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Rapture Ruckus: I Believe

What exactly is Christian hip hop music, given that many of our most successful hip hop artists make no secret of their Christianity? Nesian Mystik make it an explicit part of their image, Scribe lists the big guys in his thanks list, and even hard-hitting Savage pauses for spiritual reflection at the end of his debut album. You could see Rapture Ruckus as an extension of the same trend and frontman Brad Dring certainly looks the part in his black baseball cap, black hoodie, and loose blue jeans. This album is released through Parachute Music (home of the huge Christian music festival), and the religious elements are more upfront, with Dring discussing how he'd like to "preach the gospel", mentioning God, JC and praying as repeated reference points. If you just listened to the thumping beats and other backing instrumentation/samples you probably wouldn't pick this as anything other than a hip hop album, with a lean towards the rock/rap hybrid of groups like Linkin Park. It was more often the endless screeching guitar that put me off this album rather than the lyrical content - emo guitar lines back most tracks and at a couple of points there are long, winding guitar solos. However it's only a step away from 'Stand Up' in this respect, so this album may well interest Christian rap fans, even if it fell a little short for me.

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