questions, thoughts, and concerns; we’ll pray for you, recommend albums to purchase, and give you tips for getting more out of your music and Bible study. Our desire is to serve you, even through hip-hop music!
As a bit of a teaser, we want to close this article by offering you a free download. Joined at the Hip Ministries (Excelsius) and Trailblazin Ministries have joined together to create a study guide for Excelsius' latest release Liberation. The purpose is to provide a 17 lesson course that walks you through each song on the album and helps you to dig into the text of the Bible. It's a project that is still in the works, but we wanted to offer you a sample lesson, since it ties in directly with this article. These are created so that they can be used individually or for a small group. So, please download the sample lesson below (Lesson 5: Change or Die), and be on the lookout for the full release in the near future as a free download.
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