The harsh lighting of a gas station contrasts with the dark night. In front of two luxury cars, Belgian rapper JD Imrah surrounded by his crew delivers his impeccable flow over saturated 808 bass. The codes of rap are respected, but the lyrics surprise. “I am counting on God to help me. We are going to evangelize”chants the artist in the video for his song “Amen 3x”.
No more texts about guns, sex and drugs. Place for divine praise. For several months, a new musical scene has been gaining momentum in France and its French-speaking neighbors: Christian hip-hop. Le Psalmiste, Gaillard Jules, Conozco and even Redflow (one of the rare women in this predominantly male environment), there are more and more of them combining rap and religion, two worlds that are apparently very distant.
Also called urban gospel or evangelical drill, sometimes shortened to “evandrill”, this musical UFO experienced its first upheavals in France in the 1990s-2000s with pioneers like the rapper and Pentecostal pastor Manou Bolomik or the evangelical Christian hip-hop group Leader Vocal. Today, from gospel rap competitions to the stage of the Jesus Festival – an annual Christian music event, created in 2022 in southern Burgundy – biblical texts move heads. The phenomenon now goes beyond strictly religious circles to reach a wider audience, particularly on social networks. On TikTok, the hashtag #christianrap brings together nearly 300,000 publications.
“Knowing God through song”
“Christian rap is creolized music”deciphers the historian and sociologist Sébastien Fath, researcher at the CNRS and specialist in evangelical Protestantism. From the West African griot – who transmitted the traditions of his community through singing – to North American gospel, “it benefits from a contribution of influences without hierarchy”. Christian rap, however, is more part of a Protestant tradition, where “music is a crucial marker that allows us to get to know God through song”recalls Sébastien Fath.
In this unusual musical style, there are countless references to the Bible. For example, we can cite the song “Jean 3:16” by rapper Conozco, whose refrain is one of the best-known verses in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”taken from the Gospel of John. Published on May 11, 2025 on YouTube, the clip exceeded one million views in just one summer.
“Sexion d’Assaut, Booba… We grew up with classic rap. Then we moved on to American rap and this is the album Jesus Is Kingby Kanye Westwhich made us want to get started”slips Lucas, 24, while talking about his gospel rap group LudjixBoyz, one of the few to be Catholic, which he created in 2019 with his childhood friend Franck. “Sometimes there are words contradictory to what we live in our faith, which does not elevate spiritually”continues the young artist.
The two rappers from LudjixBoyz prefer to carry a message of love and hope, which they inherit from the praises of their country of origin, Ivory Coast, which rocked them during their childhood. If, in essence, Christian hip-hop breaks with conventional rap, in form, it is a direct heir. An essentially urban phenomenon, it conveys a strong societal critique, both anti-materialist and anti-capitalist, like Redflow which proclaims “God comes before money, God comes before money” in his song “Bagarre”.
“Among these artists, there is often an experience linked to racism, to relegation, but they go beyond this by spiritualizing the issuesanalyzes Sébastien Fath. Today we have entered a tragic time, where the planet is burning, young people are having difficulty finding work, and are anxious about the future. Faced with this, we must equip ourselves politically. In this context, rap, if it is not too formatted by capitalism, can be a resource that invites an energetic takeover.”
From blasphemy to an evangelizing message
“When we started on social networks, many cried blasphemy”remembers Lucas from LudjixBoyz, who found another way to share his faith in gospel rap. In November 2023, in Paris, a Redflow concert on the stage of the evangelical church Parole du Salut caused controversy, its musical style being considered too “pagan”.
@eepstv “Fight, against hell it’s a fight” 🥊💥! When Redflow goes to #Cojeraf23 #Cojeraf2023 #tiktokchretiens ♬ original sound – Église Parole Du Salut
Incompatible with the sacred, anti-establishment, emanating from the streets… Criticisms from believers (and non-believers) towards Christian rap are legion. “There is a time lag in the use of new fashions and new trends to use them as a support for our faithwe analyze from the National Council of Evangelicals of France. Rap, which was vindictive and carried a message of anger, was not a suitable means of expression for Christians. But now that it has been democratized, it is less offensive for Christians to use it.”
“When we started, we started from the principle that music was a powerful vector allowing us to convey a message of faith, a message of Christ. We wanted to bring this bright message.”
The anger and political vehemence inherent in the history of rap are thus transformed into a prophetic call. Through a dialectic of good and evil and a discourse of redemption, Christian hip-hop points out the excesses of the contemporary world. “Former villainous Jesus made me pious”confesses JD Imrah in his song “Amen 3x”, saying he wants “be an actor in the awakening of youth”. Like him, many of them become messengers of God.
“When we started, we started from the principle that music was a powerful vector allowing us to convey a message of faith, a message of Christ. We wanted to bring this bright message”says Lucas for LudjixBoyz. A sort of 2.0 prophet, Christian rappers guide by bringing a message of rupture, outside religious institutions, in the hope of reviving a dormant spirituality. The evangelizing posture of certain Christian rappers, notably claimed by JD Imrah, is reminiscent of one of the fundamental pillars of evangelical Protestantism, proselytism. Here, no ego trip, we magnify the divine… To better convert?
Risk of exploitation
“People from the suburbs and young people listen to rap, we’re not going to take out our saxophones to talk to them”slips Lucas from LudjixBoyz. If Christian rap emerges on the fringes of official institutions, it is very effective in reaching an audience that official Churches struggle to reach, especially when rap and hip-hop are the genres most listened to by 15-24 year olds, according to the latest barometer of musical uses from the National Music Center, published in October 2023.
With its pious lyrics, young audience and wide distribution on social media, Christian hip-hop has massive evangelizing power. “We have always noted that one of the strengths of evangelical Protestantism was to acculturate the message. In essence, it is therefore quite natural that rap is a vehicle and a bearer of the Gospel.analyzes the National Council of Evangelicals of France. If this music reflects above all the individual approach of believing artists, some fear that religious structures will see it as a strategic tool for conversion.
This risk of exploitation takes place in a context of strong growth of evangelical Protestantism in France, whose number of faithful has increased fifteenfold in seventy years. Estimated today between 1.1 and 1.2 million according to researcher Sébastien Fath, evangelicals particularly appeal to younger generations. In its latest 2022-2024 activity report published last April, the Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and the Fight against Sectarian Abuses (Miviludes) is concerned about an increase in reports concerning certain evangelical churches, in particular for acts of control over its young faithful.
Two structures, not affiliated with the National Council of Evangelicals of France, are particularly in the sights: ACER and Impact Center Chrétien (ICC). The latter already seems to be using rap as a relay for its religious message. Christian rapper SKS performed on the Seine-et-Marne stage of the ICC for a special Easter concert in April 2025, while last August, the Brussels branch of the ICC launched a “vast evangelization campaign” with his Gospel Belgium Tour, a dedicated festival which took place in Mons (southern Belgium). Its headliner: rapper JD Imrah. Independent, Christian rap carries a message of individual faith. Recovered, it can quickly serve the interests of Churches with controversial methods.
