Top 7 Christian Rap-Rock Bands Ever

Rock and hip-hop have been collaborating for years, and that is no different from Christian music. The late 90s and early 2000s were dominated by bands in the genre of Nu-Metal/Rap-Rock/Metalcore. Christian music fans proved that they wanted some of that action as well. Some were good, some were bad, and some are still around but with a more refined sound. On this list, we endeavor to highlight a few of them.

Note: We are not including DC Talk on this list. Although Jesus Freak was a heavy record by CCM standards, it is not heavy in comparison to these bands.

P.O.D.

P.O.D. (Payable on Death), have been a mainstay in not only the Christian music world but also the mainstream music world since 1994’s, Snuff the Punk.

Their unique blend of hip-hop, reggae, punk, and metal, along with their no-bones-about-it Jesus message, is a testament to their creativity all the while keeping their signature West Coast love 100%.

Vocalist Sonny Sandoval knows how to bring the heat on the microphone, and has been featured on a few rap tracks over the years. They have also had guest spots from members of Cyprus Hill and legends Eek-a-Mouse and HR.

P.O.D.’s last record, The Awakening, was released in 2015 and continued on a strong string of releases for the band.

Notable Tracks: ”Alive,” “Youth of a Nation,” “Goodbye For Now,” and “Boom.”

PILLAR

Rock band Pillar is not necessarily known for their rap these days. But back in the late 90s/early 2000s, the band broke in during the time of nu-metal saturation. In other words, they debuted at a time when every rock band had a rapper, except, Pillar’s Rob Beckley was pretty good!

Their early demos and first two Christian label releases, Above and Fireproof, helped propel the band into rock relevance in both Christian and mainstream markets. The latter featured a guest spot by KJ-52 on the song “Stay Up.”

2004’s Where Do We Go From Here, eliminated all traces of rap and they haven’t looked back since. Beckley “never really liked the rap stuff personally…” he said in an interview with BREATHEcast. He appreciates the “art” behind it and the love fans still give him when songs are played live.

Pillar just released their long awaited One Love Revolution album in late 2015 after a six-year break from a release.

Notable Tracks (Rap Era): “Fireproof,” “Echelon,” “Stay Up,” “All Day Everyday,” and “Above.”

THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH

Thousand Foot Krutch, much like Pillar, is no longer a rap/rock band. However, when they broke in during that rap/rock period of music in the late 90s, frontman Trevor McNevan was able to hold his own on the mic.

Their first record, Set It Off, helped them burst onto the scene with vicious verses and heavy music reminiscent of what was happening on the radio.

Set It Off got them signed to Tooth & Nail Records, where TFK continued to churn out hit after hit. Their follow-up album, Phenomenon, saw much less of their rap/rock roots, and eventually those roots went away completely.

Moving ahead to 2014, and McNevan dusted off the emcee hat to do a bit of rapping on 2014’s “Untraveled Road” on the album OXYGEN:INHALE.

McNevan however, has never really stopped rapping. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow rap/rock artist Manafest and has been featured doing verses on a couple of rap records throughout the years, including a few with KJ-52.

Notable Tracks (Rap Era): “Puppet,” “Rhime Animal,” “Supafly,” and “Rawkfist.”

PAX217

Pax 217 was similar to P.O.D. except, they were a little more hip-hop and reggae oriented. They stayed away from some of the metal and screaming stuff and put out a few solid hits in the early 2000s.

Their sophomore effort, Engage, went even more of the hip-hop route and seemed to make the band a surefire hit.

However, in the mid-2000s, they disbanded after releasing the Check Your Pulse EP.

Pax did two reunion shows in California in 2013. The concerts were a one time deal, with no new music in the works.

Notable Tracks: “Prism,” “A.M.,” “Sandbox Praise,” and “Voices.”

38TH PARALLEL

Heralded as the “Christian answer” to Linkin Park, 38th Parallel made their mark in 2002 with Turn the Tides.

The band featured two vocalists – a singer and a rapper, who went back and forth spreading that Nu Metal goodness. Their two singles were, “Horizon” and “Turn the Tides.”

38th Parallel only put out one more demo/EP before officially disbanding in 2006. They had the potential to be as successful as some of the other acts on this list.

Notable Tracks: “Horizon” and “Turn the Tides.”

EDL (Every Day Life)

EDL was Christian music’s Rage Against the Machine, although it was never intentional. The rapcore band from California were extremely edgy for their time and expressed the anger of real issues in their music: suicide, depression, drug abuse, etc.

Many people deemed the band’s music controversial, and they were even pulled from the shelves of Christian bookstores. Nevertheless, EDL stuck their message and continued to be true to themselves and their listeners with raw emotion and impact.

The band formed in 1992 and released their first album, Disgruntled in 1996. After a moderately successful run over the next few years, 2000’s, Moment of Clarity, poised them to really take off as a top-tier Christian band. They were then signed to a Universal label imprint but unfortunately, the deal fell apart.

EDL only released one more album in 2001 and never was able to pick up the steam as their brothers in P.O.D.

Notable Tracks: “Let it Ride,” “Salt Circles,” and “Bystander.”

FAMILY FORCE 5

FF5 is a crazy hard to explain band that have been around in some incarnation since the early 90s. The band we all know today, started in the mid-2000s and released their first record, Business Up Front/Party in the Back, on TobyMac’s Gotee Records in 2006.

They mix rock, dance, pop, rap, and crunk together to form an assault on the ears. While listening to FF5 you never know if you are going to be participating in a dance party or raucous rap/rock mosh.

Family Force 5 have been able to grow more and more popular with every release and evolve their sound along the way.

The band also has a number of collaborations with other artists in Christian hip-hop. These songs include “Cray Button” with Lecrae, “Chainsaw” with Tedashii, and “BZRK” with KB. Former vocalist, Soul Glow Activatur, has also been called upon to remix a bunch of artists as well.

With the release of 2014’s Time Stands Still, there seems to be no stopping these guys.

Notable Tracks (rap): “Chainsaw,” “Cray Button,” “BZRK,” and “Paycheck.”

PEACE OF MIND

KJ-52 is one of the most project-consistent artists in Christian hip-hop. From 2002-2005, he put out five records. One of those was for a Nu-Metal rock group called Peace of Mind.

Peace of Mind consisted of KJ on vocals, longtime friend and Gotee Brother, Todd Collins, popular producer Pete Stewart, and drummer Rick May.

There isn’t much info on the band except that KJ would do the songs in hip-hop form, and then Stewart would edit them to rock tracks.

Although well received by fans of KJ’s music, the album did not gain much traction anywhere else. He did not rule out the possibility of a follow up on his podcast, but it seems unlikely.

Notable Tracks: “Crucify” and “I Am.”

Other Mentions:

Earthsuit, Justifide, Project 86 (first release), and Spoken (first release).

What do you think of the list? Did we miss anyone? Did you rock out to any of these guys?

Justin Sarachik
Justin Sarachik
Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Rapzilla.com. He has been a journalist for over a decade and has written or edited for Relevant, Christian Post, BREATHEcast, CCM, Broken Records Magazine, & more. He's written over 10,000 articles, done over 1,000 interviews, and is in post-production for documentaries on Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez & Mario "Machete" Perez. He's the project manager of the upcoming video game Run the Court and of the media brand Crimefaces. Justin likes to work with indie artists to develop their brands & marketing strategies. Catch him interviewing artists on Survival of the Artist Podcast & creating videos on his social media channels.
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