Christian Rap Music |
Christian rap music, also sometimes referred to as gospel rap or Christian hip hop, is essentially a subgenre of rap music that utilizes Christian themes of faith and spirituality within the lyrics. The genre started to become popular in the 1990s.
Typically, the audience for Christian rap music is of course mainly comprised of Christians, but many evangelical churches and missions use and appreciate Christian rap music for the evangelical purposes. Many of the Christian rap music artists are professed Christians who profess their own faith through their music, helping to spread and reinforce Christian beliefs to their audience.
The appearance of Christian faith-based lyrics in rap music is not uncommon, even for mainstream artists. While not all songs produced by some rap and hip-hop artists may present Christian worldviews, it is sometimes evident nonetheless in at least a few songs, such as Tupac Shakur's album The Don Killiminati, and songs by other artists such as Kanye West and Jay Z.
However generally most, if not all of the songs on a rap album will be about the Christian faith for an artist to be considered part of the Christian rap music genre. The popularity of Christian rap music has grown significantly since the 80s and 90s, and the market has become rather broad, crossing other genres such as R&B and trip-hop. The genre is also not limited to an American audience - it has a fanbase in the UK, South Africa, Nigeria, and Japan, among other countries.
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