Tag: hip hop

March 4, 2024

Illect Recording artist Newselph announce listening party

Join Newselph and Illect Recordings for a free listening party to celebrate If It Ain’t Broke, Remix It (vinyl & digital). Come along to listen to the music with the artist and chat about the making of the album. If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It features an incredibly lengthy list of collaborations including K.I.N.E.T.I.C., Sareem Poems, Sivion, Rel McCoy, Ozay Moore and many others. Follow the link below to RSVP: https://illect.bandcamp.com/merch/if-it-aint-broke-remix-it-listening-partyContinued →

January 24, 2024

December 11, 2023

Best of 2023: Rob Jensen

1. Lacey Sturm – Kenotic Metanoia: This November Lacey Sturm released her first album in nearly 8 years. To say it was worth the wait is an understatement. If it’s going to take 8 years to release a new album, this is the caliber release you want to shoot for. Lacey sounds as good as ever and has dropped an exceptional album here. It easily outshines her previous release, Life Screams, and is, in my opinion, her best work to date, including her material with Flyleaf.… Continued →

November 10, 2023

Song of the Day: M.C.R.G. - The Lord's House

Early Christian rap is a thing of beauty. Similarly to mainstream rap, early examples–though they give insight to the development of the genre–often suffer from simplistic lyrics, weak production, and/or rapping styles that are now outdated and sound lazy by today’s standards. However, we must remember that the genre took decades to develop. In fact, the early 90s were a tough era for the style. It had started to become mainstream and risked disappearing into a subgenre of pop music until it was rescued by gangsta rap and alternative rap a few years later, pushing the genre to new styles and heights, though not without controversy.… Continued →

October 20, 2023

Song of the Day: L.A. Symphony - Next

One of the larger, more legendary cyphers in Christian hip-hop, L.A. Symphony came to us from where else but Los Angeles. They emerged in the late 90s with a few 12″ singles and a full-length album on member Flynn Adam Atkins’ own independent label Eartube Empire, via which Flynn had also released a full-length solo album earlier. The group’s breakthrough came in the form of 2003’s The End is Now for Gotee Records. I had the privilege of booking/hosting the group for a youth event in Atlanta in the mid-2000s.… Continued →

August 5, 2023

May 22, 2023

April 14, 2023

Song of the Day: Tunnel Rats - Trz

The most legendary holy hip-hop cipher of them all? Perhaps. Tunnel Rats’ debut Experience (1996) was truly mind-blowing. It’s one of those rare albums where the line between art and artist was completely blurred, if it even existed in the first place. The lyrics (as well as the passion behind them) reflected absolute love of hip-hop music and culture, and absolute love of God and his Gospel. Very few artists, very few albums or artistic endeavors reach that climax of full integration where neither the message nor the artistic medium was compromised in any way whatsoever.… Continued →

February 8, 2023

January 28, 2023

Song of the Day: Double M - Three Sixteen

This will be confusing, but appears there are 2 Christian rappers that call themselves Double M. One is an Egyptian that you can find more about on Reverbnation & this one that has done a few songs I have enjoyed over the years. This one came out circa early 2000s & is really hard to find much about him. Appears he made 3 LPs in his run. I have always loved this song’s lyrics so listen closely.   Continued →

November 25, 2022

Song of the Day: Disciples of Christ (D.O.C.) - Deeper

Rap music in the early 90s was making huge breakthroughs into both mainstream pop music and Gospel music, all the while splintering into dozens of subgenres: gangsta rap, new jack swing, Miami bass, among the most prominent. Tulsa locals D.O.C., AKA Disciples of Christ were fluent in the Philadelphia-based new jack swing sound, a combination of hip-hop, urban contemporary pop, and R&B/soul sounds. Alton Hood and Kevin Harvey met in college before they knew the Lord. Having dabbled in the party lifestyle, and even in the occult, they turned their lives over to Christ through a miraculous intervention of God.… Continued →

October 29, 2022

October 28, 2022

Song of the Day: Remnant Militia - Syberian Winters

Not much is known about this underground hip-hop crew. Their recorded output consists of two independent releases: a cassette demo from 1997, and a full-length CD in 2004 with the moniker shortened to simply “Remnant” (not to be confused with the indie rock band that eventually became Exeter Flud). It was in 1997 or 98 that my good friend Jay (AKA DJ Deikon) who was huge into underground holy hip-hop introduced me to them. I was immediately intrigued by their creative backing tracks and atypical lyrical flow.… Continued →

