A few months ago, I received an email from an Under The Radar listener that said, “[One] genre of Christian music that is COMPLETELY under the radar is Holy Hip Hop, or as I prefer, Lyrical Theology… I understand that this genre might not fit within the show, but take it from me, it's worth checking out. Now I'm a total Andrew Peterson, Andy Osenga, low-key, acoustic, indie kind of guy, but the messages in these songs are awesome.”  After floating the idea (and getting a positive response) on Facebook, we decided to produce a podcast-only all hip hop episode of UTR.  To help give us an inside scoop on this budding genre, I interviewed Chicago-based gospel rapper Katalyst.  Here’s some of our conversation.


DT:  What is your overall impression on the gospel hip-hop scene of late?
Katalyst:  Christian hip-hop, holy hip-hop, gospel rap – overall as  a genre – thing that is working is the Gospel going forward. Most of the artists, especially the top artists involved with this, are really big in presenting and articulating ideas of the Bible, truths of the text throughout Christian history and of course the Bible to a people group that might not ever listen to Chris Tomlin or Jeremy Camp or Casting Crowns.  They would be open to intellectual thinking about Jesus in a different light if it was presented to them in their cultural context. So that’s really our goal – to have culturally relevant music – for our culture, that’s hip-hop.

DT:  Over the years you’ve been rapping, how have you developed as an artist?
Katalyst:  My first album was called "Death by Design" - I did it all by myself.  This time around we started a record label called Legacy Music, just learning about the business side of music. Now, I'm working on my second album. The first album, I was just writing; I would get a beat and I would say "Oh, that music sounds good" and I would write something to it. Now I have a very clear, focused vision of what I want this album to be like, to sound like, what the storyline is, and where I want it to take you sonically. I'm becoming more of an actual artist, not just someone who can rap or make a decent song. I would read about different classical musicians. When they wrote songs, they weren't just writing stuff that sounded good, but if they wanted you to feel sad, they knew this type of song would make people feel sad. Different poets would try to convey what was on their heart… I think I'm growing in that sense. I'm taking writing classes online, just studying about different writers and finding out how I capture what I'm trying to say in a very creative, artistic way that allows the listener or the viewer to get what I meant, to understand what I was saying, to feel what I was feeling in that moment. It's a challenge but it's something I think is necessary for growth as someone whose living is expressing myself to other people.

DT:  Can you mention a few names who are leaders in gospel hip-hop scene?
Katalyst:  Lecrae, that’s my boy; he's my mentor. He's one of the best in any genre poetically. He’s so versatile. He can rap fast, he can rap slow. His messages are clear in their point and he has a way of knowing whats out culturally now.  Sho Baraka is a genius. Creatively, I don't know if there's anybody else who is as creative as Sho.  Trip Lee and Tedashii, they’re both on Reach Records with Lacrae and Sho Baraka.  In Chicago, there’s a guy named Decipher who has a twisting sound.  On the west coast, there’s guys like Propoganda and Odd Thomas.  All different types of rap, but all equally talent.

On Tuesday, May 25, Under The Radar drops our special hip-hop bonus episode with special guest Katalyst.  If you’re brave enough to listen, make sure to let me know your thoughts!