Four Under the Radar Rap Artists

Hey guys Shawn here, your resident hip hop fanatic/knowledgeable guru. If your a Christian and you know anything about the Christian rap scene then you probably know guys like Lecrae, Ambassador, Flame, Tedashii, etc. But what if I told you there are pretty much just as many Christian rap artists as there are secular rap artists? Would you believe me? In this short "quick fix" blog I will get you hip to a couple of my favorite under the radar artists.

Rel Paul - He is the lead pastor at Pavilion Towers church in Detroit, Michigan. But when he is not doing pastoral care he is banging out some great tracks. He currently only has two cd's out, one can be found on iTunes and the other is a free mixtape. His sound is something like a mixture of Flame's and Ambassador's in it is not true "gangster rap" per say. However, his music definitely gets the point across.

Favorite song by Rel Paul - "Forevermore" of his album Spoiler Alert (available on iTunes)

Sevin - This guy is the epitome of Christian gangster rap. He does use colorful language, i.e. the "N" word in some of his songs. So if that's something you don't want then this isn't the guy for you. But like Bizzle, he knows he isn't perfect. Some of his songs can be beautiful and be worshipful, and the next one will be about the realities of life in the ghetto.

Favorite song by Sevin - "Buried Alive" off his album Purple Reign

Datin - Another true raw example of gangster Christian rap. Datin got his start doing battle rap in the underground realm. He has won awards for doing that. However, in his song "The Voice" he explains he kept hearing the voice of God saying that He wasn't giving up on him never. And boy am I glad that Datin listened to God. He has a raw voice and uses it wisely to speak the Truth.

Favorite song by Datin - "Fire In My Heart" (feat. Lavoisier & Bizzle) off his mixtape Turn It Off Vol. 1

Canton Jones - The R Kelly of the Christian realm. He uses a mixture of R&B and rap to get the message across. He has some powerful tracks, and utilizes his empowering voice well. He has multiple CD's out that he has brought to the streets. 

Favorite song by Canton Jones - "Hallelujah" Ft. Deitrick Haddon, DPB, and Mr. Del of his album Dominionnare. 

The Worst Christmas Songs...

Worst Christmas song ever. What song did you think of?

Yeah that one is probably pretty bad. Generally I find Christmas songs awful. Maybe it’s the overwhelming merriment. Might be the tendency toward shallow, pointless lyrics. Perhaps even the fact that, for whatever reason, the most played Christmas songs are sung by people who lack vocal talent on mind boggling levels. In this blog I (Erin) am going to list 5 of the absolute worst Christmas songs of all time and tell you just why they are horrifying.

5. Santa Baby – This song… I barely have words. Its creepy. So so so creepy. It’s a girl… trying to seduce… Santa Claus. Not. Ok. In addition, the Madonna version just makes it sound like a little kid whining.  And seriously, what’s up with the outer space car? Makes no sense. “Santa, Cutie”??? Whaat?? If you agree with this song, we cannot be friends. Another song that is close in running with this one (only slightly less disturbing which is why it isn’t on this list); “I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus. What kind of things are you putting in your kids’ heads??

4. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – This song conjures up images that I have never actually seen in real life. I have never seen anyone head-banging around a Christmas tree. There is zero point to this song existing and having to listen to the same few lines on repeat just makes me want to take the tree and feed it to the Grinch.

3. Happy Christmas (The War is Over) – Ok, so this one diverts from my generally cynical view of life and tunes a bit. This song is just a spirit killer. Yes, sometimes the excessive exuberance toward this holiday is a bit much for me, but good gravy! It’s not supposed to be outright depressing! I hear this song and I want to go into a corner and start crying. Possibly light the tree on fire and toss the presents in the garbage cause, what’s the point?

2. Feliz Navidad – A Spanish Christmas horror song. I almost had this as the number 1 worst Christmas song ever, but, believe it or not, there is actually one worse. This song has all of 4 different lines and somehow people manage to drag it out into an approximately 3 minute song. It’s like repetitive torment.  It’s one thing that they decide to throw the Spanish song in there, but the fact that they still have to translate what “Feliz Navidad Prospero ano y felicidad” means is just pathetic. If you hear that song after all this time and still don’t know what it means just ask any of the people you pass in normal daily life, cause I guarantee they know. Better yet, let’s just get rid of this embarrassment of a tune.

1. *drum roll* The number one most horrifying, awful, ear-bleeding Christmas song of all time is…...
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas – Good gods of the Amazon aborigines. Let this song die. A quick, but painful death. I truly wish this song was an actual entity so I could slay it. The “kid”’s voice is one of the most obnoxious I have ever heard. Plus, this is one spoiled kid. Doesn’t want a dog or a toy… won’t even be ok with a Rhino. It has to be a Hippo. I tremble to think what his reaction is when he doesn’t get it. I have never ever liked this song from the first time I heard it. But to make it 10,000 times worse, my mother is obsessed with it. In the song “mom says a hippo would eat me up”; I hope he does, kid. I hope he does.

