Surprised by Christian Rap Music

I’m not a big rap music fan, but I do appreciate a variety of musical styles. For me, the most important part of the song is the lyrical content. For the music to be good, then, it should support the words.

I’m perfectly OK with all kinds of instruments playing all kinds of styles of music. Even loud and energetic praise music is good when it supports loud and energetic words based on the Bible and centered on God and the cross.

Last fall I was surprised to discover a new breed of Christian rappers that were loading lyrics of profound biblical and theological weight to their songs. I’ve been listening to a few of their CDs, and I’m convinced that many of you should be aware of what is going on.

I say many, because some people don’t like rap or any other kind of contemporary music at all. Some people were saved out of a background where for them certain styles of music have strong sinful associations. I would never want such brothers and sisters to be tempted to stumble. But if another person was saved out of an opera background, for example, that doesn’t mean opera music is bad for everyone else.

At Liberty University back in the 1990s a group formed which were wildly popular in Christian and secular circles called DC Talk. The trio went along for about ten years and has continued to perform solo projects. They had many well made songs mixing rap and singing. Their lyrics, however, were often no more profound than the rest of contemporary Christian music.

This new breed of Christian rappers is very different. The first one I came upon was Lecrae. Lecrae is in his late twenties and lives in the projects of Memphis. His latest CD is called Rebel. He is encouraging people to rebel against the world by reading the Bible, living for Jesus, and fighting against temptations.

The album’s second rap is called Don’t Waste Your Life. It is based on Pastor John Piper’s wonderful book of the same title. Admittedly, this one is very fast, with great words flying by a mile a minute. For my forty year old Anglo ears, it took about three or four times before I started picking out more and more of the excellent lyrics.

A great way to check out Lecrae and his theological raps out is to look him up on the website YouTube. Find the versions of his songs where the words are shown on the video as he raps them. You will be amazed at the content, even if you don’t care for the style of music.

If you think about it, because rap is so lyrically driven, rappers pack a lot of words into each song. That allows those who are trying to teach theology, and apply the truth to their listeners’ hearts a great opportunity to overload each rap with truth.

On his CD, Lecrae also has raps about our position in Christ, the doctrine of the church, Christian worldview, and strategies to fight specific sins. They are all solidly based on the Bible.

He is part of a record label with others also involved in theological rap called Reach Records. You can evaluate all of these guys and their ministries at www.reachrecords.com. They consider themselves missionaries to the hip-hop culture. If you know people that like rap music, these are the kinds of words you want them to be listening to.

One other rapper I would draw your attention to is Shai Linne. Basically, he seems more like a rhyming preacher than a rapper. His raps are so content driven, that some of them don’t sound like raps as much as biblical poetry with a beat.

He has a rap called Jesus is Alive where he lists famous entertainers and philosophers throughout history who have died and then contrasts them to Jesus who is alive. Then the rap highlights the biblical significance of the resurrection. A recent comment on YouTube under this video rightly pointed out that Michael Jackson is now dead, but Jesus is Alive!

Shai Linne with the other Reach Records guys has a CD called 13 Letters where each rap surveys one of Paul’s New Testament epistles. Another CD he has made is called Atonement, where the doctrine of all that Christ accomplished on the cross is unpacked musically!

Now I love some of the contemporary Christian musicians, especially those writing the hymns and praise songs of a new generation. But even the best and most faithful of these men and women are not coming close to the content of these rappers!

Another song that my daughters enjoy is called Testify. On that rap Shai Linne tells three stories about lives that were changed by Jesus. My ten year old daughter Danielle was so impressed that she came home and wrote her own testimony rap, which was really good!

On August 29 the Don’t Waste Your Life tour is scheduled to come to Atlanta. The details apparently aren’t set as of this writing. Check out some of these missionaries to the hip-hop culture yourself. See if their lyrics and their ministries don’t impress you.

Hopefully, their growing success won’t get to their heads. They seem aimed the right direction. Let’s add our prayers that God will sustain them!