My Start with Christian Rap Music

My Start with Christian Rap Music

By Jonathan Daniel

Rap music is what I indulged in as a child. It is the music genre that played the biggest part in shaping me into the artist I am today. It was popular among my two sisters and their peers. As a child, watching them dance to it in their bedroom sparked my interest even more.

Unaware that Christian rap had been around since the late 70's, I thought I was the first to do it. I didn't attach the word Christian to rap to define what I was doing because I just considered myself to be a rapper rapping about Being the new person I had become, I utilized lyrics that expressed the message of my faith, and was anxious to introduce this new form of music the world . However, I walked to a retail store one day and discovered a Gospel Gangstas Cassette tape and realized that I was only becoming a part of something that was already in motion.

From the jump, many Christian churches have dismissed this form of music ministry. Since there is a clear difference from the traditional gospel music, a great number of churches put up resistance to it. Even I have experienced people getting up and walking out of the building when I rapped in a church service. As time has moved along though, Christian rap has gained some acceptance from churches and also has been making it's way to the mainstream.

Christian Rap is similar in ways to Traditional Christian Music, but I strongly feel that christian rap lyrics take a more evangelistic approach. Most Christian Rap artists use this music to tell their testimony in a compelling way to provoke change in their peers and youth. Christian rap or hip-hop music can be likened to an art that is a form of expression. Over the years, this art has been accepted by several communities that has adopted rap- themed songs in their places of worship.

Currently some Christian Rap artists have gained recognition and had some mainstream success . Christian rap or hip-hop music is an effective way of reaching out and touching those who share cultural similarities with these artists.

I feel that believing I invented the art form lets me know that I do it because I am called to, not just because I heard about it somewhere. I love what I do, and I feel that God does too.

You can hear Music From Jonathan Daniel at: http://www.myspace.com/jdeyebrows