Christian Rap

[Gil-Estel]

Maybe I have started this before, I don't care. I love rap music in general, but for me I have some trouble listening to some lyrics, as will at least some of you. Now I have listened to the album Rebel from LeCrae, and I have ordered it right away. He is a Christian rapper, but that doesn't mean he should be any good, haha...BUT HE IS! His music is ace, but his lyrics..... . If you are not a christian, they will have little meaning to you, but evenso he talks about what is really valuable in life, other than huge cars, beautiful girls and fast money (when typing it I know some of you will declare me nuts haha). I love his music, I just love it!

[ket_the_jet]

If you are looking for "cleaner" rap, look for Blackalicious. Rapper Gift of Gab and DJ Chief XCel put together a fine performance with twisted beats and Gift of Gab has fast-paced complex rhymes. There are references to God in their works, but it is not a Christian rap album. Check out The Craft (2005) and Blazing Arrow (2003, I think). For the most part, and as far as I can remember, the album is clean enough to not have a Parental Advisory label in America. That's pretty rare.

Also on the subject of rap, I mostly listen to "conscious hip-hop." This genre focuses on social issues and conflict as opposed to club-bumping gangster rap variety. Conscious hip-hop is much more underground, but there are a few stars of the genre. As an introduction to conscious hip-hop, check out these artists:
-Mos Def
-Talib Kweli
-De La Soul
-The Roots
-Madlib (and all of his other personas, such as Quasimoto)
-MF Doom (one of my personal favorites)
-Jean Grae
-KRS-One
-Blackstar (Mos Def and Talib Kweli's side project)
-Pete Rock
-The U.N.
-I.N.I.

I'll warn you, some of these have heavy references to sex, drugs, money, etc., but they are all fantastic. If you want particular tracks to listen to, feel free to PM me. Or, head over to Pandora.com, enter one of these guys (or gal) and listen to all similar tracks.

Enjoy.
-wtk

[Gil-Estel]

Some of them I know, and thanks for the warning I have some tough skin on my soul, so I can endure some :-). But may I ask you wether you have heard LeCrae and what, both on lyrics and music your opinion is? Especially the record Rebel I dig.

[ket_the_jet]

I saw LeCrae live years ago at my (ex-) girlfriend's church event she invited me to. This was back in 2004 or 2005, but I guess he just kind of sounded like a Southern Rapper. Kind of like Ludacris was the comparison a lot of people there said.

Personally, I am not the biggest fan of Southern "Crunk" rap, especially with guys like Jermaine Dupri running the show. Somewhere on the streets of New York City, that lone guy beat-boxing because he has nothing better to do...those are the guys that I like. The generally have the most creative lines anyways.
-wtk

[ket_the_jet]

None of that was a rip on LeCrae. I haven't listened to him ever so that one show was the only sample I've had. My comments were on Southern Rap from the Memphis-Atlanta-Jacksonville area.
-wtk

[Gil-Estel]

Haha, I like your comments,  I'm not the guy that is offended easily, so feel free to make a contribution.

[ket_the_jet]

I'm not the guy that is offended easily, so feel free to make a contribution.

then! I always have to make sure that I watch how I present things because between walls on the internet things can be mis-interpreted.

Anyways, last thing I want is to get caught up in a rap feud!
-wtk

[Gil-Estel]

Would be interesting though, I love witty texts, I wish I was able to make an interesting rap. But the first problem I would run into is language, haha. Eventhough I can make you understand me while writing, rapping would be like a bridge too far.
I myself always try to value my 'opponent' and the tone of all your comments I have read so far, make me think that you have good intentions and are not intending to make fun of others. So have some gold your self

[Gil-Estel]

Man, if you want to hear some uptempo rapping, check out don't wast your life.....I'm impressed.

[ket_the_jet]

Some other nice stuff to check out would be Atmosphere (the song Scapegoat is a sick track) and People Under Stairs.

And no, I wasn't poking fun...at you. A rap feud akin to Biggie and Tupac, well, I suppose I was poking fun at gangster rap culture.
-wtk

[ket_the_jet]

I cannot believe I forgot Del tha Funky Homosapien. He is amazing. You may recognize him as a guest on Gorrilaz song "Clint Eastwood." But he is great on his own and his two side projects, Deltron and Hieroglyphics.
-wtk

[TheJord]

A friend of mine loved Grits

[Jubei11]

Matisyahu is where its at guys.
Jewish Rapper, hes amazing.

Jubz

[ket_the_jet]

Matisyahu is pretty good.
-wtk

[SomeRandomDude]

Lecrae is good.
Early TFK (Thousand Foot Krutch) is good, like, way early TFK- Set It Off, That's What People Do, Shutterbug, though they have a lot of rock and metal influences- they're still rap though, but more like Linkin Park raps (only perhaps a tad more upbeat), I'd recommend When In Doubt as an amazing song, specifically, and Trevor (TFK's singer, best Christian rapper) performs on a few odd tracks like Run For Cover by KJ-52, Skills by Manafest, Impossibly by Manafest and...I think it was Kick It? also by Manafest and then another KJ song- I forget which. Manafest is another Christian rapper, so's KJ-52. tobyMac has some rap songs like Irene, Lose My Soul, Face of the Earth, Burn For You, etc. and the whole Momentum album is kinda like early TFK- except its more of an industrial rock fusion instead of a rap/metal fusion. Actually, think LP's Hybrid Theory with a heavier influence on the rap side. Family Force 5 has all fast electronic dance beats to it- but their first album is solidly rap. Actually, its really industrial rock/rap fusion. Business Up Front, Party In The Back is the name.

Hope that helps.