Christian Hip Hop Albums: The Story in 12 Essential Records

In 1985 Stephen Wiley, who grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma, put out a record called Bible Break. He had graduated from the University of Oklahoma, played jazz drums, and was then working as a chaplain at a juvenile detention center. The title track caught on with Christian radio, and Bible Break is often called the first Christian hip hop album.

Christian hip hop, first called gospel rap and also known as Christian rap or holy hip hop, sets Christian faith to hip hop beats and rhymes. It has no single birthplace. Pastors, youth workers, former gang members and college students started making it in different cities, each on their own. This is their story decade by decade, with 12 essential albums in release order at the end.

Key points

• The names: it began as gospel rap; Christian hip hop and Christian rap are the usual terms now, and some say holy hip hop.
• The first album: Stephen Wiley's Bible Break (1985) is usually credited as the first Christian rap album.
• The labels that mattered: tobyMac's Gotee Records, Philadelphia's Cross Movement Records, Reach Records (co-founded by Lecrae in 2004) and Portland's Humble Beast.
• The mainstream charts: Lecrae's Gravity won the 2013 Grammy for Best Gospel Album, the first time a hip hop artist won it; Anomaly (2014) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
• The sound: there isn't just one. Southern rap, West Coast underground, East Coast storytelling and experimental hip hop with folk and strings all belong here.

The 1980s: the first records, made by pastors and youth workers

Wiley was not alone. Michael Peace, raised in New York City, started releasing records in 1985 too; he later spent years mentoring young people in Rochester, and many call him a grandfather of Christian hip hop. In 1988 Spin gave Wiley a nickname: the "Grandmaster of God."

In Dallas, the youth pastor Fred Lynch and Barry Hogan, a member of his youth group, formed P.I.D. (Preachers in Disguise). They won a contest in Chicago in 1988 and got a record deal; their second album, Back to Back (1989), was the first rap album to reach the US Top Inspirational Albums chart.

In 1987 three students at Liberty University in Virginia, Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait and Kevin Max Smith, formed DC Talk. Their first two albums were mostly hip hop, and Free at Last (1992) kept hip hop at its core while bringing in rock; it won the Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album. DC Talk moved on to pop rock, but Toby McKeehan, better known as tobyMac, founded Gotee Records, which went on to sign many rappers.

The 1990s: the streets, the underground and labels of their own

Los Angeles's Gospel Gangstaz started somewhere else entirely. Several members had been tied to the Crips and the Bloods, and the founder, Mr. Solo, became a Christian after nearly dying in a gang shooting. Their debut, Gang Affiliated, came out in 1994, and I Can See Clearly Now (1999) was nominated for a Grammy.

Also in Los Angeles County, in 1993, Dax Reynosa held an open mic at his house, and the Tunnel Rats grew out of it. They chose not to sign with a major label and stayed underground; over the decades the crew went through several generations of members and came to include rappers from Boston, Texas and New York as well as California.

In 1996 Cross Movement formed in Philadelphia. Their approach was to put theology into rap: the same fierce delivery, orchestral samples and alliteration as mainstream rap, without the boasting and violence. Their label, Cross Movement Records, would later give a young man from Texas a hand.

In Nashville, Coffee and Bonafide had been dancers for DC Talk. They said hearing DC Talk when they first met in 1990 was what made them want to rap. In 1995 they formed GRITS (short for "Grammatical Revolution In the Spirit") and became one of the first acts tobyMac signed to Gotee. Their song "Ooh Ahh" later turned up on MTV's My Super Sweet 16 and in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and listeners outside the church heard this music too.

In Tampa, Florida, KJ-52 became known for a letter. His 2002 song "Dear Slim," addressed to Eminem, was shown on MTV's Total Request Live. The "52" in his name is said "five-two," after the Bible story of five loaves and two fish.

