8 Essential Christian Rap Albums for Kendrick Lamar fans
With the release of the “Not Like Us” music video by Kendrick Lamar and prolific Christian lyricist, Jackie Hill Perry making the controversial statement about Christian rap not having much to offer when it comes to lyricism, I thought it would be fun to list out some albums with glitzy production-value and high octant socially conscious lyricism.
*There is a playlist of Christian Rap for Kendrick Lamar fans at the end of this blog.
1. the people we became — nobigdyl.
This album has been a long time coming. The aforementioned artist has been on pause from releasing full projects for the past half-decade, instead releasing noteworthy singles ranging from deep and conceptual “Sleepin’” to fun, simplistic “Coach”. This record is the culmination of cultivated philosophies, both in the spiritual and practical realms, explaining the artist’s ethos and overall perspective. Concerning many hot-button issues, dyl. takes a stance as he tactfully paints the nuance of every topic. The production is an interesting, industrialized, and hypertextualized version of jazz rap instrumentation, blending boom-bap and trap music.
2. Red Pill + 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 Beleaf’s life 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 take on darker amterial. There are lyrically proficient high-energy workout songs like “Take No Days Off” and “Bigger Stronger” (with its 3 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, or “Youtopia”, a song that sounds like a Kidz Bop single that repeatedly gets interrupted by a ferocious Kendrick-esque-type track.
3. Crescendo — Jackie Hill Perry
Mrs. Perry is giving a lot of dense lyrical content with more modest boom-bap-based production. Crescendo showcases a genuine craftsmanship of lyricism, which is great given the controversy she recently stirred concerning her comment about the lack of lyricism in Christian Rap. If you like Kendrick’s more thoughtful, slower-paced songs, this would be a full album of the more reflective and monologue-ish side of his work.
The album’s reverential tone is interlocked with interludes of orthodox-sounding hymns interwoven into these heavily theological-based concepts.
That does not stop the fact that Jackie comes with hitting intense emotional and personal beats within the record. It has me excited for her work coming up with Reach Records.
4. My Own Worst Enemy — Tragic Hero
With a colder Drake -meets-Soulquarians soundscape, Tragic Hero delivers an EGOT-worthy listen, which reflects his autobiographical narrative. It also contains these 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 also 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.
5. We Go On — Swoope
The 2024 release is a loving exploration of grief, mourning, and death. The concept of these three ideas is explored across various compartments of life, including a person’s professional career, grief felt on a national level due to death at the hands of police, and/or the literal expression of death when it comes to loved ones. Moreover, this is one of the first times we get to hear a Christian rapper viscerally explore the concept. Swoope is crafting very articulate and sensible verses while also orchestrating instrumentals that are vibrant, beautiful, and ultimately feel like celebrations with a sobering look at mortality.
6. The Narrative — Sho Baraka
Someone said on a Reddit thread that The Narrative is the To Pimp a Butterfly for Christians.
The Narrative is a leap in history, exploring the different black sounds that have encapsulated American music while also providing nuanced perspectives on issues concerning black communities while addressing biblical worldview issues through the lens of a black perspective.
While there could be a conversation about the level of artistry and execution, it would be hard to deny the brilliance that went into making this record as enjoyable, and thought-provoking as it is.
7. Talented 10th — Sho Baraka
This is Sho Baraka’s first solo release as an independent artist. The record is not as straightforward sonically as The Narrative. Which is not a bad thing, as Baraka’s creative wings let loose after departing from Reach Records. (I wonder what a Sho/Reach album would sound like now). Talented 10th, a title in reference to W.E.D. DuBoise’s concept) often incorporates left-field instrumentals that are not even comparable to his most recent work. For that reason, along with his pro-black ideology, I think this record deserves a mention. It is also worth noting, at the time of this record’s intial release, that many, both inside and outside of the Christian space were not too keenly aware of how such perspectives could exist in correlation with Christianity.
(Y’know because the Civil Rights never happened.)
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.
Well, how about that?
That was definitely some rapping.
I give it an A-minuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus!
Get, it? Like, the song?
Anyway, here’s that playlist I promised you.
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