"The Youth's Guide to Christian Rap: A Positive Alternative"

Can Christian rap truly transform the lives of our youth? Join me, Prophecy, in this thought-provoking episode of Psalmist Cipher as we delve into the powerful world of Christian rap and poetry. Together, we'll explore how mainstream hip-hop influences our young people, often promoting problematic messages, and why introducing them to Christian rap can be a game-changer. You'll hear about the incredible talent within the Christian rap community and how their gritty, relatable stories can guide listeners towards a more uplifting path. We're all about creating platforms for these artists, helping the youth discover and appreciate their craft while understanding the importance of positive messaging in music.

This episode also drives home the importance of personal responsibility in our spiritual journeys, emphasizing that faith isn't confined to church walls. Christian hip-hop and holy music can be vital tools in maintaining a God-centered life, especially when you're on your own. We encourage you to be mindful of your media consumption, making choices that honor and glorify God. Stay engaged with the Bible, and check out our curated Spotify playlist for a daily dose of inspiration. Don't forget to connect with us through our social channels—God bless you all. One God.

Takeaways

• Mainstream hip hop often contains messages that are not suitable for youth, and it is important to provide them with alternative options.
• Christian rap and poetry can provide a positive and relatable message for young listeners.
• There is a need for a platform to showcase Christian rap and poetry and to expose youth to these genres.
• Listeners should be intentional about the music they consume and seek out Christian hip hop and poetry that aligns with their faith.Sound Bites
  
  

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

How's it going, friends? Your boy Prophecy here with another episode of Psalmist Cipher, let's go. So I was looking at everybody in my church the other day and I noticed that there was a lot of youth there. And you know, as I go on my day-to-day routine, I noticed that most of our youth is listening to hip hop, and that's normal, right, kids love hip hop, kids love rap and you know all the mainstream stuff. But that is the problem there, right, the mainstream stuff. It's the message behind it, right. And even though I'm not hating on that, all right, I'm not hating on it. And even though I'm not hating on that, all right, I'm not hating on it. The truth is is that most of the time, the message behind it isn't suitable for most adults, let alone our kids. Kids are listening to this, right. So I can't help but to think that if these kids was able to listen to and hear a lot of these Christian rap artists, they will learn to appreciate not only the fact that they're really good at their craft, because they are, all right, they're out there with some of the best mainstream rap artists now, but they're getting the right message from it. It's leading them to God.

Speaker 1: 1:29

It does have the grittiness that they're looking for. I guess that's the best way to put it right. It is a little street. These people are rapping about what has happened in their lives and a lot of times rap artists come from not the best neighborhoods, not the best cities, you know. They rap about hard times in their lives or what they've seen throughout their lives or maybe in somebody else's life close to them, and it's usually a story of pain or trauma or something like that.

Speaker 1: 2:13

I think kids gravitate towards that a little bit. I mean, I did, and I know several people who do. I know hundreds of people that do. All right, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you're taking that bad message and turning that into a good one, amen. But most of the time in mainstream hip hop they're glorifying the bad stuff. All right, and I've been a hip hop head all my life, love rap and everything.

Speaker 1: 2:45

But once you become a born again Christian, with time you start hearing this and you're like man, I don't want to listen to this. It happens by itself. It's almost not even a choice Right, a choice right it's. You go into that mindset where you notice the wrong that you're watching or the wrong that you're listening to or the wrong that you're doing. It just comes because the Holy Spirit is working with you.

Speaker 1: 3:17

But you know, it's hard for the kids to find these Christian rappers if there's not somebody pointing that out to them. Like, listen to this or listen to that, because there is not a platform putting that out here as a combined effort. All right, they'll probably hear one artist, right, they'll probably hear this artist or see this artist on their feed. Oh, that's pretty cool, that song's kind of dope, right. But then they're not going into how deep of a culture there is and how many of these good, talented artists there are and they're not looking for.

Speaker 1: 4:03

It's because mainstream hip-hop, mainstream rap, is at every corner. It's on every radio, it's in every car, it's in every club, it's on every radio station. That's hip-hop and r&b or whatever. That's so easy to consume. It's everywhere, right, they go to school, they're listening to it, they put on their. It's everywhere. So this is what I want to create here. I want to create a platform where we are showcasing all of these different artists and not only rap, and poetry too. Let's just be real here. Let's keep it a buck.

