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.
Rebecca Jean Fink, known professionally as Rebecca Jean or Rebecca St. James, is an Australian American contemporary Christian singer, songwriter and actress. She began performing in Australia in the late 1980s and released her first full-length studio album in 1991. She was signed to ForeFront Records in 1993, releasing her major label debut the next year.
Katrina Laverne Kearse, known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in the late 1990s for her collaborations with Trick Daddy on the singles "Nann Nigga", "Shut Up", and "Take It to da House". In 2000, she released her debut album Da Baddest Bitch. Afterwards, she made an appearance on the remix of "One Minute Man" by Missy Elliott and Ludacris. In 2002, she released the Kanye West-produced single "B R Right" featuring Ludacris, from her sophomore album Diamond Princess (2002).
Kevin Michael McKeehan, better known by his stage name TobyMac, is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. He was first known for being a member of the Christian rap and rock trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1987 until they went on hiatus in 2000. He has since continued a successful solo career with the release of ten studio albums: Momentum (2001), Welcome to Diverse City (2004), Portable Sounds (2007), Tonight (2010), Christmas in Diverse City (2011), Eye on It (2012), This Is Not a Test (2015), The Elements (2018), Life After Death (2022), as well as five remixed albums: Re:Mix Momentum (2003), Renovating Diverse City (2005), Dubbed and Freq'd: A Remix Project (2012), Eye'm All Mixed Up (2014) and The St. Nemele Collab Sessions (2019). He became the third Christian artist to have a No. 1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with Eye on It.
Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino, better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac," a name which he later described in one of his podcasts as "horribly cheesy." "52", which is pronounced "five two", not "fifty-two", is a reference to the Biblical story of Jesus feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish, which is also sung about in his song "Push Up" from The Yearbook and in the "KJ Five Two" on It's Pronounced Five Two. He was awarded the Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year for "Never Look Away" and Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards of 2007. On July 28, 2009, KJ-52 released "End of My Rope", which is the first single for his album Five-Two Television.
Christopher Dwayne Tomlin is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, and worship leader from Grand Saline, Texas. He is signed to Universal's Capitol Christian Music Group. Some of his most well-known songs are "How Great Is Our God", "Our God", "Whom Shall I Fear " and "Holy Forever".
Faheem Rashad Najm, known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electronic-styled vocal performances. Blending its use with R&B and hip-hop sensibilities, T-Pain became a prominent figure in both genres throughout the 2000s. Other music industry artists, such as Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Future, and Travis Scott, have since utilized Auto-Tune to a similar effect.
John Reuben is an American Christian hip hop artist signed to Gotee Records until late 2010. Reuben has sold over 200,000 copies of his first four albums. He released his sixth album, Sex, Drugs and Self-Control on December 22, 2009. The album was nominated for a Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 42nd GMA Dove Awards, while the song "No Be Nah" was nominated for Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year.
Beauty from Pain is the fourth album released by the band Superchick. This is the first CD the band has released with an official drummer, Brandon Estelle. Christian rapper and hip-hop singer tobyMac appears in the song "Stories ", which is also heard on his CD Welcome to Diverse City.
Worship God is the seventh studio album by Rebecca St. James, released on 26 February 2002. It is her highest charting album to date, peaking at No. 94 on the Billboard 200. The album produced the hit singles "Song of Love" and "Breathe".
Transform is the sixth studio album by Christian pop and rock singer Rebecca St. James. It was released on 24 October 2000 and debuted at No. 166 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned two singles, "Wait for Me" and "Reborn".
Philip David Wickham is an American contemporary Christian singer, musician and songwriter from San Diego, California. He has released ten worship albums: Give You My World in 2003, a self-titled album in 2006, Cannons in 2007, Singalong in 2008, Heaven & Earth in 2009, Response in 2011, Singalong 2 in 2012, The Ascension in 2013, Singalong 3 in 2015, Children of God in 2016, Living Hope in 2018, Hymn of Heaven in 2021, and I Believe in 2023. He has also led worship at Soul Survivor. His single "This is Amazing Grace" has been certified Platinum by the RIAA and it topped the 2014 year-end Christian Airplay chart.
