Underground ReLOVEution

I have a confession to make... I love hip-hop. Yep, there it is, out on the table. Ever since my early days of Jr. High I've had an infatuation with the hip-hop culture and music. I tried to supplement it. I would listen to Toby Mac and GRITS and KJ-52 and John Reuben, but it wasn't good enough. Eventually I realized that I didn't like Christian hip-hop, I liked good hip-hop. I couldn't let anyone know, so I hid my feelings. I bought Sufjan Stevens and Radiohead albums hoping to make sure no one knew about my love for hip-hop. Eventually I did grow to love indie music and now those two are two of my top three bands. Still, every time I'd listen to the radio and a good rap song came on, I got a little excited and my palms started to get clammy. The hooks, the rhymes, the beat, it was all there and I still loved hip-hop deep down.

So a year ago I saw a sign on the wall of the church and it was for a concert for the rapper LeCrae. I dismissed it quickly thinking it was just another Christian rapper and he probably sucked. Months later I was listening to a podcast with an interview with this guy and I became intrigued. He talked about how his songs had deep theology and how he was trying to reach out to the hip-hop community with his lyrics. I decided to give him a chance and so I listened.

I loved it. The guy is all at once being missional, theological, deep, inspiring, and... oh yeah, his music is just good. A lot of people ingrained in the hip-hop culture have really connected to and grabbed onto his music. He is doing what I want our church to be doing, taking our message to the culture. Not recreating the culture, nor isolating ourselves from the culture, but leading the culture with good music and a good message.

Without further ado, here is his video from YouTube for the song "Rebel". If you are not a hip-hop fan, that is ok, but if you are a closet hip-hop fan and have been hiding behind David Crowder and Death Cab, it's time to come out of the closet.

Rebel Intro


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