Christian rapper Chud’e is celebrating after his debut album Chilltown clocked up half a million streams. Chud’e only discovered Christian rap around 2017 and has already won vast praise for his material. The New Yorker dropped his debut on New Year’s Eve 2019 and preceded it with singles including Day and Night and the title track.
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The road to Chilltown
Chud’e has built elements of various genres into his music. These include not only hip-hop but gospel, pop and R&B. A big turning point in the rapper’s life was when he spent time in his parents’ homeland of Nigeria following a troubled period in his life where he failed sixth grade and lost contact with several of his friends as well as his half-brother.
Whilst he was in the country, he reconnected with his father, who was once a small-time criminal but is now a pastor. He also learned much more about his heritage and formed a new relationship with Christ.
“For the Lord’s honor”
The artist born Paul Iwenofu talks about his relationship with God across various seasons of his life on his album. The record takes its name from the area of Brooklyn he grew upon. In the lyrics to Day and Night, the artist talks about Jesus’ ability to guide him through the many “obstacles, difficulties and doubts” experienced in life.
Because of the reputation of hip-hop, some people close to the rapper didn’t approve of his decision to start making this kind of music. Chud’e says he entered the rap game “for the Lord’s honor”.
Frequent collaborations
New material is on its way, and the rapper has been working with another series of independent performers after working with a range of talented artists on his debut. Over the past few years, Chud’e has received coverage and support from numerous high-profile media outlets. These have included the Christian music publication CCM Magazine, the CHH YouTube channel and Cross Rhythm Radio, who interviewed him.
Social media pages that have supported him include CHH Source and chhtsnetwork. One of his biggest aims is to enable his listeners to find “hope through chaos”. He also talks about the importance of perseverance, trial and error and has been complimented for his “clever punchlines” and “booming voice”.
Reaching out
Chud’e says it’s important that his music reaches non-believers as well as Christians. He hopes non-believers can find at least once track that they can connect to. Some of his biggest influences include the Christian rappers Bizzle and Lecrae. The gap between his discovery of Christian hip-hop and Chud’e producing his own music was a very brief one.
Early singles included Chilltown and Too Late, and he received support from the perhaps surprising source of xRhythms over in the United Kingdom. His album includes collaborations with artists including Echo Guzman, Anodyne Virtue and Melanie Williams, and he hopes that it will “point people to Christ”.
Support and inspiration
When he’s not performing or in the studio, Chud’e works as a Youth Development Specialist, aiming to become the positive male role model that he never had growing up. He aims to support and inspire them so they avoid making life-changing mistakes. He expects the Lord to “point him the right direction” whether he goes onto become a full-time musician or helps others in another capacity.
The growth of Christian rap
Christian rap has been around since the 1980s and has received a great deal of media exposure over the past few years. Lecrae went to #1 in the mainstream album charts in 2014, and other famous Christian rap stars include TobyMac, Derek Minor, Trip Lee, Swoope and Canton Jones.
Many mainstream rappers have been embracing Christian hip-hop over recent years, with Kanye West scoring his first chart-topper on the Christian Rap chart with his 2019 album Jesus Is King.
More about Christian hip-hop
In 1985, Stephen Wiley released what is widely agreed to be the first full-length Christian rap album. The genre is also known as ‘holy hip-hop’ and ‘gospel rap’. The movement is often said to be home to some of the most underrated rappers around. Attitudes towards Christian rap are changing, with more and more previously sceptical people now seeing it as a positive way to promote religious values to young people and non-believers.
In 2019, NF – a mainstream rapper who is well-known for his Christian beliefs – topped the charts with his album The Search. A popular Christian rap duo is Miami-based Social Club Misfits, who first came to prominence in the mid-2010s.
How to listen to Chud’e
You can hear the rapper’s music on streaming platforms such as Spotify, YouTube and Soundcloud. The rapper has more than 5.5k subscribers on YouTube and 17 videos. He can also be found on Instagram and Twitter. Chud’e wants to “bring inspirational change to his audience” and is “becoming the face of Christian music around the world” according to KTVN.