Group 1 Crew was an American Christian hip hop band signed to Fervent Records and Warner Bros. Records. They made their debut with the hit song "Can't Go On" on WOW Hits 2007. Soon after they released their first EP I have a dream (2006), the band released their self-titled full-length debut studio album, Group 1 Crew, in February 2007. Their song "Love is a Beautiful Thing" charted into the Top 20 in May 2007 on R&R magazine's Christian chart. The group's second studio album Ordinary Dreamers was released on September 16, 2008. Their popular radio single "Forgive Me" appeared on Season 5 Episode 2 of One Tree Hill, which premiered on January 8, 2008. In September 2010, they released the album Outta Space Love, which has proven to be their most mainstream effort, as many of the songs were used in the reality television show America's Got Talent. In 2017, it was announced that Manwell would be departing the group in order to pursue other interests.
This is the discography of American gospel artist Kirk Franklin. In total, Franklin has won 20 Grammy Awards, 13 Dove Awards and 28 Stellar Awards. Franklin is the best-selling contemporary gospel artist of the SoundScan era and one of the best-selling gospel artists of all-time, with total sales exceeding 15 million, 14.6 of which are certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Rapture Ruckus was a Christian hip hop and rock band from Wellington, New Zealand, signed to BEC Recordings. They have released four albums: Rapture Ruckus in 2002, I Believe in 2006, Rapture Ruckus Live at World's End in 2008, and Rapture Ruckus in 2010 as debut album with BEC Recordings. I Believe won an award for Best Gospel/Christian Album at the New Zealand Music Awards, Rapture Ruckus Live at World's End debuted at No. 7 on the New Zealand album charts and Rapture Ruckus (2010) was nominated for a Dove Award for Best Rap/Hip Hop Album. Headed by Brad Dring, they have been a headline act at Parachute Music Festival several times and now in the US at Jesus Jam, Creation Festival, Sonshine Festival Three Rivers Festival and Festival One.
Laura Mixon Story Elvington is an American contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter. Billboard ranked her as the 40th Top Christian Artist of the 2010s. She has won a Grammy and six GMA Dove Awards. Her second studio album, Blessings, reached No. 1 on Top Christian Albums & Americana/Folk Albums, and peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 200. It also achieved RIAA Gold status.
I Know a Ghost is the third studio album by American Contemporary Christian musician Crowder. The album was released on November 9, 2018, via Sixsteps and Sparrow Records. The album features guest appearances by TAYA, Mandisa, Riley Clemmons, JR, and Social Club Misfits. Crowder collaborated with Tommee Profitt, Ed Cash, Solomon Olds, Brendon Coe, and Hank Bentley in the production of the album.
Jenn Johnson is an American Christian worship singer, songwriter and worship pastor. She is a co-founding member of Bethel Music, and is one-half of the husband-and-wife worship duo, Brian and Jenn Johnson. She is also a senior worship pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California, and a Senior Overseer of WorshipU, an online school of worship sponsored by Bethel.
Forrest Frank is an American singer, songwriter, and producer, known as being the lead vocalist of the American pop music duo Surfaces, as well as his work as a Christian contemporary solo artist. He has released five albums, including Nostalgia Pack, California Cowboy, New Hymns, and A Merry Lofi Christmas of 2023, as well as 2024's Child of God, the latter of which charting No. 1 on Billboard's US Christian Charts and selling over 22,000 album units in the U.S. within its first week. His song 'No Longer Bound' reached #2 on the US Viral 50 chart on Spotify.
Zachariah Erickson, best known by his stage name Zauntee, is an American Christian rap/hip-hop artist from Tampa, Florida. He first began writing music at age 10, and began producing at age 14. In 2021, at the 52nd GMA Dove Awards, his album 3:34 was a nominee for Rap/Hip-hop Album of the Year. In 2024, at the 55th GMA Dove Awards, his album We Already Won received the same nomination. Also at the 55th GMA Dove Awards, his song "Hard Work God First" was nominated for Rap/Hip-hop Recorded Song of the Year. His song "God Had Other Plans" reached #1 on The Hot Chart Christian Hip Hop radio chart.