The 2000s: Reach Records and 116

In 2004 Lecrae, born in Houston, was 25. With Ben Washer, a friend he met while doing youth ministry, he started Reach Records in Dallas. The idea was simple: young people imitate the musicians they listen to, so why not a hip hop label with Christian values? That year Lecrae released his debut, Real Talk; the next year Cross Movement Records reissued it, and it reached No. 29 on Billboard's Gospel Albums chart.

In 2005 Lecrae formed 116 Clique with his friends Sho Baraka, Tedashii and Trip Lee. Over the next few years each Reach release sold better than the last. Lecrae's Rebel (2008) was the first Christian rap album to top the Billboard Gospel chart, and Trip Lee's Between Two Worlds (2010) was the first Christian rap album to reach No. 1 on the Christian albums chart.

In the same years Flame released Our World: Redeemed (2008) on Cross Movement Records, and it was nominated for a Grammy. In 2007 he had joined Cross Movement on their final tour.

The 2010s: onto the mainstream charts

In September 2012 Lecrae released Gravity. It sold about 72,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, the biggest sales week a Christian hip hop album had seen. Big K.R.I.T. and Mali Music are on it, along with Lecrae's Reach labelmates. That July, KB, newly signed to Reach, had released his debut, Weight & Glory, which entered the Billboard 200 at No. 34.

The next year Gravity won the Grammy for Best Gospel Album, the first time a hip hop artist won it. Two years later Anomaly debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Gospel chart, the first album ever to top both.

Up in Portland, another sound grew at the label Humble Beast. Propaganda, raised in Los Angeles, is a poet as well as a rapper and a member of the Tunnel Rats; Excellent (2012) moves between rap and spoken word. For Beautiful Eulogy's Instruments of Mercy (2013), the producer Courtland Urbano left out digitally generated sounds and used only analog gear and real instruments, folding folk, electronics and hymn tunes into hip hop.

NF, born in Gladwin, Michigan, took yet another road. He had a turbulent childhood, and music was his way out. His 2015 debut Mansion is raw and personal, and it was later certified gold by the RIAA; Perception (2017) went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Artists like him, Lecrae, KB and Trip Lee often describe themselves as openly Christian hip hop artists, and don't want to be filed only under "Christian music," so their music is heard beyond Christian circles.

Follow the lineage to the next record

On the genre family tree, Christian hip hop has two roots: hip hop and Christian music. Once you've heard these albums you can go up a level, to the hip hop styles it borrowed, such as Southern rap and West Coast underground hip hop. Or go sideways, to other records by the same producers and labels.

Our music genre map opens straight on the Christian hip hop node, with its roots and neighbouring genres. For digging by credits and labels, see What Is Crate Digging?. In Cratto, opening a genre shows its roots, subgenres and must-hear albums; the 12 below come from there, and Apple Music does the playing.

12 essential Christian hip hop albums

The 12 below are in release order and cover the Gotee years, the West Coast underground, Cross Movement, Reach Records and Humble Beast. Each one comes with the tracks to start on and what to listen for.

Covers are the versions on Apple Music.

FAQ

Is Christian hip hop the same as gospel rap? Essentially, yes. The music was first called gospel rap; Christian hip hop and Christian rap are more common now, and some say holy hip hop.

What was the first Christian hip hop album? It is usually said to be Stephen Wiley's Bible Break (1985). There were singles before it, but Bible Break is the first full album most often named.

Which album should I hear first? For the music at its most influential, Lecrae's Gravity. For something earlier with more of a band feel, GRITS's The Art of Translation. For a different sound altogether, Beautiful Eulogy's Instruments of Mercy.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Christian hip-hop, Stephen Wiley, Michael Peace, P.I.D., DC Talk, Free at Last
• Wikipedia: Gospel Gangstaz, Tunnel Rats, Cross Movement, Grits, The Art of Translation, KJ-52, Collaborations
• Wikipedia: Reach Records, Lecrae, Rebel, Gravity, Anomaly, Between Two Worlds, Flame, Our World: Redeemed, Weight & Glory
• Wikipedia: Propaganda, Beautiful Eulogy, Instruments of Mercy, NF, Mansion