Reaching the Hip Hop Generation

By Lillian Kwon, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Hip hop is not just music, but a culture, The Cross Movement's William "The Ambassador" Branch, underscores.

Christians in Plainview, Texas, are scheduled to host a hip hop festival on Sunday with Clean Addiction, a group known for its hip-hop sound and Christian rap stylings. The plan is to draw and entertain local youth in a community outreach effort. Meanwhile, Christian hip-hop group Dem Unknown WarriorZ are performing down church aisles in Atlanta presenting the gospel in a context that youths can relate to.

As the performing artists have indicated, hip hop is usually associated with the youth culture, moreso than mature audiences. And some believe it's just a fad.

But what is hip hop?

Coming out of the Christian subgenre of hip hop culture, Branch defines hip hop as a culture, a life and a whole generation.

Specifically, the "hip hop generation," Branch described, is a specific contingent of people who post-date the civil rights era.

The use of the phrase "hip hop generation" was "our attempt to bring critical focus to the issues that defined our time and that went beyond simply rap music," Branch had told a crowd of students at the recent Urbana missions conference.

As a fad, hip hop, some say, is dying. Hip-hop releases have failed to chart on Billboard's Top Ten Albums this past year, Branch noted.

In the Christian context, many traditional churches and older generations reject the hip-hop culture in the church.

But Branch calls for respect, especially from older audiences.

"Respect for culture includes accepting it as equally valid as one's own and an adequate potential vehicle for Christianity," he said. "It does not imply the total absence of introduced religious change, but it includes considering the people of a different culture to be peers, respecting their opinions."

Hip hop is a major vehicle for Christian outreach with more churches like Stonebridge Fellowship in Plainview, Texas, picking up the hip hop culture to draw young crowds. But reaching out requires more than knowing how to rap.

With youth largely associating hip hop with such activities as smoking blunts, drinking, wearing a designer label plastered across their chest, or going to strip clubs, Branch called Christian hip hoppers to present Christ in their art.

"Hip hop ... needs people who know the Scriptures, not just people who can rap," said Branch.

"Reaching them is when you unpack the beefiness of this book (the Bible)," he stressed with a Bible raised in his hand.

Many people, however, think the culture is only good for the youth, Branch indicated.

Being in his 30s, Branch pointed out that there are hip hoppers past their teen and young adult years who want to connect with mature audiences.

"These are not just kids ... many hip hoppers are over 30 years old," he said. "Imagine what happens when maturity strikes missions for Jesus Christ."

Whatever the age group, Branch reminds hip hoppers to avoid the bling and to "prioritize God's preferences over what's popular."