There was a store in Little Rock called Mardel. It was this Christian merchandise warehouse, and had a HUGE music collection.
You were able to go into the music department and listen to any cd they had in stock, so when my mom would go shopping, I'd go hang out and listen to all the rap I could find. Never really been a fan of any contemporary music, and the furthest I reached into Christian music was Kirk Franklin.
Anyway, I spent a lot of time there, getting to know the best Christian rap. One afternoon, I ran across an album from a rapper whose name escapes me now, but what attracted me to the album was the Ca$h Money-looking cover. It was on some "Juvenile-400 Degreez" shit.
I popped this disc in, and within the first ten words on track one, the guy had already confessed to murdering "a nigga". I was totally in love with this new Christian rap artist's lyricism, and his approach to hot topics such as rape, murder, gang violence, and alcoholism.
Apparently, he had since renounced his Christian label and was selling to a new, more negativity-friendly market. Turns out, his record label never got the notice, and stocked shelves at Christian book stores all over the nation with the album.
You were able to go into the music department and listen to any cd they had in stock, so when my mom would go shopping, I'd go hang out and listen to all the rap I could find. Never really been a fan of any contemporary music, and the furthest I reached into Christian music was Kirk Franklin.
Anyway, I spent a lot of time there, getting to know the best Christian rap. One afternoon, I ran across an album from a rapper whose name escapes me now, but what attracted me to the album was the Ca$h Money-looking cover. It was on some "Juvenile-400 Degreez" shit.
I popped this disc in, and within the first ten words on track one, the guy had already confessed to murdering "a nigga". I was totally in love with this new Christian rap artist's lyricism, and his approach to hot topics such as rape, murder, gang violence, and alcoholism.
Apparently, he had since renounced his Christian label and was selling to a new, more negativity-friendly market. Turns out, his record label never got the notice, and stocked shelves at Christian book stores all over the nation with the album.