September 29, 2022

August 27, 2022

August 19, 2022

Song of the Day: Braille - This Year

Rapper Braille (born Bryan Winchester) has been making hip-hop since at least 1998, first as a solo artist and then additionally as a member of Lightheaded (featured in an earlier Song of the Day), Acts 29, and most recently the worshipful project Beautiful Eulogy. The Portland-based rapper has released just under a dozen albums, including independent releases, a Japanese import, and a collaboration with Symbolyc One, not including his work in the aforementioned cyphers. Although I’d heard of him through his association with Syntax Records, it was his 6th album Box of Rhymes where I was first introduced to his music.… Continued →

August 6, 2022

July 18, 2022

June 21, 2022

May 24, 2022

May 9, 2022

Song of the Day: Propaganda - Healthy Don't Need Doctors

Propaganda is my favorite rapper whom I have officially seen & hung with twice. I’ve been listening to him since his days with Tunnel Rats & have every one of his albums if that tells you anything. You can also check out my other faves NF & Dirt. He is steadily going still & I am currently reading his Terraform book. This thought provoking SOTD is my fave & you can read the lyrics below. Once I heard this Middle Eastern carpenter say, “You know, the healthy don’t need doctors.” … Continued →

March 4, 2022

Song of the Day: Brainwash Projects - Want for Nada

If anyone asked me to name my favorite Christian hip-hop project of all time, it is without a doubt Brainwash Projects, and their sole album The Rise and Fall of . . . . Perhaps the album title was a hint at how long the project would last, and we all just missed it at the time. Rise and Fall had everything: lyrical witticisms, dope beats, funky rhymes, and humor by the bucketloads. While the whole album is worth listening to straight through without skipping any tracks, one of the strongest singles is “Want for Nada,” a testimony to God’s faithfulness.… Continued →

January 28, 2022

Song of the Day: Dwayne Omarr - Anointed One

We’re digging deep into the archives for this one. For those not familiar with electro-funk, it was an underground genre in the 1980s that bridged electronic dance music and hip-hop. In fact, in many ways it was a predecessor to the proliferation of rap music. The genre was known by a variety of names: electro-funk, techno-funk, and simply electro (not the goth/industrial version from a few decades later). In the mainstream scene, some of the most well-known names were Newcleus, Shannon, Egyptian Lover, Afrika Bambaataa, and some of Midnight Star’s mid-80s material.… Continued →

October 8, 2021

Song of the Day: Freedom of Soul - Freedom of Soul

There is simply not enough hip-hop on this site. Let’s fix that! I grew up in a small, very monochromatic town in Oklahoma, where most of the people had my skin color. In that part of the world, there were two kinds of music–country and heavy metal. In the 80s, a few of my friends who were more hip had started getting into this new “rap music” that I knew very little about. But growing up in a country-western family and then discovering rock on my own, I wasn’t really predisposed to listen to rap.… Continued →

May 5, 2021

Song of the Day: American Made: How We Roll

American Made was a fun band that only released 2 LPS, but some of their songs have remained my fave in their tiny genre. What I mean by that is that they combined rapcore with funk & punk & hip hop. Interesting combo for sure, but imho it worked for its time. Both releases garnered Christian rock airplay with the Against The Flow title track, Earth Girls, Matt & Benny & the awesome Better Off Dead. Today’s SOTD believe it or not, was produced by White Heart’s Billy Smiley!… Continued →

November 29, 2020

Illect Recordings Announce Holiday Sale

Underground hip-hop leaders Illect Recordings (home of Sivion, Terem, James Gardin and many others) are running holiday sales currently on physical merch (12″ Vinyl, 7″ Vinyl, CDs, Cassette Tapes & more). A few new items are included in addition to a couple re-stocks. There are also pre-orders, from tomorrow, for the Sivion x DertBeats Vinyl LP. Stock is expected to arrive in a few weeks from Europe. The official release date will be 6-8 weeks later but fans who pre-order the vinyl will be the first to have it.… Continued →

August 13, 2020

Jesus Freak Hideout Releases Epic 49 Song Free Compilation

Long running Christian Music website, JesusFreakHideout.com, just dropped Volume 9 of their “Songs We’ve Been Trying to Tell You About (and Others We Haven’t)” compilation series right here. Go download it and give these great indie artists a listen. Thanks to John, Scott, and the rest of the JFH gang for giving my artists a platform. I hope you all enjoy it. John DiBiase is also a talented artist and some of his drawings take up residence in my home. Make sure to see all his art pieces on Etsy here.… Continued →

July 26, 2020