Dream Junkies-emcee John Givez, whose sophomore album titled ‘Soul Rebel’ is expected to drop in late August, wrote a letter to the Christian Hip-Hop community. He expressed some of his thoughts on CHH, spoke on motives, and said his letter is about reexamination.
Check out John Givez’ letter (Unedited) below.
Dear, CHH…
I want to start by thanking the folks that found my music & supported me thru the mediums of Rapzilla, Guerilla Cross, Jam the Hype etc… I do realize that by me allowing myself to be associated with those particular mediums its allowed the following to grow. I thank God for the understanding & supportive hearts out there buying & sharing the music. up until this point I haven’t made any huge public statements about what I think about the CHH sub-genre OR Christian culture as a whole because I haven’t been mature enough until this point to consider all the hearts emotionally invested into this community. this is not about to be a “break up letter” or an attempt to throw shade on the community. this is a letter about reexamination.
it’s been brought to my attention that some think my motives are off. or that I should check why I’m doing this. (*que Kirk Franklin* to those of you who think we’ve gone to far, that we’ve gotten to radical with our message LOL) let me assure you I’m aware of myself. I know when my heart is bent on evil doing. I hate my sin. which brings me to what I really want to say.
why is CHH (artist & consumers) afraid to embrace people like me? … because, this is a letter that question is rhetorical. I pose that question as a sentiment for all the PEOPLE in this world that Christian CULTURE has turned away. as a kid I grew up in baptist church. learned all the ways of the church. my mom was a choir director & my dad preached sometimes. at about 11 years old my Dad got mentally ill & my family started to crumble. In that time I began to rebel to the point of denouncing God as an author/authority in my life. I hated my dad for the strange things he was doing to my family & I grieved my mom by the way I started to live. It got to the point where other parents in the church wouldn’t want their kids around me because of “bad influence” which ultimately pushed me further away. no one understood what I was going through but always wanted to correct me. It wasn’t until about 18 or 19 I began to see that I hated God even while he lovingly kept me in my rebellion. I repented & re-dedicated my life to making it known how God kept me.
I’m almost done.
I’m 23 now. that’s 5 years on this true Journey with the Lord. KEY WORD: with. in these five years I’ve had time to reflect. on my whole life. in my music I do a lot of sharing my life. the good & the bad. I linked up with Beleaf & Ruslan at around 19 after Beleaf married my sister. they introduced me to the scene that is CHH. I wasn’t welcomed easily because of what some would call my “edge”. I’ve never felt emotionally apart of CHH but always respected the rules CHH keeps in the 5 years I’ve been around it. At this point I’ve thoroughly seen how well some of you mean. I’ve also seen how scared some of you are. to embrace me. my culture. because it is in some of your eyes “of the world”.
I want to say to those of you that think I’m “of the world” because of the things that I say. I think you’re scared. I challenge you to embrace people like me. It wasn’t until God showed me he understood me that I could love Him & further more love people like yourselves. the “good” ones. I want you to listen to my music & think about all the kids out there that you would “shut up” because they aren’t up to your standard (that you so effortlessly call Gods). God didn’t give me a platform to be perfect. He gave me a platform to be genuine. my motives are not off. my motives are focused on being genuine in all that I do.
so in closing. yes, I love Jesus. no, I’m not perfect. I’m not doing this for God, I’m doing it with & by His power. & don’t try to shut me up cuz I’m not going anywhere. & I’m gonna tell my story to the world(ly). peace.
What do you think about this letter? Are you excited about Soul Rebel?
Well all I can say is that God knows the heart of Man. Also you gonna have some people that are Traditional and self righteous. Not everyone that says their a believer is saved to begin with. As long as you not leading people astray keep doing what your doing. We all have different platforms and Fans. As long as you keep God first he’ll work it out for you.
Mr. Shepard, for the sake of clarity could you please answer a few questions regarding your statement:
“Also you gonna have some people that are Traditional and self righteous.”