Speaker 1: 4:47

Rap is poetry to a beat, all right, but I think also the raw form of poetry can be appreciated too, because poetry like when you're doing poetry without a beat and you're really connecting to somebody with the story they'll get what you're talking about. You can connect with somebody with poetry. I mean, think about it. All right, most of the cards that you give people, either on their birthday or on Father's Day or Christmas or this or that that you connect with somebody with, as simple as a card, has what in it. Paul, all right, I told you that.

Speaker 1: 5:30

So the current trends of hip-hop now, right, there's probably and I'm not gonna name any names, but I'm sure you can figure this out there's probably five that I could think of. Maybe, if you're a younger person watching this, uh, this episode, or listening to it, put it in the comment section, or however you can reach out who's your favorite hip-hop artist right now, at the time that you're listening to this, or you know who's your top five. I like to hear, I like to hear what that's about. But there's five mainstream ones that are very lyrical. Now, I'm not saying they don't cuss, they do, and sometimes the messages are, most of the time, not the best message, but they're so good with their craft. That it's not only that right, it's not only the bad message. There is a craft behind it. So you know you can listen to their music and appreciate the fact that they're really good at putting the words together, all right. But then you listen to the other ones that might be a little bit more popular because of the beat, or maybe they have a big following or they're just trendy at the time, or you know, maybe their looks, they look a certain way, whatever it is, and you listen to their music.

Speaker 1: 6:53

One is garbage flat out. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna talk about anybody who doesn't have no lyrical skills just because they're popular at the time, that they, that they're good. That is wrong and you know. I'm saying you know I'm right, if you don't have no skills, you shouldn't. You know, maybe you have a following and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 7:16

But most of the time I grew up, I grew up in an era where you had to be talented to be a rap artist. Think about this. Let me ask you this If there was a rock group, if you like rock and roll, or maybe even at your church, if there was the church band or the rock group, whatever group, whatever. And let's say, each one of the people back there the drummer didn't know how to play the drums, the person playing the guitar couldn't play the guitar. The person singing couldn't sing the whatever right, they just didn't know what they're doing. It sounded like a hot mess. That's what a lot of this hip-hop sounds like to me right now. Let's be real, man. A lot of these people just don't belong there, man, they just had the following and they're trendy at the time, so they have a deal, whatever.

Speaker 1: 8:17

But I can't help but to acknowledge the fact that our youth are the ones consuming this garbage. You know what I mean? Mean? They're consuming it, they're listening to this and they actually think that it's cool and that it's right. And you know, with that type of message, you have to wonder how many of these kids are actually doing some of the things that these influencers because that's what rap artists are at times, you know, if they're trending and stuff like that, they're influencing our kids. They're doing what these rappers are doing or saying in their videos and in their music, all right. So that is a problem here on this channel, here on this podcast, here on this YouTube or wherever you're consuming this at all right because we're across a few platforms now. All right, we are not going to bring you that. I promise you that we are going to bring you the best of Christian hip-hop, christian rap, of Christian hip-hop, christian rap and the best of what I can find of poetry To give you quality content, quality music, quality stuff to listen to with the right message, pointing everything to Jesus and to God.

Speaker 1: 9:43

So now let's talk about youth in church. So I enjoy the different types of music in church. I enjoy some of the older stuff that probably laid the foundation to a lot of the newer stuff. My church is a little bit old school. I like to say All right, but they do put up newer type music and stuff like that. But we get a lot of oldies in there and stuff and I appreciate them, I like them. I can see how them songs have set the tone to a lot of the other stuff that comes out now and I appreciate a lot of the newer stuff also, like a big one one, and I'll say it again, elevation worship. Good for you. You guys put out some of the best church songs and if you could see my church lit up to some of them songs. Man, you guys, if you guys ever come across this content, this podcast or whatever, big ups to you. We love your music, but they do a really good job.

Speaker 1: 10:54

The point I'm trying to make here I feel good coming out of church, right, but sometimes I listen to some of the older stuff and, like I said, I can appreciate it and I like some of it, but I like some of the newer stuff better. Right Now, our youth I have to think about them, right, they might feel the same way. Probably some of the stuff that I like, you know, as far as the church music and the church setting they might not relate to, because they're a lot younger and most of all, the music they're consuming is rap. That's pretty much where they're at. You know what I mean, at least in my church, right.

