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It's a holy hip-hop movement in Hampton Roads

It's a holy hip-hop movement in Hampton Roads
John Hitch  |  by content.hamptonroads.com. All rights reserved. 18.04 | 7:34

In Hampton Roads, holy hip-hop artists want people to get a taste of culture, but not of sagging and low-rise jeans, diamonds, guns and half-naked dancers. These artists are all about the culture of salvation. For them, hip-hop is the vehicle to reassure that the Messiah lives and Jesus saves.


The holy hip-hop movement is not homegrown. The pioneer props belong to national artists such as Stephen Wiley and Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez, who got into the game during the mid-'80s. In 2004, Kanye West hit it big with "Jesus Walks.

" Even Mase, who ran the secular music circuit with Diddy, released an inspirational album in 2004.
The idea of holy hip-hop, though, is steeped in controversy. Nationally acclaimed minister G.

Craige Lewis of EX Ministries condemns holy hip-hop artists on "The Truth Behind Hip-Hop" and other DVDs. On www.exministries.

com, Lewis says hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa is a professed Zulu Nation god and used "hip-hop" to describe his parties in New York. He says that Bambaataa later developed a religion that rested on hip-hop, a culture that encourages self-worship and doesn't line up with the Bible.
Hip-hop, by definition, he says, can't be holy.


Archie Boone Jr. - or Vanzetti, a rapper from Norfolk - isn't discouraged by the criticism. "There's been a storm over the holy hip-hop community in Hampton Roads.

We need the truth to come back. I'm looking for the Lord to anoint not only the people, but the actual territory, so when people come here they really feel the presence of God."
Here are six local artists striving to show their beliefs through rap music - and their take on the holy hip-hop debate.

Portia Bryant aka Absolute, 24, of Norfolk


Absolute has been rapping since 2005, striving to be absolutely positive about her faith in God. She attends Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Norfolk and reaches young people throughout Hampton Roads with spoken word and "soulful hip-hop flavor with an R B sound." She graduated from Old Dominion University and is an MBA student at Averett University.

She hopes her degree will help her manage her latest venture, the FoCus Center (Focus on Christ's Unlimited Supply), a motivational speaking organization that also helps participants build portfolios and other professional resources.
"People say rap is bad, hip-hop is evil. It's like saying black people are evil.

That's judging. I don't believe in judging. I believe in looking at hearts.

Jesus flowed in the form of parables and made it relevant to the people...

. In that time, it was parables. In this time, it's rap.

"
MUSIC Available at Discover Life Bookstore Cafe at The Gallery at Military Circle, Norfolk
Deshawn Tatem aka Deshawn Tha Golden Child, 28, of Norfolk


Tatem works at The Pines Residential Treatment Center, but he has sold drugs and spent time in jail. That's the story the former secular artist - who got saved in 1999 - uses to bring people to Christ. "I speak on topics like sex, drugs, violence, immorality, homosexuality, abortion and politics.

I speak on all these topics just as if I were a secular artist, but my standpoint is different." Instead of glorifying it, the New Covenant Outreach Ministries member uses hip-hop and neo-soul to speak against it in detention homes, nightclubs and other non-traditional venues. "They get entertained, but we slide that word in there.

We use it to get their attention, and it does we ll."
As for the controversy, "I don't get into foolish debates, and that's what it is. I save my energy for talking to thugs and trying to save them.

"
Sean Slaughter, 30, of Hampton


Slaughter has been rapping since 2000. He moved to Hampton Roads from New York in 2001 and is consumed by "being accurate with the Bible and Christianity." He attends Bethel Temple Church in Hampton and leads a ministry that uses a popular sound to spread the gospel.

His schedule includes military gatherings, detention homes and international gigs.
"They hear my music and it sounds like that and they're open to hear what you're about. " Slaughter produced beats for Wu T ang Clan and opened fo r Fat Joe, Big Pun and other rappers before getting sa v ed in 1998.


"Hip-hop is inherently good because it is something created, and only God can create. Man can take hip-hop and infect it with evil, but evil cannot destroy the good in hip-hop. So hip-hop artists are just bringing hip-hop back to what it was created for - God's glory.

"
Ben "B.R.I.

C.K." Brickho use, Aijne "Scope" Wil l iams and Angela "Revelation" Smith have been rapping since 2004.

The trio's acronym represents their desire to make Christ visible i n their lives. Brickhouse says, "B.R.

I.C.K.

stands for Born Rebuilt In Christ the King." Scope signifies a "mission to help p eople see Christ clearly." Revelation t ook her name from Ephesians 1:17, where "Paul says he wants to make known to people the revelation of Jesus C hrist.

That' s what I want to do."
P.R.

O.O.F.

's sound caters to young pe ople, but the members, age s 20 to 23, minister in other ways. The group started with gigs in churches, but now they perf orm at area conferences and festivals. "There are plenty of things that are born into this world sinful and evil.

I was one of those things. God saved me and He's using me to save lives - why can't He save hip-hop and do the same?" said Brickhouse.


Archie Boone Jr. aka Vanzetti, 23, of Norfolk
Boone used the name Vanzetti as a pen name while writing poetry in high school. It includes the first four letters of his grandmother's name.

He's been rapping since the late '90s, and he's a teacher's assistant at Campostella Elementary School in Norfolk. A member of Chesapeake's Word of Life Tabernacle of Deliverance, he says rap stands for Reach All People. That's his mission.

He worked with Ludacris, Cash Money and other big names before writing the song "1God1Truth." "I was addicted to substance. I poured my heart out on paper, and I told God that if he would save me and if he took that desire away, then I would serve him.

That song changed my life." Now he uses teaching, preaching and outreach ministries to spread the gospel.
"I'm not concerned about the label.

I'm concerned about those who are fatherless because that's who hip-hop is touching. I know that God has a heart for the lost. Take the title, but be holy.

Is it hip-hop? Yeah. Is it biblical?

Yeah. Is it practical? Yeah.

Is it factual? Yeah. Well, then let it be.

"
Editor's note: A related video originally scheduled to run with this story, as referenced in The Virginian-Pilot's Daily Break section, will not be available today. It will be posted to HamptonRoads.tv at a later date.

Read more on by content.hamptonroads.com. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Hampton Roads, Outreach Ministries, New York, Boone Jr
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