Christian electronic dance music

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Christian electronic dance music, also known as CEDM, Christian EDM, Christian dance music, CDM, or Christian electronic music, is a genre of electronic dance music and Christian music. Its musical styles closely mirror non-Christian EDM; however, the CEDM culture's lack of drug use and emphasis on positive lyrics (often focused on Christianity-based principles) distinguish it from non-religious counterparts. EDM.com wrote, "the [CEDM] culture can feel quite welcoming." [1] Many live concerts and events have been held in Christian churches [2] [3] in addition to traditional venues such as Lumination, [4] Creation Festival, and LifeLight Music Festival. [5] CEDM has also been incorporated into some Christian worship routines. [6] [7] [8]

Contents

CEDM band G-Powered performing live in 2010 G-powered.JPG
CEDM band G-Powered performing live in 2010

During the late 2000s and early 2010s, several Christian electronic artists rose to prominence in Christian music and general popular music, including G-Powered, Owl City, and Kye Kye. [9] [10] Other mainstay artists in the genre include Capital Kings, LZ7 [11] Gawvi, [12] Hillsong Young & Free, [13] and Andy Hunter. [14]

CEDM also includes other subgenres included in EDM, such as dubstep, techno, deep house and trance. [15] There also is a perception of genre-blending between CEDM and contemporary Christian music. [16] A significant number of artists from this genre tend not to reference themselves as solely Christian musicians due to the crossover with other genres. [9] [10] There also is a perception of genre-blending between CEDM and contemporary Christian music, such as Christian hip-hop musicians Andy Mineo, Lecrae, and Kanye West. [16] [17]

Stylistic differences

Gqom gospel

Gospel gqom, also known as gqom gospel or "Cape Town gqom", is a gqom subgenre pioneered by Mr Thela, Mshayi and Cairo CPT in the 2020s originating from Cape Town, South Africa. It blends gospel music elements creating a distinctive "church keyboard"-driven sound, and sgubhu elements with gqom. [18] [19]

Reception

In September 2014, Hallels.com conducted an interview with CEDM artist Matthew Parker, and claimed that some in the Christian community deem dance music as "music of the devil", to which Parker replied, "I don't believe any rhythms, melodies, chords, or harmonies are inherently evil and belong to the devil. Frankly, I think that's stupid." [20]

Zurich Lewis of the Biola University Chimes wrote an article aimed at Christians distinguishing the harmful elements of the EDM culture (such as drug use) from the musical style of the genre itself. [21]

In 2014, Matt Shea of Noisey wrote a tongue-in-cheek blog post, saying, "Nay, the Lord has spoken, and he has done so through womps...Hallelujah!" [22]

Radio

This music is usually heard on Christian radio broadcasts such as the Effect Radio Network. One major FM radio station, WWEV-FM in Atlanta, and a slew of smaller internet radio stations, specifically broadcast CEDM, such as Radio U Fusion: EDM, [23] [24] NRT Radio Remix, [25] God's DJs, [26] URLive, and GLOW. [27] [28] [29] [ better source needed ]

NRT Radio and David Thulin partnered to create a radio show, The Reconstruction, which seeks to promote Christian EDM. [30]

Related Research Articles

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Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rave</span> Dance party

A rave is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, trap, break, happy hardcore, trance, techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.

Miami bass is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The use of drums from the Roland TR-808, sustained kick drum, heavy bass, raised dance tempos, and frequently sexually explicit lyrical content differentiate it from other hip hop subgenres. Music author Richie Unterberger has characterized Miami bass as using rhythms with a "stop-start flavor" and "hissy" cymbals with lyrics that "reflected the language of the streets, particularly Miami's historically black neighborhoods such as Liberty City, Goulds, and Overtown".

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Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that can be used for remixes. It also operates a specialized music streaming service oriented towards DJs.

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Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a DJ mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Since its inception EDM has expanded to include a wide range of subgenres.

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Olivier "Oliver" J. L. Heldens is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart successes, including "Gecko (Overdrive)", "Last All Night (Koala)", "The Right Song", "Fire in My Soul", and "Turn Me On". He also produces techno songs under the alias HI-LO, which comes from "Oli H" in reversed form, runs the label Heldeep Records and later runs the label HILOMATIK. Through February 2021, he is the 460th-most-streamed artist on Spotify, with over a billion cumulative streams.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gawvi</span> American rapper

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References

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