Speaker 1: 11:44

So I seen the void here and the necessity for a podcast like this, for a YouTube channel like this, and you know, to be honest, I try to look for it myself just to feed myself. I'm like man, there's got to be a podcast that is providing all of this music or talking about these different artists and stuff like that. And I didn't find it. But see, we also come across a hurdle, then I'm unable to play that here without being copyrighted, because obviously we have to do things the right way, right? So what I am doing here is I'm making a playlist on spotify, right, and I'll make a playlist for whatever topic we are doing on the episode, this one being rap for the youth. So my youngins on this one. They're in the show notes After the show. I want you to look in the show notes, in the description or whatever, and down there is going to be a Spotify playlist that has some specific songs that I picked out especially for you for this episode. All right, there's a few different. There is a young Christian rap group. I think they're called the Young Disciples out of Kingdom Music group. I think they're called the Young Disciples out of Kingdom Music. Fire, fire, fire, fire. You guys are gonna love it. It's in the Spotify list. Check that out, and I'll have a few other artists I'm going to surprise you with in there, just to give you get your beaks wet a little bit on.

Speaker 1: 13:25

You know, the Christian hip hop scene and stuff like that. Now, as far as your faith, with the music I listen to, I can listen to Christian hip hop all day, I barely even listen to anything else anymore anymore. All right, I'll sprinkle in a little bit of different worship music, just because I want to change the tone sometimes, or whatever, or I'm feeling some type of way, or, you know, I want to be inspired to write a poem for church or for myself. It depends on what I'm listening to that helps me be inspired, for me to write. What is it that you want to be inspired for? How do you want to build your faith? There are a lot of different topics.

Speaker 1: 14:11

The same way, you would look for certain songs that are mainstream. Because of certain feelings or emotions or things you're going through in life, you would look for these songs. I challenge you to do the same in Christian music, do the same in Christian hip-hop, do the same in Christian poetry. I mean, I'm starting to be active in different social media platforms, so I'm going to highlight a lot of poetry different Christian poetry groups, social groups and stuff like that and I'll put those in the link down below. I'll see if I put at least one here. I challenge you to actually look for these songs because I want you to have. This is a form of ministry and there is no shortage of talent. You will get your fix of lyrical genius, of the beats of the message of God's word, because it's all about him, amen.

Speaker 1: 15:15

But like I was telling you about the group the Young Disciples I think that's how it goes. The D-A Young Disciples I think that's how it goes. The Young Disciples out of Kingdom Music. They have a cut called Can't Stop. It's going to be in this playlist down there. If you don't have Spotify, look it up. It's called Can't Stop by the Young Disciples. It is fire, young kids. But man them. Kids could flow. You're going to love it. You can thank me later. Enjoy the song and I would appreciate it if you like comment, subscribe, share, follow you know all the things you do to either the podcast episode or the YouTube channel. It'll help boost up the show and it'll help reach more people with God's message through Christian hip-hop and poetry and on upcoming episodes.

Speaker 1: 16:15

All right, I will be dedicating one episode a month specifically on Christian poetry. All right, I think that is the foundation of hip hop and it is a very good way to connect strictly to somebody's way of interpreting the word. All right, I think sometimes we focus a lot on the beat and how it's making us move and dance and that's great. I love it. I do it all day long. But there's something about just listening to the words when it grips you a certain way, that is very, very powerful. So I'll be doing episodes on poetry coming up soon.

Speaker 1: 17:00

And listen, kids. I mean, at the end of the day, it's really up to you. You guys have to take control, because I can sit here and tell you to listen to Christian hip-hop. Your parents, people at church, can tell you, not specifically Christian hip-hop, but just to listen to better music. All right, and it's all good in church, I feel it.

Speaker 1: 17:25

But once you walk out the door of church, you are still responsible for yourself. All right, you don't worship God just in church, all right, and God's in church. Outside of church, he's with you everywhere you go and you're responsible for what you're consuming. All right, you have to get in that word. You have to do things that are pleasing to God at all times. He's always watching, he's always with you. And I'm not saying this to intimidate you. I'm telling you this to encourage you, because if this is your leader, this is who you want to imitate, if this is who you want to protect you don't. You want to do things that gratify him and exalt his name and that please him about your actions.

Speaker 1: 18:19

And Christian hip-hop is just another form of listening to holy music. I mean, it's our interpretation of it, and anything can be used for God's glory, amen, especially when you're on your own, whether it's Christian hip hop or worship music or poetry or whatever it is. You ultimately are in charge of what you're consuming, so be very, very careful with that and make sure that you're listening to the right message. Also, it's very important for us to always stay in the word. That is a big responsibility for us to do as Christians. Enjoy the Spotify playlist. Check out all the social channels. I appreciate your time and God bless you all. One God.