When Christian Hip Hop was Poor and Lowly
I remember when Christian Hip Hop was a ministerial movement. Today it consist of money making monopolies.
I remember when Christian hip hop was a poor community. Today it is a prospering commodity.
I remember when Christian hip hop aimed to see converts to Christ. Today it is more concerned with making concerts for the Church.
I remember when putting out a full length LP was to get it into people’s hands as an evangelistic tool. Today they are pressed up to reach the charts and collect sound scans.
I remember when Christian hip hop was unified under the person of Jesus Christ. Today it is unified under the current hot Christian emcee on the mic.
I remember when souls were on every Christian hip hop connoisseur’s mind. Today it is the dollar signs.
I remember when Christian hip hop carried it’s cross and endured thorny treatment. Today Christian hip hop has gotten use to the red carpet treatment.
I remember Christian hip hop without the myspace.com, the record labels, the elaborate websites, the email blasts, the E-cards, the award ceremonies, the exclusive interviews…
I remember when Christian Hip Hop was beats, rhymes, and the testimony of the saints witnessing God turn two turn tables and a microphone into a feast of prophetic words that fed thousands. Today it relies on the next biggest technological / marketing advancement that manages only to feed fanatic frenzy.
I remember when Christian hip hop was viewed with missionary value. Today it has more monetary value.
I remember when Christian hip hop was not one’s bread and butter but a platform to advertise the mind and ways of Christ while grinding else where to make a living. Today it is a means of living and thus, people do Christian hip hop to live rather than live to do Christian hip hop.
What I remember is but a memory. Today it is consumed in the experience of something else.
May God have mercy and grace and may God restore our purpose and aims as a missional movement. May God make us a team again rather than a competition where each man/woman is for him/herself.
May we carry the cross again and release ourselves from carrying the burden to sell, sell, sell.
May we invest in people’s lives rather than invest in more album release parties, tours, advertisements, music videos…..:(
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You know, Not every artist is after the money and the fame..
Infact, just a few are…
PLUS, you don’t make that much money as a Christian rapper…
So the majority arent even in it for the money! Pfff, WHAT MONEY!?
LoL
Alexis - April 1, 2008 at 12:41 am
I do remember these days. Not everyone knew what Christian rap was about and it was still considered as blasphemy in some circles. I actually had to convinced my father that it was a goood movement and that it would be goood to add it in his Christian Bookstore. There was only a few groups and their beats were all kind of old school.
I remember…yeah, I remember….
Student - April 1, 2008 at 2:05 pm
True…Christian rap artists do not make millions but they do make thousands. Some are actually making nearly a million. True…most are not making a dime but I guess that is what makes Christian hip hop today so bad. It is the aim of wanting to make a living out of this stuff that evokes memory of better times. The model use to be, “live to do ministry don’t do ministry to live.”
What I am directing my poem at are not people but the spirit of today’s hip hop. It is the celebrity persona of it that calls for a redirecting our aims and re-defining our mission. I have been in this thing for 14 years and truly the aforementioned memory is real.
cdero - April 1, 2008 at 5:57 pm
some food for thought there amigo!
betharam - January 8, 2009 at 6:36 am
“I remember when Christian hip hop was not one’s bread and butter but a platform to advertise the mind and ways of Christ while grinding else where to make a living. Today it is a means of living and thus, people do Christian hip hop to live rather than live to do Christian hip hop.”
this may be one of the primary errors with what’s going on today. i love CHH and always have, & i also understand that the vast majority of folks likely aren’t even caught up in these terrible motives, but your statement is still relevant for some.
being a celebrity & having a crew of overly-impressed cats & gaining fans & having no one in your life to peer in regularly and ask the hard questions … all of this prevents the HUMILITY that causes us to truly walk closely with the Lord and kill sin on the daily.
eve - October 28, 2009 at 7:06 pm