The forerunners of holy hip hop, also known as Gospel Rap, were not rappers at all. Traditional Gospel music artists such as John P. Kee, Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin
were trailblazers when they released their first albums in the '80s
and '90s. The artists created a firestorm of controversy in the gospel music
community by releasing upbeat, contemporary choir music that defied
the long established hymnal style worship of previous decades.
The new music style appealed to younger audiences. Through the years,
upbeat gospel became more widely accepted among Christian circles. But
as times changed so did the young people's taste in music. gospel
music began to evolve, mirroring popular secular sounds.
As before, many advocates of traditional hymns criticized the new beats,
using words such as Satanic and secular to describe the emergence of
the novel tunes. But as controversy continued to fly, Christian music
continued to progress. Inevitably, Christian music turned to rap
culture as a way to reach people from within the hip hop culture.
Groundbreaking artists such as Cross Movement began this trend.
Nowadays, gospel rap is as common as Hillsong worship and
choir music. It covers a diverse range of styles and trends from
dirty south style, which refers to the hip hop culture of the southern
states of Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee and surrounding states, to
the street sounds of New York. The "Dirty South" has even been renamed
by rap artist Mr. Del as the "Holy South". As the popularity of Christian rap rises,
you can be sure to find the music on the shelves of church bookstores everywhere.