Can you define traditional? Also are you implying here that traditional = self righteous?
“Not everyone that says their a believer is saved to begin with.”
This one really needs some clarity. I’m assuming that you are suggesting that his critics aren’t actually “saved to begin with”, which is why they are criticizing.
“As long as you keep God first he’ll work it out for you.”
Last but not least, what does it look like for a rapper to keep God first in your opinion?
First off God Bless you and Thank you I wasn’t expecting comment on this but I will answer as best I can, From experience Im familiar with what this brother is going through when I starred out back when crossmovement was out the called it the devil music and soar it shouldn’t be in the church. Because it’s not of God. So to answer the first part I ment traditional as self-righteous. I had to correct myself because I became that way with Lecrae I don’t agree with how he ministers But God Blesses him, nothing more for me to say. I had to ask for forgiveness because I didn’t want to judge this brother based on what I thought he should do. His fans went ham on me big time. Now for the not everyone is saved is a true statement, not everyone that goes to church is saved some have a evil motive, others are Apostates. The word of God says by their fruit you will know them. God knows the Heart of evry man and will judge accordingly. Also We as Christians are the worse critics ever most judgement I also seen this first hand. I can’t say all but some are not saved. Lastly to keep God first to be unashamed without having to chant it. To not compromise because of the Status Quo or public opinion. To be able to stand under pressure no matter what. To share what God has placed in your heart even if it offends someone. God Bless.
This is encouraging to new artists like myself , aha gazelle, Victor Cornelius and a few others with a not so traditional vision. Lots of folk aren’t talking about this . I think chh should be careful not to do to the non-traditionals what the church once did to chh. Personally, My concepts and sounds as well as the concepts and sounds of a few other new kids have already recieved lots of flack and multiple “is this about Christ ??” Rants . It can be very disheartening when your motive is pure and vision is great and even next level but evil spoken of due to its difference. I totally understand where he is coming from .
What in your definition is a “non-traditional”?
Difference in approach , brand , way of communicating ones message . Hip hop culture being non
Additionally most hip hop music Art and branding of today is much more edgy and abstract in nature. Evolving with a much more restless, mature and quicker learning generation. I.E Raury, or Kendrick Lamar. Surprisingly my music is quicker understood by teenagers than 36 year olds lol. When that takes its form in Christian hip hop many of our older counterparts can get a bit confused and or scared and quickly reject it before sitting down and examining the heart of the painters.
Man these CHH artist are something else …
“why is CHH (artist & consumers) afraid to embrace people like me?”
What “people like” you? No one here is special. There are 2 kinds of people… sinner and Saint. That is it. You either conform to one or the other. Christ made it clear that there are no grey lines (Rev. 3:15-16). But in our pride we start believing the lie that we are somehow more special than others… no one understands me, I need you all to understand me, God showed that he understood me.
C’mon bruh. We all got a swan song to sing. I grew up in the trap houses of Memphis at a time where the summer murder rate was approaching 400. The only cities that could compare were Chicago and B-More. My Mom died when I was 14 and since I didn’t know Dad, I was on my own bouncing from house to house. Many of us in CHH have similar stories, but that don’t make us special. When it comes to the Word of God, you either fall in line or you don’t, (no special privileges or paths for anybody).
You could have taken this opportunity to encourage the youth who listen to you to not just be fans of CHH but to actually pursue a delight in Christ. You could’ve encouraged them with the fact that all though we all come from different back grounds and struggles, the joy of Christ transcends all of it. But instead you penned a letter all about you and how you are so misunderstood.
Bruh, I get it. We all are misunderstood in some way. But your testimony is not the power of God unto salvation… Jesus is. If you love us, if you love them, then give them what they need, not what their itching ears want.
i agree bro
I dont get it…with cats like Eshon, Lavoisier, and Bizzle, I think the CHH body accepts people with an edge….