Compare And Contrast Essay On Christian Rap

Christian Rap vs. Mainstream Rap

I can't believe the radio is playing some of the music they play and claim its radio friendly. Its not when all you hear is sex, killing, drugs, and so forth. Some may not like rap music, but even people who do claim that rap nowadays is not radio friendly. Christian Rap on the other hand brings forth a new and fresh sound to Rap music while putting Jesus in the center. Most songs encourage young people to do better and make a change to Life and not death. People think that Christian rap are all about spreading the word of god and to convert your to Christianity. If you the Listener actually listened to the lyrics you would change your mind. Christian rap does spread the word of god but it also express how to be yourself. Most songs encourage young people to do better and make a change to their Life and others. Lyrics such as in the song “Make War” Tedashii raps, "I'm filled with the Spirit so tell them dog this is pay back/ as you begin to copy the carbon copies of Christ/ and conform to His written image you should be shinning a light/ if you not, why is that?" He summarizes Romans 8:29 which delves into a Christian believer adopting all the traits of Jesus Christ. Lyrics of
Christian rap songs are filled with good incentives and positive lyrics. In the song “Jesus Musik” Lecrae says “everywhere I go people caught up in theyself money cars and clothes. They talk about it all the time and put it in they songs. They drive around and play it loud like it ain't nothin wrong . And all they talk about is sinful stuff, got everybody actin bad thinkin that they a thug”. By this he is expressing how corrupt mainstream rap is, Mainstream rap teaches their listeners how to acts and what to wear. Flame says in “Joyful Noise”, “The light is where I'm running I thought I wanted life, drunk, sexed out and blunted But all I really wanted was the One who really won itFought death, beat it gave His life to the public”. Flame used to be surrounded by mainstream influences but he found god and now knows who he should follow. People must overcome the iron claw that mainstream rap has on them. Lecrae lets the world know in his song “Souled out”. He says we must not be ashamed of ourselves and to be yourself. “Man I consider my life nuthin'. if I could just finish the race. and complete the job the. lord jesus gave me. I live to tell the world his message. Romans 1:16 "I'm not Ashamed". I Ain't Ashamed.”. Sometimes faith may be evident in part of a song or other times an entire song or album may focus on Christian beliefs. Mainstream Rap’s lyrics are much different then Christian Rap. While Christian Rap talks about god and being yourself, Mainstream Rap express their music trough talking about drugs, sex, and violence. These lyrics are broadcasted all over the world showing their listeners that doing those bad things are the right thing to do. Most listeners to mainstream usualy don’t take the time to understand what they are listening to. They block out all he profanity and enjoy the beat of the music. When you take the time to understand what the songs actually mean you may be discouraged to listen to the song again. Lyrics from Lil Wayne in the song “lollypop” “She say he so sweet make her wanna lick the rapper So i letta lick the rapperSh-sh-sh-she licked me like a lollypop”. When we look at specific words such as licked and lollypop it suddenly pops out what they are trying to get across. This is not alright for the radio but it sounds good so it ends up getting played.
When he says “Shawty wanna thug. bottles in the club. shawty wanna hump and ooo i like to touch ya lovely lady lumps.” there are so many ad messages getting embedded in your head. Mainstream is filled with explicit language and images. The song Shots by LMFAO encourages drink “If you not drunk ladies and gentlemen Get ready to get **** up Lets do it ha, ha” and ”If you ain't getting drunk get the **** out the club. If you ain't taking shots get the **** out the club. If you ain't come to party get the **** out the club. Now where my alcoholics let me see yo hands up”. Most listeners are in the age of 13 to 24. This is telling children that it is okay to drink. Under age drinking is extremely dangerous
. A widespread theme throughout most mainstream rap is a desire for wealth; this wish is part of the American dream, and thus reflects the desires of popular American culture. The constant bombardment of American youths with stereotypes has likely had a negative effect on them. It is common among youths to try and replicate the messages seen in rap videos; this is not surprising. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy are dictated by what we "hear" the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual. Due to the fact that mainstream rap appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. The new generation of rappers is taking the lyrics of rap music more literally. Without the youth being able to distinguish fantasy from reality rap music has turned the youth more violent, disrespectful and it is teaching them to stand on the block and hustle or even kill someone over a minor disagreement. Rap music has control of the 12-19 year old crowd more than the parents in the household. It is popular because it speaks to a generation that can/wants to identify with what the artist is saying. The youth are taking someone else's experiences and making it their own just for the sake of being cool or being accepted by others. Some people say the Christian rap industry is a business. These people sell records to “save souls.” So if we look at, it would seem as if Christian rappers are getting commission for every soul saved. Most Christian rappers aren’t in this business for the money they just get paid for what they do just like any other job. A pastor gets paid to preach every Sunday why would it be any different for a Christian rapper selling CD’s. Christian rappers have a positive effect on their listeners. The lyrics promote well being and the word of god. Youth that listen to Christian rap are better off then ones that listen to mainstream rap. Instead of being bombarded by bad incentives they are taught how to be a true follower of Christ and no fall to a lower level. These two styles of rap are similar but opposites at the same time. They tempo and beats of the songs are very similar. They have the same basis of how they sound, the thing that makes these to styles different is the lyrics they use in their songs. Mainstream uses profanity while Christian rap uses the words of god. Even though mainstream is more popular, but this is because theirs songs are heavily over played on the radio embedding everything they say into the youths heads and morals. Mainstream should be endorsing lyrics that makes the youth of our nation more well off then filling them with bad images and words.