The Sphere of Hip Hop

Many of you out there are not overly familiar with hip hop. You've heard of it, you find it slightly interesting, but you have no idea of where to start looking into things. I understand. This is especially true with Christian hip hop, which is an even stranger animal than secular hip hop. Most people have no clue about Christian hip hop. They may have heard of it, but they're thoroughly confused about it, and often form misconceptions about it. Lack of familiarity thus produces contempt.

This need not be so. Just like Christian rock artists, or gospel artists, or a capella groups, Christian rappers speak the truths of the faith through their music. They seek to reach a segment of the population that most adults do not naturally connect with, and they do so in a worshipful manner. It is important that someone do this, because guess what--hip hop is not going away. It has mainstreamed musically, and it will not be leaving. I encourage Christians, then, to get to know it a bit, to make it less like the unwelcome friend and more like the welcomed stranger. Here's a good place to start: Sphere of Hip Hop. This website functions as something of a capitol city for the Christian rap movement, with cd reviews, interviews, articles, and forums. Take a few moments sometime and browse over there. You'll find the stranger ain't so bad after all.