Christian Rap for fans of GNX by Kendrick Lamar

We want bounce but make it conscious… and Christian.

Okay.

GNX was a slight deviation from what we’ve come to expect from the Compton native emcee, Kendrick Lamar. While it did showcase Kendrick Lamar’s standard exceptional lyricism, he incorporated a higher level and ratio of bounce in this record, with more upbeat tunes building off the momentum of his biggest hit, “Not Like Us.”

While this album doesn’t lack substance, it seems like Kendrick definitely wanted to profit from his ability to get the party going. Not nearly as heavy as some of his previous work, it still further cements Kendrick’s ability to compel his audience.

So, that proves it. You can give people conscious rap while also giving them the opportunity to dance. Here are some records that do a similar thing. There’s a lot of it, but I’ll give you the basics right now.

The Practice — Jackie Hill Perry

Coming out of a deep slumber, Auntie Jackie arrives with a brand new EP under Reach Records. She has always been praised as a wordsmith, but now she’s exploring it over grimier trap production, which we haven’t really heard her do on previous records. In like fashion to Kendrick’s most recent releases, she is taking the opportunity to hop on trendier trap-heavy production while not slacking on lyricism. This is a shift from her previous days at Humblebees, where things were a bit more minimal with drier soul samples. Of course, she’s not leaving the boom bap behind, as it’s clearly heard on this record, but she’s definitely getting in the mix, running with the big dogs as she is a high-tier premium feature in the Christian rap space.

Come and See — Torey D’Shaun

Torey D’Shaun came through and dazzled, impressing a lot of people with this recent release. He recently cracked 1 million listeners on Spotify, which is insane to me. But I like him for specific reasons. He has this straightforward, blunt yet very sly, slick voice. Not that he’s particularly mean-spirited, but he makes me laugh a lot. A lot of his vocal inflections or the way he’ll throw in an ad-lib on the back end of a verse where he’s already brilliantly executed a punchline makes me feel like I know him. Because I know people who do similar things in regular conversations. And he really knows how to flow on the beat.

WestSide Nights 2 — Big Breeze + I Project

I finally just got around to listening to this record maybe about a week before writing this piece. I enjoyed this album so much. I’m surprised I don’t listen to Big Breeze more. He’s so cool, he vibes so well, and he can rap. I did not listen to WestSide Nights, the first one, but after hearing this record, I might go back and give it a full listen. I also appreciate the song “Don’t Touch Me” with its Neptunes vibe. The whole album is just a nice, vibey, fun record.

the people we became — nobigdyl.

I’m just saying, stuff like this makes me think if people are so down for Kendrick, why can’t they be down for Christian rap? In a lot of ways, it’s the same exact thing. I felt the same way when it came to Lupe Fiasco or J. Cole, or several other artists. But, I digress. This album, The People We Became, has been one of the seminal projects of 2024 for the Christian rap space. All around, it’s just a really solid, well-executed rap record. It should be an engaging listen for anybody who likes more thoughtful, conscious rap. This song is an incredibly effective example of that.

It is kind of crazy that music like this even exists, right? That’s kind of how rap started: you made music that got the crowd moving and you also spit knowledge. Then those two things kind of became exclusive, and it was weird to have them be paralleled. Now it’s just normal. You can have music that moves and you can also say something relevant.

It is kind of sad that it takes someone like Kendrick to make that type of thing okay, but no shade to anybody.

Anyway, here’s a playlist of Christian rap for fans of Kendrick Lamar.

Happy Thnxgiving!