RAP
Rhythm And Poetry is what makes up the word "rap".
I think when it comes to music, I went through many phases during my lifetime; different types of genres with different kinds of sound and all depending on what my mood was or how catchy it was to me (whether it be the melody, beat, etc). To be honest, there are still times where I have those phases, but as I'm aging and engaging more in my Christian faith, I'm seeing that I prefer certain songs and artists over others. When I was younger, the first thing that my ears would catch would be the melody. I would be amazed by how a simple melody could be stuck in your head for weeks! Then I would be dumbfounded with the thought of, "how was this artist able to think of this kind of melody?" Then there was a point where I realized some songs, even though they're very catchy, some of the stuff they sing or rap about is ridiculous. There wasn't much meaning or depth behind it. I could go on and on about all kinds of music, but that's just too much to talk about.
When I reflect on my walk with Christian songs, there have been some changes in this area as well. My personal preference of worship songs lately (and have been for awhile) are hymns. It's funny because some people react to hymnals as "they're old, traditional songs that's been outdated; songs that our grandparents used to sing". It's also funny to me when I bring up praise songs from the 90's or songs that I've grown up singing are considered old now, too. But anyway, I find much joy and assurance when I sing hymnals. Yes, they are old. Yes, they have been sung by our grandparents, and even by our great grandparents for some. But that's exactly what makes it amazing to me! There's a reason why these songs have lasted this long in history! And I think it's because there's depth and objective content in them! There's depth in these songs because it's reflective of God's word and real and only truth; humanity's depravity in sin, life and hope in Christ, God's glory, etc!
Though hymnals are my top preference, I still listen to other types of Christian songs. One of the things that I've been listening to is Christian hiphop. It's crazy that there's now such a thing as Christian hip hop! If it was 10 years ago, this type of music would have been absurd because hip hop culture aluded to certain lifestyle and behaviors (not necessarily Christian lifestyle). So it's really interesting that this type of music exists now. And when I was more ignorant of this genre, I was one of the people who thought hip hop and Christian faith is going to look very corny. Maybe because I've heard rappers being talented in how they carry out certain flow, but when it comes to some of the words they express, I've always thought "I could probably express much better than that!" (FYI: for those who might not know, I'm not great in expressing my thoughts into words, but that's what I thought when I heard some these rappers). And so for me, I mixed that kind of assumption with the assumption that Christians rappers will only rap about things that are subjective rather than objective truth (kind of reflects how I see and came to my preference for hymns).
...I cringe just writing out how ignorant my thought process was....
But you know what, the more I heard these raps of Christian faith, I came to realize I was very wrong in my assumptions. Furthermore, I'm very appreciative of these Christian rappers because every word that they spit out, they're intentionally preaching the gospel truth of Christ and not just about their life experiences in spirituality. And also knowing some poetry, every line and word plays a part; because there's a limit of frame they are in, the artist have to make each frame intentionally purposeful with a very clear message/point that they're trying to get across. There's really no space for "fluffy" words. So as for Christian rappers (or least the ones I listen to), you hear every frame being lifted up to God and recognizing Christ in them! I appreciate that I can hear them wanting to talk about the gospel of Christ in every rhyme.
I think when it comes to music, I went through many phases during my lifetime; different types of genres with different kinds of sound and all depending on what my mood was or how catchy it was to me (whether it be the melody, beat, etc). To be honest, there are still times where I have those phases, but as I'm aging and engaging more in my Christian faith, I'm seeing that I prefer certain songs and artists over others. When I was younger, the first thing that my ears would catch would be the melody. I would be amazed by how a simple melody could be stuck in your head for weeks! Then I would be dumbfounded with the thought of, "how was this artist able to think of this kind of melody?" Then there was a point where I realized some songs, even though they're very catchy, some of the stuff they sing or rap about is ridiculous. There wasn't much meaning or depth behind it. I could go on and on about all kinds of music, but that's just too much to talk about.
When I reflect on my walk with Christian songs, there have been some changes in this area as well. My personal preference of worship songs lately (and have been for awhile) are hymns. It's funny because some people react to hymnals as "they're old, traditional songs that's been outdated; songs that our grandparents used to sing". It's also funny to me when I bring up praise songs from the 90's or songs that I've grown up singing are considered old now, too. But anyway, I find much joy and assurance when I sing hymnals. Yes, they are old. Yes, they have been sung by our grandparents, and even by our great grandparents for some. But that's exactly what makes it amazing to me! There's a reason why these songs have lasted this long in history! And I think it's because there's depth and objective content in them! There's depth in these songs because it's reflective of God's word and real and only truth; humanity's depravity in sin, life and hope in Christ, God's glory, etc!
Though hymnals are my top preference, I still listen to other types of Christian songs. One of the things that I've been listening to is Christian hiphop. It's crazy that there's now such a thing as Christian hip hop! If it was 10 years ago, this type of music would have been absurd because hip hop culture aluded to certain lifestyle and behaviors (not necessarily Christian lifestyle). So it's really interesting that this type of music exists now. And when I was more ignorant of this genre, I was one of the people who thought hip hop and Christian faith is going to look very corny. Maybe because I've heard rappers being talented in how they carry out certain flow, but when it comes to some of the words they express, I've always thought "I could probably express much better than that!" (FYI: for those who might not know, I'm not great in expressing my thoughts into words, but that's what I thought when I heard some these rappers). And so for me, I mixed that kind of assumption with the assumption that Christians rappers will only rap about things that are subjective rather than objective truth (kind of reflects how I see and came to my preference for hymns).
...I cringe just writing out how ignorant my thought process was....
But you know what, the more I heard these raps of Christian faith, I came to realize I was very wrong in my assumptions. Furthermore, I'm very appreciative of these Christian rappers because every word that they spit out, they're intentionally preaching the gospel truth of Christ and not just about their life experiences in spirituality. And also knowing some poetry, every line and word plays a part; because there's a limit of frame they are in, the artist have to make each frame intentionally purposeful with a very clear message/point that they're trying to get across. There's really no space for "fluffy" words. So as for Christian rappers (or least the ones I listen to), you hear every frame being lifted up to God and recognizing Christ in them! I appreciate that I can hear them wanting to talk about the gospel of Christ in every rhyme.
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