Well, that wraps up my cynical ranting about a joyous time. For good measure, I’ll include a link to what I think is actually one of the best Christmas songs ever , but many would disagree. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk4woNRD7NQ

Me off.

Five Christmas Album Favorites From James

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Hello fellow music fans,

James your “resident music genius” mole and self proclaimed “Christian music historian” here with my first written blog contribution. In honor of the kick off of the Christmas music listening season, I thought it might be fun to tell you a bit about five of my favorite Christmas albums. Enjoy!

The Tunes Will Change You! The Effect of Music on Us and Our Society

Hey guys!

Erin again. This post is going to be a bit different. Rather than taking the time to review and give feedback on a particular artist/album/song, I thought I'd take a stab at dissecting the importance of music and the affect it has on us personally and as a society.

How many times have you heard a song that changed your day? For that matter, how many times can we attribute a significant life change to the impact made by a song? Personally I can point back to several times that hearing a particular tune has drastically changed my perspective and view of God, life and people. Music has the power to exhale life or inhale death. It can influence the way people dress, think, speak. It can change affect their religious views, make them aware of a social problem, soften a heart... harden a heart. People melt when they hear a sentimental song that touches their soul. They can be empowered by music. Music can draw people together for a common cause, or separate them to stand out amongst a crowd. It can drive people to suicide leaps or pull them away from them.

And in spite of all that, we are still so flippant and casual about what we choose to listen to. I say this coming from the stand point of one who doesn't often filter what I listen to as much as maybe I should.

I would like to be clear on a couple of things. What I am not saying here is that we shouldn't listen to secular music or any specific genre of music. I am also not telling you what you should listen to. I think it will be different for each person. Only you know how what you listen to affects you.

That being said, I'd like to make some observations on how a few different styles of music affect me and how, I believe, this could be something that is a bit more universal than typically thought.

From Lady Antebellum to Shovels & Rope

Hi guys!

Erin here. Just got out of a meeting with the other Moles a little earlier today. Admittedly it was not one of our more productive gatherings. We did, however draw names for a secret santa (bahaha).

Anyway, being that part of our meeting was focused around the point that the boys have both contributed this week but Sarah and I have, well, not, I figured I should at least post something.

Something I like to do sometimes (whether my facebook friends like it or not :p) is post the list of songs I happen to be listening to in status form (typically with iTunes on shuffle). So, instead of putting it on facebook, I'm going to put it here. And instead of simply providing a list, I will tell you what I like about each song. Also, I will link to a youtube video for each song that I can find one for.

Truth In Hip Hop Introduction

Ok so I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce those who don't know about Christian Hip Hop to the beautifulness that it is. But first I wanted to take the time to talk about the differences between secular hip hop and Christian hip hop. For those reading this that have listened to the Jay z's, Lil Waynes, Cam'rons, Eminems, etc. there is a huge difference when it comes to Christian rap. So what does secular rap usually talk about? They usually talk about things like selling drugs, making money, living a "hood" life, degrading women, being better than everyone, dissing other rappers, etc. The whole secular rap scene is pretty negative, and it is only getting worse. That's why I am so glad to see a rising in the Christian hip hop community. With almost as many Christian rappers as secular rappers, it is an ever growing industry. Cats like Lecrae, Bizzle, Trip Lee, Datin, MC Jin, etc. are taking the underground scene by storm. Lecrae even had top spot on Billboard top 200 with his latest album Gravity. That says a lot about where this is going. Lecrae also performed on BET's cypher at the hip hop awards last year. So what makes Christian rap so different? Well, for starters everything that secular rap talks about, Christian rap says the opposite. Instead of degrading women, the raps include lines about loving their wife. Instead of selling drugs, they talk about being ex-hustlers and trying to get more people away from that lifestyle. Rather than talking about making money, these guys turn down deals that other people would otherwise sell their souls for. They spend their time rapping about the bible, Jesus, and how a life with God is the only thing that matters. I'm gonna end with a few bars from Bizzle's song "Regular People" off his debut album Tough Love and Parables, which is an album I will be doing a video review on in the coming weeks. So keep an eye out for that.

"Got a couple rivals, but the Bible says take heed of that 
So, I'm prepared to have as many enemies as Jesus had 
So, I'm sendin' prayers up to Jesus' dad 
That He uses me to find his lost sheep and bring 'em back 
But, I am not a preacher man 
So don't expect perfection, just expect the lesson. Yes."

This album can be downloaded from Itunes and Amazon.

- Shawn Kotris

  @skotris