Christian Hip Hop Artists And Their Influence

Since the hip hop genre became popular in the 1970s some Christian hip hop artists have put a Christianity flair in their lyrics. It was not until 1985 that the first Gospel rap album was distributed and released commercially. The artist that has this distinction was Stephen Wiley with his album entitled Bible Break. Another pioneers in this genre was Reverend Rap also known as the Reverend DeWayne GoLightly. His work never released commercially.

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.

The group began in Virginia at Liberty University, a Christian college known for producing many contemporary Christian singers and musicians. Toby Mac and Michael Tait met here and began singing and writing songs together. Later on Kevin Max joined the group after he exited his own rock band career to join DC Talk. Their success became one of the most influential and inspiring Christian music 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.

Another famous group, the Gospel Gangstaz, was formed when four members from South Central and Compton in Los Angeles. These members have an ironic background because they were all former members of the Crips and Bloods gangs. With Jesus as an inspiration, these band members used their dark background to spread the message of Jesus to everyone including gangs.

Kirk Franklin is another popular artist from today. He now is a solo artist, but in 1992 he began his music career with his group Kirk Franklin and the Family. He has been featured on many Christian artists albums and songs. Read more about: christian hip hop artists

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