Christian Rap - Cross Movement Records

Yes CM are a serious christian rap group. They have been around for quite a long time now and really do go out to promote a true no compromising gospel to the streets. when I was a Pastor in Wales we had a group of young teens saved who had been on a vile filthy diet of celeb rappers like Tupac and 50 cent i gave them copies of CM cd's they were hooked! helped to stir a real passionate zeal for God in the young people. They are certainly legit and never water down their stuff for anyone.

Better late than never ;-)

You should also check out Shai Linne, and Trip Lee.

Check out Lamp Mode too-

[url=http://www.lampmode.com/]Lamp Mode Records[/url]

Yes, I have heard of them. They put serious theology in their lyrics.

In my opinion, shai linne is heads and shoulders above all the rest though. Especially his albums "Atonement" and "Storiez".

With care in Christ,
Taylor

Ill probably get slammed for this but Glory be to God...

I used to be a hardcore fan of Gospel Hip Hop, and i really dont mean to take punches at these men, because I truly believe they are called to preach the gospel..but rap? And being a young black man, who is a minister, i dont see the point...its almost embarassing...like a spiritual stereotype, like "because im black, and i like rap, and i love jesus, ill just rap for jesus..." i think thats wrong in so many ways. Yes the lyrics are reformed, doctrinally sound and inspiring at times...but why cant we just stick to preaching and evangelizing the bible way, just like Jesus and everybody else? People are seriously dying for the gospel in countries like Iraq, Iran and India, and we are rapping it to youth groups doing concerts "hyping kids up for Jesus". My testimony..23 years in the church.all my life, had every christian hip hop cd from Grits to cross movement to da truth, and i can tell you that none of that made me any more closer to God. I actually went and purchased secular cd's because I thought Jay-Z's quality was better than Ambassadors...the point was i was wicked, unregenerate, and it wasnt until i heard the Gospel preached and until my little sheep ears heard His voice that I actually responded.Ezekiel didnt rap to dry bones, nor sing to them, nor do any form of american evangelicalism to those dead bones...He prophecied..and thats what Christ commissions all of us to do. "Go ye and preach" .Point is rapping is not preaching, its rapping. It might inspire your kids...but "I believe I can fly" will inspire your kids too. There is a difference between worship and entertainment, between a precious and trite presentation of Jesus.

Many disagree with my opinion, but find in the Bible anywhere where Jesus, abraham, Isaiah ,Paul or anyone used a cultural trend to evangelize? The word was preached with demonstration and power. These brothers are men of God, dressed in the robes of modern culture, being decieved, and will one day wake up to their true calling of making disciples conformed to the image of Jesus. The sad thing is, that when they wake up from the slumber of modern cultural methods and stereotypes, it might be too late. i pray for my brothers in Christian Hip Hop, because they do know the truth, they do know the word, we see it in the lyrics...but why rap? why hip-hop? Is there anyone the Jesus of the Bible(not mixed with any cultural trend or fashioning) cant reach? Did christ not relate to mankind as a whole enough by being in the form of God, equal with God and being made a man to walk among men? Thats bringing it down to our level id say...and some of these men feel like they cant preach jesus without using rap? Like saying "jesus, you didnt do enough to reach the hip-hopper"?

Just my opinion...Just my thoughts...
Be blessed

Thanks for your thoughts.

I do think that Jesus did preach "culturally relevant" messages to His hearers. He was in an agricultural culture and used agricultural illustrations to make His points. Paul in Acts 17 quotes philosophers who were known and read amongst the Athenians to show them that they indeed knew there was a God.

Christ Himself took on the "cultural" form of those He was trying to reach by laying aside His deity, and coming as a man.

BUT the message was not compromised, and that is what is important.

I share your concern about simply doing music because it is something that is "fun", but how is it wrong to use a means that is not sinful in itself(music can be used for good or evil)to get the truth of Christ into the minds of people who might not hear it otherwise?

