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Wednesday, 27 July 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 later 1980s showed an increase in this type of musician with the legendary group DC Talk. This group not only was inspiring and successful, but they were also business savvy. They formed a record company named Gotee Records in 1994 that was influential in beginning other Christian musicians careers. Toby McKeehan or Toby Mac is one of the founding fathers of DC Talk.

DC Talk is a superstar group that helped shape the Christian hip-hop scene today. They were formed in Virginia at Liberty University. Toby McKeehan and Michael Tait met and began to write songs and sing together. It was not until some time later that Kevin Max left his rock band and joined DC Talk to complete the band. They have released five major studio albums together and are easily considered the most popular Christian act 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.

Another interesting story of musicians with ironic beginnings was the Gospel Gangstaz which was formed from four members that came from the Compton and South Central area of Los Angeles. The interesting side to this group is it was made up of members from the Bloods and Crips gangs. The musicians spread their inspirational message to the dark areas of gangs.

One of the more popular artists today is Kirk Franklin. Kirk is now a solo artist, but started his career in 1992 as the group Kirk Franklin and the Family. He has performed with many of the biggest names in Christian and secular music. Read more about: christian hip hop artists




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