Dove Award-winning artist KB calls on the church community to embrace Christian hip-hop as a tool for the gospel, encouraging a generation of young people who are skeptical of the church but embrace faith-filled music that speaks to their culture. Emphasizes influence. KB won the Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year last week (Only His Glory II), his third win in that category and sixth time overall. Later, he testified and said that about 20 years ago, a friend gave him a Christian hip-hop record that saved his life.
The gospel, he said, “didn't make sense until I heard it in hip-hop terms, and God saved me.”
Acknowledging the crudeness of mainstream hip-hop and rap, KB said, “The devil knows how powerful the tool of hip-hop is, and he loves investing in hip-hop.”
“The church has been a little slow in recognizing that you have this powerful tool in your hands,” he said. “You're talking about a massive deconversion and rejection of Christianity in Gen Z. … What are they listening to? Hip-hop.”
But the church has an opportunity to seize this genre for Christ, he said. He said teens and young adults participating in revival movements across the country are listening to a lot of Christian hip-hop.
“Think about what's going on in Ohio right now. A small revival movement is breaking out,” he said. “A lot of times they're young people, and of course they listen to Maverick City a lot, but they also listen to Lecrae and Halvey and Forrest Frank. These things inspire and build their faith. .”
Christian hip-hop/music festivals such as Holy Smoke in Nashville and Glowfest in California attract unchurched teens, he said.
“They say Gen Z, people who don't want Jesus, are attending these festivals,” he said.
KB is a supporter of CHH, he said, because of the genre's influence on him.
“I went to Bible college because of Christian rap songs,” he said. “I married the love of my life at 22 because of Christian rap songs. I dedicated myself to my local church because of Christian hip hop.
“… [But] We don't have this counterculture, this so-called organization that can turn this organic movement into something corporate and people can support their families with it. [can] I have a lot of work to do as a road administrator. [to] Festival owners,” he said, noting that Christian hip-hop is rarely played on radio stations. “That's a big barrier. It doesn't make money.”
But mainstream culture recognizes the excellence of CHH, he added.
Mainstream rapper Kendrick Lamar, who has won 17 Grammy Awards, referenced Christian artists Lecrae and Dee-1 in his recent single. Lamar will perform at halftime of the 2025 Super Bowl.
“There's something happening in the mainstream right now that's bringing attention to what's happening in something that's not just music,” KB said of CHH. “This is a movement. People are coming to Christ. Marriages are being saved. People are finding themselves in this expression of the gospel.”
Watch: KB, Lecrae – Miracles (Official Music Video)
Photo courtesy: ©Dove Awards
michael faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His articles have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star, and Knoxville News Sentinel.
