What Would Jesus Rap?
DC Examiner (Front Page Article)
As he watched Los Angeles-based artist Tonex performing slick dance moves on stage several years ago, Thurman "T.C." Custis says he felt God call him to a special ministry.
"I felt he was saying to me: 'I want you to do this,' " said Custis, 28. "But I can't dance or sing, so the only thing he could be talking about was rapping."
Now Custis is known by his stage name, "ASON" - as in "a son of God" - and tours full time in the D.C. area and across the country. He is part of a growing nationwide Christian hip-hop industry that seeks to capture the soul of young urbanites.
Last Friday night, after playing at a Christian coffeehouse in Hyattsville, ASON (pronounced ah-SON) arrived for a similar event at Jammin' Java in Vienna. Dressed in a black-and-silver tracksuit, Ason seemed immediately at home in front of the crowd of 20- and 30-somethings.
After asking the audience to sing along with the chorus or "hook," Ason launched into "Nod Ur Chin," a song that describes the joy - and complexity - of life after being "saved" by faith in Jesus Christ.
"Nobody told me 'bout the joy when I let Him come in/I found out life still goes on/That I still do wrong/Haters still hate and the bills ain't gone," he rapped.
Declining relevance
In ASON's view, Christian churches are becoming less relevant to young people.
"Even churchgoing youth - God is not in their heart," said ASON, 28, who lives in Greenbelt with his wife and their two children. "When they leave services on Sunday, they get in their cars and listen to 50 Cent and Eminem" and other mainstream rap artists whose lyrics are explicit and, some say, "un-Christian."
ASON argues that Jesus was a plainspoken man who used agricultural metaphors that common people of the day understood.
"Today preachers still use those agricultural metaphors. But that's not the society we live in today," said ASON. "Today, we live in a society dominated by hip-hop."
ASON's mission is to give young Christians an alternative to mainstream rap, whose lyrics he says deal primarily with "drug dealing, womanizing, murdering and clubbing."
Kevin Parker, co-founder of Christianhangsuite.com, an online magazine for the D.C. area, said that ASON is just one of many local Christian artists who are helping to fill the "long gap between Sundays" for many young believers.
"A lot of people think that fun stops after you start going to church," said Parker, whose Web site targets "edgy, urban" Christians ages 18 to 35.
The site's "First Sunday" music and mingling events - held monthly at H2O, the Southwest lounge and restaurant - draw more than 250 people, said Parker. And interest in Christian hip-hop has taken off in the past three years, he said.
"Everyone loves hip-hop. And with Christian hip-hop, you get a good beat, a good bass line and a good message," said Parker.
William Romanowski, a professor of communications who has studied the Christian music industry, said Christians have long been striving to put a faith-filled spin on pop culture trends.
"There was a time when everyone was looking for a Christian Lionel Richie," said Romanowski, who teaches at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The recent popularity of mainstream rapper Kanye West's song "Jesus Walks," however, has given hip-hop artists permission to talk about Christian faith, said Flynn Atkins, an artist with Christian hip-hop group LA Symphony.
ASON said his own artistic philosophy is still evolving. While "The Recruiter" is an explicitly Christian album, the rapper says he is working on a more mainstream album so he can reach a wider audience.
"Kids today want to dance. They don't want to hear you just preaching over beats," said Ason. "You have to be more sophisticated in your presentation of the Gospel."
By Andrea Useem
faith@dcexaminer.com
