We list some of the best Christian rappers you can listen to right now. Most of them love hip hop and love Jesus. The awards, plaques, chart positions, and radio plays are just a bonus. But for artists like Lecrae, Hulvey, Derek Minor and Wande, music is a way to express their newfound faith.
1. NF
NF is the stage name of rapper and composer Nate Feuerstein, whose raw emotions and honest lyrics launched him into the upper reaches of the charts with his 2017 album Perception. He found relief in listening as well as creating music and channelized his inner turmoil and anger through his songs, but, interestingly, his lyrics are without any curse words, crime or despair.
- Real name: Nathan John Feuerstein
- Born: March 30, 1991 (Gladwin, Michigan)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 13 million
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Read more:
- Rapper NF: “I was having a mental breakdown. I was questioning my life. I was questioning everything”
- The Rapper in Black”: Why NF Is Taking the Music World by Storm
2. Lecrae
Lecrae is an American Christian rapper, songwriter, and record producer who performs both as a solo artist and as the leader of a group named ‘116 Clique’. The chart-topping Houston-born Christian rapper balances faith-based rhymes with mainstream production. He has also appeared in the films Word from the Street, A Cross to Bear, Believe Me, and Billy Graham’s TV film The Cross.
- Real name: Lecrae Devaughn Moore
- Born: October 9, 1979 (Houston, Texas)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 2 million
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Read more:
- From Rehab to Redemption: The True Story of Lecrae Moore
- Lecrae on growing uncomfortable with white evangelicalism and finding ‘Restoration’
3. Grits
Nashville-based Christian rap group Grits (an acronym for “Grammatical Revolution in the Spirit”) consists of Teron “Bonafide” Carter and Stacy “Coffee” Jones, who debuted in 1995 with Mental Releases. Mainly, their style is alternative hip hop and Southern rap, while several of their songs have pop influences, thus an occasional pop-rap sound, and their song “We Don’t Play” has a Jamaican influence complete with steel drums.
- Group formation: 1995
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 1.7 million
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4. Andy Mineo
Andy Mineo is a really successful solo artist but he is also a member of a group 116 Clique. The New York City-based rapper makes progressive, electronic-influenced hip-hop with a spiritual focus. He also produced the single “Destiny” by Sheena Lee, in which he was a featured performer, and, along with rapper Derek Minor, aided DJ Official in producing “Power Trip” by Lecrae, featuring Andy Mineo, Derek Minor, and Sho Baraka, from the album Gravity. Gravity won the Best Gospel Album category in the 2013 Grammy Awards.
- Real name: Andrew Aaron Mineo
- Born: April 17, 1988 (Syracuse, New York)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 1.4 million
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5. KB
KB exploded onto the Christian hip-hop scene in 2012, topping the Billboard Christian Albums chart with his debut effort, Weight & Glory. He repeated that feat three more times with 2015’s Tomorrow We Live, 2017’s Today We Rebel, and 2020’s His Glory Alone. He is also a member of the label’s collective 116 Clique
- Real name: Kevin Elijah Burgess
- Born: July 21, 1988 (St. Petersburg, Florida)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 930,000
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Read more:
- ‘God met with me through hip-hop,’ says Christian rapper KB
- How KB is Changing the Narrative of Christian Rap
6. nobigdyl.
nobigdyl. is a Middle Tennessee-based Christian rapper who has been making waves since the release of his debut project, smoke signal., in January 2015. His sound embodies the eclectic nature of his upbringing. A storyteller at heart, his influential lyrics are part memoir, part stream of consciousness as he wrestles through the concepts of faith, ego, love, and loss.
- Real name: Dylan Phillips
- Born: 23 November 1991 (Oakland, California)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 600,000
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7. Social Club Misfits
Comprised of Marty and Fern, Social Club Misfits is the after-effect of two distinctive personalities meshing to create an invigorating sound. The self-monikered “Misfits” are disruptors in every sense, challenging norms and bringing other misfits along for the ride. From prison sentences to church expulsions, there’s nothing these two haven’t gone through or risen above. With God as the cornerstone of their story, this unstoppable duo brings their experiences to life through their own breed of faith-based hip-hop.
- Group Formation: 2012
- Origin: Miami, Florida
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 400,000
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Read more:
- Social Club Misfits celebrates a decade of music (and ‘Everyone Loves A Comeback Story’)
- Hip Hop duo Social Club Misfits reaching the outcasts and misunderstood with Gospel message
8. Hulvey
Christian rapper Hulvey went from dropping out of college, scrubbing toilets at Publix, to becoming Reach Records latest breakout hip hop artist. His label debut EP, BRKNHRT dropped in 2020 and immediately garnered him national praise. His debut studio album Christopher debuted and peaked at no.8 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart.
