Cross Movement Why We Embraced The Christian Rap Label

***** Social Media Links ***** ***** Description For This Video ***** The Cross Movement, based in Philadelphia, PA, is comprised of seven young Christians were bound by different ties than most and, in turn, outlasted most of their early contemporaries. The members of The Cross Movement were originally members of other Christian rap groups who ministered up and down the east coast in the early 1990s. Their zeal for spreading the Gospel became their common thread, and in 1994, they formed The Cross Movement and Cross Movement Ministries to serve as an umbrella organization for their groups. In the years to follow, God would knit the rap artists closer together and send them other ministry-minded men who used Hip-Hop as a tool for evangelism. Explains The Tonic, “After many nights of prayer, Bible study, and honing our craft, we knew it was clear that the Lord wanted to bring all of us together. We made a covenant to support one another as we worked together toward our common goals, and that is when we named ourselves ’The Cross Movement’.“ Word of the group spread quickly throughout the northeast, and many labels started to take interest. But the group decided to remain focused on their vision, and produced and sold their records independently. That is when they created Cross Movement Records, the name The Cross Movement has been synonymous with gritty East Coast rap and piercing Bible-based lyrics. The CM’s niche has been to translate biblical and Christian theology into rap music by using the same hyper-aggressive lyrics, sampled orchestral riffs, alliteration, and virtuoso delivery of many underground rappers without the self-aggrandizing and violent lyrics, or the materialistic imagery stereotypically associated with many rappers. As the word sanctified means “to set apart“, the interpretation maintained by the CM is that they are instructed by Jesus to remain a part of hip hop culture while being set apart from the majority of the followers of hip hop culture in order to influence it from within to conform to the mores and moral code preached by followers of Christ. The acceptance of this interpretation has been mixed, however. Despite their claim to be a part of hip hop culture, the CM has slowly found more acceptance, though not total acceptance, in the Christian community than in the secular hip hop community as the majority of their concerts are held at churches or church-sponsored events as opposed to secular venues. In 2006, the CM received a Grammy nomination for “Best Rock Gospel Album,”[citation needed] as opposed to any of the traditional hip hop or rap categories. Additionally, the CM has generally only been recognized at Christian and Gospel awards shows such as the Dove Awards or Stellar Awards as opposed to hip hop-only award shows such as the Source Awards or the Vibe Awards. The Cross Movement is one of the most successful crews within the holyhiphop scene. Since then, they have toured globally and have been covered by media outlets as diverse as Time Magazine, CCM Magazine, The Source and The Washington Post. With so many articles written and stories told about them, the members of The Cross Movement remain most focused on one story, HIStory: Our Place in His Story.