11 Christian Rap Albums for fans of Good Kid Maad City
Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore, release, Good Kid m.A.A.D. City wowed listeners with its autobiographical tale of a young protagonist in the city of Compton, a land ripe with society's temptations. At the same time, however, he brilliantly celebrates the culture and puts on for Compton painting it with all of the totems that make for a compelling coming-of-age story. This album was like no other for its time with its full-circle narrative thus provoking many artists to tell their stories.
With slight caveats, here are some great storyteller Christian rap albums for Good Kid Maad City fans.
1. Red Pills + Black Sugar — Beleaf
Remember when Good Kid Maad City came out and everybody was like “Yo, GKMC is like a movie”?
Red Pills and Black Sugar, in a similar fashion, details a semi-autobiographical narrative of a young man growing up and seeing the adversities of domestic violence, addiction, depression, and police brutality. This album, particularly for its time, was a game-changer. While it carries a very uplifting message, it does tackle darker material more viscerally than some of his Christian rap peers at the time. There are lyrically proficient high-energy workout songs like “Take No Days Off” and “Bigger Stronger” (with its three-beat switches before it was cool). Then the album features innovatively dark songs like “Depressed,” an epic posse track strictly dedicated to the topic of depression and addiction, or a song like “Youtopia,” a song that sounds like a Kidz Bop single that repeatedly gets interrupted by a ferocious Kendrick-esque trap-flavored joint.
The heart of this album is most present in the song “Black Sugar.”
2. Good Religion — Dream Junkies
Being a conglomerate of the collective powers of Ruslan, Beleaf, and John Givez, the Good Religion album is an ethereal mix of West Coast rap with introspective, complex lyricism and flows. Each artist brings their own collective flavor to the joint. Ruslan offers a perpetual blend between culture and kingdom, Beleaf provides a wise Big Brother perspective with a chip on his shoulder, and John Givez balances the record with his youthful abandon. While it is not an overt storyteller album this is the Avengers intersection with all three of these artists having released narrative-type albums in the past.
{It makes me wonder what would have happened if this band had actually signed with Atlantic Records and became the Christian TDE, as it was pitched to them in one of their meetings.}
3. Gold Rush Maybe One Day — Dre Murray
I have been reserving talking about Dre Murray for when I make a list of music for fans of Pusha T or Westside Gunn, but there is a unique story component to this album that is worth mentioning when it comes to Dre. He has had a phenomenal output, and I think this album tonally showcases the world in which the music was made. This album is apexed by the song Pharaohs. It symbolically critiques the ethos of Egyptian pharaohs and then brings it to Modern Times by portraying a certain type of figure full of excess and lusting for status. This record is also littered with other musical excursions that explore alcoholism, drug dealing, and the lifestyle of the Video Vixen.
essentially, GRMOD serves as the anti-rap album.
{This is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever made in Christian Rap.}
4. Second Born — J. Monty
Monty brings a raw and authentic voice to the table with Second Born. The album’s storytelling and lyricism are reminiscent of Kendrick’s ability to weave personal tales with broader societal themes. Monty’s flow and delivery make this a compelling listen for any fan of GKMC.
5. Problematic — Kham
Has Kham been on Bodega, yet? Ok… I’m just saying…
This young man weaves in and out of that weird mid-tier space. I want to clarify that a mid-tier artist is not the same as a mid-quality artist because he’s not that. However, I don’t see a lot of buzz about him quite yet, even though he is an incredibly gifted artist. I think Kham crafts his songs very well, but I haven’t seen him break through.
That said, this album is an exceptional piece for a list like this. It would be a crime not to include it. I hope that by including him on this list, more eyes will be drawn to him.
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Revelation 12.11 {ESV}
6. Do for One — Ruslan
Ain’t this crazy? I should make a list of Christian influencers who are legends in Christian rap. Interestingly enough, what set his trajectory on YouTube all started from an article that listed him as one of the new OG’s of Christian rap. Ruslan, a contemporary Christian YouTuber with his semi-hot takes, made a Good Kid Maad City-type album. this comes with a different approach. The narrative is told throughout spoken word narratives that detail the story of a young person who is full of hurt and Trauma and tries to mask that pain with ambition that is ultimately fueled by his own bitterness. This album does make some pit stops to make some other statements about the state of culture at that time. Granted, this album is now like 10 years old, and it is very West Coast but not in the expected way.
7. Sinema — Swoope
This is the second official release from the artist under Collision Records. The album is a narrative about a mysterious woman, Mya Desiree, who keeps leaving disturbing messages on his answering machine. More explicitly, the record details Swoope’s internal feelings of regret, insecurity, and a desire to do things right. It is an interesting concept record that takes the themes of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and inverts them.
8. In The Way of Me — Taelor Gray
While you may know how to get high-energy jazz runs of lyricism the way you may get it with a typical Kendrick album, In the Way of Me speaks to the sensibilities of a Kendrick fan. This is also him traversing into more mainstream sounds in an unironic fashion. Though he does continue his lampooning of the commercial industry music products with songs like “Radio,” he gets very intuitive about his personal story and where he lands with some of his philosophies now. Gray has many more highbrow albums but I do think this sits as a nice centerpiece between a Kendrick album or a J. Cole-type album.
9. My Own Worst Enemy — Tragic Hero
With a colder Drake-meets-Soulquarians soundscape, Tragic Hero delivers an EGOT-worthy listen, reflecting his autobiographical narrative. It also contains left-field bursts of genre-bending tracks like the 808s & Heartbreak-Coldplay fusion “Winter” or the bombastic “1984,” with its 1980s horror instrumentation. The album showcases the artist’s lyrical prowess with tight, complex flows and clever, outside-the-box metaphors and double entendres. This album is a buffet for backpackers ready to go on an adventure comparable to Tetsuo’s journey.
Yep… You heard me, this album is the AKIRA of Christian rap.
10. Invincible Summer — She-Uno
Oh snap, we’ve got another California native in the house!
Shout out to She-Uno. His album Invincible Summer came out in 2017. I wonder why I never heard of it until this past year.
Surprisingly, this guy has not popped off yet. He has all the hallmarks of an artist who could make a compelling contribution, even down to having notable features from Dre Murray, Beleaf, and Dave James. This is a guy who made all the right moves, but for whatever reason, it didn’t manifest in a larger outcome. At least not yet. Regardless, this album is perfect for anyone into TDE, PG Lang, or anything Kendrick is doing.
This flip of “Good Day” is killer.
11. SOLAR — nobigdyl.
I’m going to leave this album here even though it’s not exactly a slice-of-life type album like some of the previous entries on this list are, it has some of those key hallmarks that make for an engaging listen. nobigdyl. continues to demonstrate that he has lyrics that are up to par with some of the best. This album was his first and only release under Capitol Music’s Christian sub-division. It does lean a little bit into the pop-rap sphere but not in an overbearing way. It reminds me of Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool or even B.o.B’s The Adventures of Bobby Ray, though not nearly as flamboyant as the latter-mentioned record.
