Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Christian Hip Hop Artists And Their Influence

By Deana Brady


Christian Hip Hop Artists have a history that dates back to the 1970s which is when it became an important genre in the music world. In 1985, the initial rap album which was gospel based was released to the public. The album named Bible Break by Stephen Wiley earned the honor. Reverend DeWayne GoLightly or Reverend Rap was another gospel pioneer that never was released.

JC and the Boys was a group started by David Guzman and spurred the careers of SFC, MC Peace, The Dynamic Twins, and T-Bone. These musicians were some of the first to ever appear on live television. TBN and The 700 Club were the two fathering networks and television shows that televised performances from musicians.

The late 1980s saw a flood of artists emerge including one of the most prolific in the genre, DC Talk. Not only was their music influential, but one of its members formed Gotee Records in 1994. Toby McKeehan would end up having the most influential record labels for the genre.

The history of DC Talk began at Liberty University in Virginia where Toby McKeehan and Michael Tait met and began writing songs and singing together. Some time later they had Kevin Max join the group when he left his own secular rock band. Once the three were united, then DC Talk was established. They released five albums which helped to name them as one of them most influential and popular Christian acts of all time.

They helped other groups to success and continue to do so. GRITS is one groups that started off as background dancers for DC Talk and then became their own hip hop group. Stacey Jones and Teron Carter made up the name of GRITS because it was a way to explain their personal grammatical revolution in the spirit. The group became on of the initial signees to Gotee Records label and also crossed over into secular music with their inspirational message.

The Gospel Gangstaz are another interesting group in this genre. This group was formed by four members from Compton and South Central in Los Angeles. The interesting part about this group is that they are former members of Crips and Bloods gangs. Having been transformed by Jesus they are able to go into the dark parts of their city to shine his light.

Solo artists are also important when looking at the influential side of this type of music. Kirk Franklin began his career as a member of Kirk Franklin and the family. He branched off to a solo career and has been seen as a featured artist on many other albums. Read more about: christian hip hop artists




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