Christian music has been popular for a while, but the 1970s is when Christian Hip Hop Artists made a big scene in the music industry. Commercially, it was 1985 when the first rap album that was considered gospel was released. Stephen Wiley and the album named Bible Break was the artist with this honor. Reverend Rap or Reverend DeWayne GoLightly was another pioneer, but his music was never released commercially.
JC and the Boys was a group started by David Guzman and spurred the careers of SFC, MC Peace, The Dynamic Twins, and T-Bone. These musicians were some of the first to ever appear on live television. TBN and The 700 Club were the two fathering networks and television shows that televised performances from musicians.
The later 1980s showed an increase in this type of musician with the legendary group DC Talk. This group not only was inspiring and successful, but they were also business savvy. They formed a record company named Gotee Records in 1994 that was influential in beginning other Christian musicians careers. Toby McKeehan or Toby Mac is one of the founding fathers of DC Talk.
DC Talk is a superstar group that helped shape the Christian hip-hop scene today. They were formed in Virginia at Liberty University. Toby McKeehan and Michael Tait met and began to write songs and sing together. It was not until some time later that Kevin Max left his rock band and joined DC Talk to complete the band. They have released five major studio albums together and are easily considered the most popular Christian act of all time.
DC Talk's success spawned other groups. GRITS was a group that started as DC Talk dancers. Teron Carter and Stacey Jones, originally from Nashville, came up with the group name GRITS because it stood for 'a grammatical revolution in the spirit'. GRITS was one of the first acts to sign a contact with Gotee Records and one of the first to cross over into mainstream music along with the Christian music stations.
The Gospel Gangstaz are another interesting group in this genre. This group was formed by four members from Compton and South Central in Los Angeles. The interesting part about this group is that they are former members of Crips and Bloods gangs. Having been transformed by Jesus they are able to go into the dark parts of their city to shine his light.
One of the more popular artists today is Kirk Franklin. Kirk is now a solo artist, but started his career in 1992 as the group Kirk Franklin and the Family. He has performed with many of the biggest names in Christian and secular music. Read more about: christian hip hop artists
JC and the Boys was a group started by David Guzman and spurred the careers of SFC, MC Peace, The Dynamic Twins, and T-Bone. These musicians were some of the first to ever appear on live television. TBN and The 700 Club were the two fathering networks and television shows that televised performances from musicians.
The later 1980s showed an increase in this type of musician with the legendary group DC Talk. This group not only was inspiring and successful, but they were also business savvy. They formed a record company named Gotee Records in 1994 that was influential in beginning other Christian musicians careers. Toby McKeehan or Toby Mac is one of the founding fathers of DC Talk.
DC Talk is a superstar group that helped shape the Christian hip-hop scene today. They were formed in Virginia at Liberty University. Toby McKeehan and Michael Tait met and began to write songs and sing together. It was not until some time later that Kevin Max left his rock band and joined DC Talk to complete the band. They have released five major studio albums together and are easily considered the most popular Christian act of all time.
DC Talk's success spawned other groups. GRITS was a group that started as DC Talk dancers. Teron Carter and Stacey Jones, originally from Nashville, came up with the group name GRITS because it stood for 'a grammatical revolution in the spirit'. GRITS was one of the first acts to sign a contact with Gotee Records and one of the first to cross over into mainstream music along with the Christian music stations.
The Gospel Gangstaz are another interesting group in this genre. This group was formed by four members from Compton and South Central in Los Angeles. The interesting part about this group is that they are former members of Crips and Bloods gangs. Having been transformed by Jesus they are able to go into the dark parts of their city to shine his light.
One of the more popular artists today is Kirk Franklin. Kirk is now a solo artist, but started his career in 1992 as the group Kirk Franklin and the Family. He has performed with many of the biggest names in Christian and secular music. Read more about: christian hip hop artists
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