Back in my high school days, when bubblegum metal and New Wave music dominated the pop charts, I became aware of two musical phenomena: popular Christian music, spearheaded by the likes of Amy Grant and Stryper, and rap.
Both genres have seen incredible success since then. Rap, of course, is a dominant force in the culture these days, and CCM is one of the musical industry’s lone fields of growth. So I guess it makes sense that, twenty-some-odd years after I was listening to Grant and memorizing a rap song or two, those two musical forms have dovetailed into something known as holy hip hop.
The Associated Press profiled the fledgling genre, focusing its energy on Teverius Black — a music mogul wannabe who sold his house to start his Christian entertainment business. It’s now “producing music, a film, a reality television show and a gospel cruise,” all of which Black hopes will help launch gospel rap closer to the mainstream.
“I think holy hip-hop music is starting to make a move,” said Danny Wilson, a former road manager for rapper-actor LL Cool J and the main organizer of the Holy Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta. “Look how long it took regular hip-hop to take. You’re talking about 25 to 30 years for it to really make an impact to the point that it’s a driving culture that’s known all over the world.”
I kinda hope they have the same sort of success. Don’t you? It’d be nice for rap to have a little less bling and a little more King.
