What do you think of rap?

This past Friday night, I went with my son and a friend to a rap concert in underground Atlanta. At this point you might say: Wait, I thought you were a Christian or why would you listen to rap, or why go to Atlanta? Well this was not your ordinary rap concert. It was a collection of artists under Reach Records. Some of the artist are Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashi, and Sho Baraka. This group is know as the 116 Clique taken from Romans 1:16.



The ride there was...interesting. I left work a little early telling my co-workers that I was going to rap concert in downtown Atlanta. The response was a few surprised and confused looks. In essense they were saying "Why would YOU go to a rap concert, and to top it off, why in downtown Atlanta?" I smiled back and said that it's a Christian rap concert, but not the cheesy stuff that you're probably thinking of. On the way there we stopped for food, according to our handy GPS we were supposed to do a few u-turns and turn 10 times in .5 miles, don't you love Atlanta? Somehow in God's Grace we saw a Wendy's, got our food and was back on the road. Then our handy GPS directed us toward 65 MLK Jr Dr, notice I said toward, not to. At this point I started to think of why I even brought the GPS. We stopped at a local BP to ask the guy behind the bullet-proof glass (not the counter) where the "Freight Depot" might be. He said in a friendly Indian voice "I don't know, I'm not from here". I just smiled, said thanks and spoke to some locals playing video poker on machines (although I thought that was illegal). They directed us more toward the capitol. We decided to park at the parking deck at the capitol and walk MLK. Thankfully, we noticed where many others were walking and found the "Freight Depot".

The concert lasted about 3 hours with each artist performing. The crowd had around 2k in attendance, mostly young (although there were a few older folks there), and was comprised of different ethnic backgrounds. There was jumping (lots of jumping), hands raised (again, lots of them) and little room to move. The whole night involved the artists using the stage and the platform they had been given to point people away from themselves and toward the God of the universe who had rescued them and gave them life. At this point you might be saying, but Kris, I don't believe that. I'm not saying that you do, I'm just saying that at the concert there were many people from different backgrounds gathered together to celebrate that belief. One speaker said "The world thinks we're crazy. There's drugs, sex, violence, and many other idols in this world that we create, but we're her on a Friday night worshipping the King". He's right, in the eyes of many, it would be seen as a wasted trip. What I appreciated most was what Trip Lee said. He quoted Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us".

Then he said "if you think that you're a righteous person, a pretty good peson, or even a good person then this isn't talking about you. This is for those who know they are sinners". He went on to talk about how our goodness, even after we trust in Christ does not earn us anything.

So yes, I went to a rap concert in Underground Atlanta, and enjoyed it!

Here's a sample of two of the artists that performed:








You might not be a Christian, or you might not like rap, but one thing is for sure, these guys are in love with their God and devoted to serving Him. They do not think of this world as their home!