Christian hip hop is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is the debut studio album by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released on April 10, 1990, on Jive Records. After forming the Native Tongues collective and collaborating on several projects, A Tribe Called Quest began recording sessions for People's Instinctive Travels in late 1989 at Calliope Studios with completion reached in early 1990. The album's laid back production encompassed a diverse range of samples which functioned as a template for the group's unorthodox lyrics.
Obie Trice III is an American rapper. He signed with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem's Shady Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2000 to release his first two albums, Cheers (2003) and Second Round's on Me (2006). Both peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, while the former was supported by the singles "Got Some Teeth" and the Dr. Dre-produced "The Set Up ". Upon leaving the label, Trice formed his own record label, Black Market Entertainment to release his following albums, Bottoms Up (2012), The Hangover (2015) and The Fifth (2019).
Jordan Michael Houston III, known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, established in 1991. He released ten studio albums with the group, which began as an underground act until attaining mainstream recognition and signing with Loud Records, an imprint of Columbia Records in 2000. The group's 2005 single, "Stay Fly", yielded their furthest commercial success, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year, they recorded the song "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" for the film Hustle & Flow, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Robert Ross, known professionally as Black Rob, was an American rapper who was signed to Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment. He was best known for his 2000 single "Whoa!", which peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100.
All or Nothing is the sixth solo studio album by American rapper Fat Joe. It was released on June 14, 2005, through Atlantic Records, making it his fourth and final studio album for the label. The album was originally slated to be titled Things of that Nature, but owing to his dispute with 50 Cent, changed the album to All or Nothing.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Harlem, New York City. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, worked his way into the music industry through connections with singer Usher, who became one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
Christopher Scott Greenwood, known by his stage name Manafest, is a Canadian Christian rapper and rock artist from Pickering, Ontario. He has won multiple awards for the GMA Canada Covenant Awards, GMA Dove Awards, and has been nominated for multiple Juno Awards. Signed for a decade with BEC Recordings, Manafest became independent in 2015.
Joell Christopher Ortiz is an American rapper and a former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label. He was featured in the Unsigned Hype column of the March 2004 issue of The Source Magazine and was also selected as Chairman's Choice in XXL Magazine.
Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, better known by his stage name Wale, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2006 song "Dig Dug ", which became popular in his hometown of Washington, D.C. and led Wale to gain further local recognition as he amassed a number of follow-up releases. He signed a recording contract with English DJ-producer Mark Ronson's Allido Records in 2007, which, after a three-label bidding war, entered a joint venture with Interscope Records for US$1.3 million the following year. During this time, Wale's mixtapes and singles saw national attention as he appeared on MTV and various Black America-focused magazines.
Real Talk is the debut studio album by Christian hip hop recording artist Lecrae. There were two different versions of this album; a version released by Reach Records in 2004 and a Cross Movement Records version, released in 2005. The 2005 version of the album reached No. 29 on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart, and was on the chart for 12 weeks.
David Frederick Washington, who goes by the stage name Freddie Bruno, is an American Christian hip hop musician and member of the hip hop collective, Deepspace5. He has released two noteworthy studio albums, The Ballpoint Composer in 2002 on Uprok Records, and Hold Music on Illect Recordings, in 2007.
William Lee Barefield III, better known by his stage name Trip Lee, is an American Christian rapper and singer. Signed to Reach Records, he has recorded both as a solo artist and as a founding member of the 116 Clique. Originally from Dallas, Texas, he served as a young adult pastor at Concord Church until 2021. His third album, Between Two Worlds (2010), was nominated for two Dove Awards and won the Stellar Award for Best Hip Hop Album in 2011.
Doris is the debut studio album by American rapper Earl Sweatshirt. It was released on August 20, 2013, through Odd Future Records and Tan Cressida Records, and distributed by Columbia Records. Doris follows his first mixtape, Earl, which was released in 2010 when he was sixteen. After returning from a forced stay in a Samoan boarding school, he began working on his debut album and signed a deal with Columbia, rather than Odd Future's Odd Future Records.
Jon Kevin Freeman Jr., better known by his stage name Jon Connor, is an American rapper and record producer. Connor has released various mixtapes and an album effort during his career including the Jay-Z inspired The Blue Album, and the Eminem inspired The People's Rapper LP. His debut studio album, Unconscious State was released in 2013. Shortly thereafter, he was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment from 2013 to 2019, where he did not release an album. In 2015, he garnered notoriety for being featured on Dr. Dre's album Compton (2015) as well as The Game's album The Documentary 2.5 (2015).
Christian R&B is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music consisting of tracks with Christian-based lyrics or by musicians typically known for writing such songs. Music in this genre intends to uplift, entertain, or to give a Christian perspective on a topic. Christian R&B could be considered a subgenre of gospel music, or a cross-genre under both gospel and R&B.
Hostyle Gospel is an American Christian hip hop group from Champaign, Illinois. Its members include Demetrius Morton, Raynard Glass (Proverb), and Fontaine Pizza. Hostyle Gospel is best known for their aggressive Christian rap style. The group is also known for creating their own sound called Christian battle music, which also can be referred to as Christian war music or The Hostyle Gospel sound.
Karyn Kristyne Williams-White, is an American Christian musician. She released an extended play, Wake Up, in 2011. Her first album, Only You, was released by Inpop Records in 2012, along with a re-release of the same album in 2013.
OBB is an American pop rock band made up of the three Oswald brothers, Zach, Jacob, and Nich. They come from Atlanta, Georgia, where the band started making music in 2008. They have released four extended plays, 3 in 2011, Live, Life, Loving in 2012, OBB in 2013, and Feelin' like Christmas in 2014. The group have also released one studio album, Bright Side in 2014, and an independent album, Ready Set Go in 2009.
Brinson James Wright, who goes by the stage name Brinson, is an American rapper. He has released ten studio albums since 2008.