- Real name: Christopher Hulvey
- Born: January 13, 1999 (Georgia)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 375,000
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Read more:
- Hulvey: Rapper’s leap of faith led to record deal
- Q&A With Hulvey
- Georgia Christian rapper Hulvey: Faith plays role in everything he does
9. Tedashii
Tedashii was raised to be very family-oriented, respectful and appreciative, but embracing the latter was often difficult in light of the economic conditions his family faced. Television became an escape for him as he admits to wanting a different life, “I really wanted to get away,” Tedashii recalls. He envied the Huxtable lifestyle and eloquence and desired the urbanized southern version. The Christian rapper made his debut in 2005 as a member of the 116 Clique, a group of artists associated with the Reach Records label. In March 2013, Tedashii’s one-year-old son died. He recorded much of his spiritual struggle during that time and based his fourth studio album, Below Paradise, off of his experiences.
- Real name: Tedashii Lavoy Anderson
- Born: March 8, 1977 (Lufkin, Texas)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 300,000
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Read more:
- Tedashii: How I Went from Called-Out Chump to Christian Rapper
- Tedashii on the loss of his son and coping with that pain as a Christian
10. Pigeon John
Pigeon John is a hip hop artist from Los Angeles. He entered the hip hop game via the famous open mic nights at the Good Life Cafe during the 90s. He is one half of the hip hop groups Brainwash Projects and Rootbeer and is a former member of the hip hop crew L.A. Symphony. He’s an underground MC with a genre-fusing style and positive lyrics. Sometimes he’s labeled a Christian rapper because of his hopeful messages and references to God, but with easily relatable subject matter and musical influences drawing from across the spectrum of rock and pop music, he aims to reach as wide an audience as possible.
- Real name: John Kenneth Dunkin
- Born: November 30, 1972 (Omaha, Nebraska)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 300,000
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11. Trip Lee
Trip Lee is a founding member of 116 Clique. The Christian rapper had dreams of being a professional athlete or famous rapper, and he began to hone his lyrical skills at the age of 12. “I rapped about random stuff…how hot I was, how many girls I could pull,” Trip says. But upon giving his life to Christ, at age 14, his focus changed from fortune, fame, and women to serving and ministering the Gospel. His third album, Between Two Worlds (2010), was nominated for two Dove Awards and won the Stellar Award for Best Hip Hop Album in 2011.
- Real name: William Lee Barefield III
- Born: December 17, 1987 (Dallas, Texas)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 275,000
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Read more:
- Hip-Hop’s Trip Lee Opens Up On Faith, Fatigue, and Finding Purpose
- Following God When You’re Exhausted featuring Trip Lee
12. Derek Minor
Derek Minor co-founded the hip-hop record label Reflection Music Group (RMG) with Doc Watson and signed to Reach Records in a joint venture between the two labels in 2011. The Christian rapper and music producer is famous for his hit albums Redemption (2010) and Dying to Live (2011) and is also known for his work with the hip hop group 116 Clique.
- Real name: Derek Laurence Johnson, Jr.
- Born: December 16, 1984 (Pontiac, Michigan)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 275,000
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Read more:
- “I’m Not The Poster Boy For Christianity” Says Derek Minor
- Derek Minor seeks racial reconciliation through hip-hop
13. FLAME
Christian rapper FLAME is a Grammy nominated and Stellar Award-winning hip-hop artist. He is a well-versed leader in the Christian hip-hop scene with a growing list of accolades. The Our World: Redeemed album was nominated for a Grammy Award. His sixth album, The 6th, dropped in 2011, become Flame’s second consecutive Billboard Gospel chart-topper. Ryan Fullerton, Mike Real, KB, and others made guest appearances on his 2013 release, Royal Flush, which was nominated for a Dove Award for Rap Album of the Year.
- Real name: Marcus Tyrone Gray
- Born: September 16, 1981 (St. Louis, Missouri U.S.)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 275,000
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14. Canon
A Chicago-born, Nashville-based Christian hip-hop artist and a member of the Reflection Music Group, Canon cut his teeth as the hype man for Lecrae before striking out on his own in 2012. In 2014, Canon experienced his first taste of success by reaching the Billboard 200 charts with the release of Loose Canon, Volume 2. After a near-death accident, Canon was out for a long time, until 2016 when he released several singles and the third volume of his Loose Canon series. In 2021 he issued the triumphant single “I Made It” ahead of the arrival of the EP We Made It, which arrived later that year.
- Real name: Aaron McCain
- Born: March 1, 1989 (Chicago, Illinois)
- Spotify monthly listeners: over 220,000
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Read more:
- How the CCM and Gospel Industries Fail Christian Rappers
- Canon: Christian musician attempted to be Good Samaritan, nearly died
Honorable mentions
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