If we are all missionaries sent on a mission by our King, then do we not need to have some understanding of the culture we are in? No one would go to a foreign mission field without first understanding the culture there, and personally I see no difference with a foreign mission field and the mission field outside our front door.

amen, I see where youre coming from, and understanding the culture is fine...you cant help but watch the news, hear the sounds, and see the sights..you cannot be ignorant and thats all well...but i guess my point was that we do not have to conform to the world in order to reach them. None of these modern methods ever took place until the last 20-25 years. You never saw a "Christian" james brown, or a "Christian" Elvis...Paul was definitely not trying to be a "Christian" Aristotle. Christ never laid aside His deity though...there are plenty of scriptures that prove that he possessed the attributes of God while on this earth. He never conformed to the customs and fashions of the age in order to bring someone to Himself. Abraham never went down to Sodom to "see whats relevant or what he was missing out on" . I think that we reduce the gospel and water it down by using these new age culturally fashioned methods in order to reach people, like thay arent intellectually smart enough to see jesus for themselves. its a alap in the face to them and God. "A young man might not be able to understand my Bible, but he sure will understand my rap Cd " is what we are saying. Agriculture is neutral, God created it, business principles are found in the Word, thats how God runs His kigdom..but rap, its not neutral...look at its roots.
Music is used in the Bible for worship to God, not to draw men. God draws men unto Himself...faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Missionaries dont give food to Bhuddah in India, they dont dress as the tribesmen in Africa, they dont sing in the pubs with wicked irishmen in Ireland and they dont bow down to Compromise in America.
My answer to your question is this ...why music when there is preaching? If those same people who will not hear the gospel "otherwise", if those people will listen to my flow instead of the words of my Savior in the Bible, then ive watered it down and im in big trouble. The people in Exodus proved this when they would have rather heard Moses (one whom they could relate to) than hear God...the one who spoke from the mountain.

In my experience, shai linnes' music is the most edifying. He has taken out a CD called "The Atonement" which focuses on the Cross, and has snippets from sermons by CJ Maheney and John Piper.

He took out a new CD called "Storiez" which just makes me want to jump up and praise the Lord.

Heres his blog with lyrics to his songs: http://lyricaltheology.blogspot.com/

and can also google "shai linne" to find his myspace page to hear samples of his songs, and theres an offer to receive 4 songs for free on that page. hope you check it out and can show your kids, Krispy.

edit: can also google "paul washer reformed rappers" to see what Paul washers' opinion about these reformed rappers is. Its a video on youtube

I've listened to them for a while now. Many of the artists are very sincere and their music is light years beyond ccm in scriptural content. I just hope popularity doesn't ruin them.

Hi Guys,
One of the things we do is youth work.
Who would you most recommend if i want to buy two rap/hip hop cd's for the youth evenings?
I just listened to Shai linne and lyrically he is very good.
Is there anyone you would recomend more for musical content (as in good hard beats etc)?
would much appreciate some suggestions for the best two albums.
thanks

Songs with John Piper/CJ Mahaney by shai linne

Atonement CD
"In Adam All Die" John Piper
"Were You There?" CJ Mahaney
"Through My Eyes" CJ Mahaney
"CJ Mahaney interlude"

Solus Christus CD
"My Portion" John Piper

Timothy Brindle from "Killing Sin" album

"The Humility of Christ" John Piper

Ahh...Can also listen to "Spurgeon" by shai linne.

Its a biography of Charles Spurgeons life

Who would you most recommend if i want to buy two rap/hip hop cd's for the youth evenings?

If you can only buy two, the first should be "Soriez" by Shai Linne, the second is tough, but "13 Letters" by 116 Clique is the Epistles of Paul redone by Lecrae, Trip Lee, Shai Linne etc.

If money is the issue with buying only two, may I suggest going to the Amazon Mp3 download site, and downloading a bunch of songs and making your own CD.

The best song of all for me is "The Atonement Q&A" by Shai Linne on his album "The Atonement". Give it a listen and you'll see why.

What are the names of the songs which mention Paul Washer and John Piper? I am trying to purchase the albums but there are so many?

In Christ Alone

Paul Washer is mentioned by FLAME on the album "Rewind". The song was titled "Give us the Truth Pt. 2"

With care in Christ,
Taylor