Ditching rhymes of gangsters, hos and guns, Christian hip hop (aka gospel rap or holy hip hop) has been making moves in the music scene since the 1980s. Now, Canberra Christian hip hop artist Kyle Wilkins is on a mission to share his music and faith with listeners through his new EP, The First and the Last.

Spending the first 18 years of his life as what he describes ‘a loose cannon’, Mr Wilkins found himself at rock bottom. Tired of drinking, smoking and petty crime, he thought there must be more to life than what he was living.

“Mistakes I made caught up to me and I looked at myself like, ‘Man, I’m not a good person. If I had a son or daughter, would they be proud of me? They wouldn’t. I’m not doing anything with my life. I’m just wasting it’,” he says.

Desperate and calling out for a sign of what to do next, the young man asked Jesus, if he was real, to help him in his time of need. Describing what then happened as ‘a supernatural phenomenon’, Mr Wilkins felt drawn to a house with a cross. Knocking on the door, he was greeted by Christians. They suggested he visit a youth group at a local church where Mr Wilkins met the pastor’s son, who invited him to meet his father.

“I went there and told them what I’ve been doing … He said, ‘Man, do you want to give your life to God and do a 180?’ And I gave it then,” Mr Wilkins says.

Rapping before he found faith, the artist initially thought he would have to give it up, as the lyrics and themes were somewhat “ungodly”. Then discovering other Christian hip hop artists, he thought maybe he could use his gifts and talents for a bigger purpose.

“I don’t swear in my raps, I try to leave profanity out of it. I just talk about my experiences, God, and my views on life,” he says.

While Christian rock and alternative bands have made their way onto mainstream airwaves, things have been a bit slower for devout hip hop artists.

‘There’s a massive Christian hip hop scene in America but in Australia, it’s not as big. It’s quite small actually. I think in all of Australia, there’s probably 50 to 100 people doing it,” says Mr Wilkins.

A call to rap

When he was about 14, Mr Wilkins was inspired by a friend who was a naturally talented freestyle rapper to give it a go. The pair started rapping together and life started to turn down the path of drugs and alcohol, which fuelled their lyrics.

“I was kicked out of my house, I was on drugs, I was sleeping on a thin little mattress in my mate’s garage on the floor because I had nowhere to go. I started saying,’ Yeah, I’m going to be a rapper’.”

Sending out demo tapes, Mr Wilkins was signed to KP Records. Six months later, he discovered Christianity. He received full support from the label when he wanted to move away from rapping about living hard and released his first EP The Fight for Christ in 2015.

Leaving the label on good terms, Mr Wilkins was with a different group for a time when he felt inspired by God to create his own record label, Christian Click. Wanting to make music for God, the label released a few songs before he focused on creating his new EP which was released last month.

Being a Christian hip hop artist doesn’t mean that his music is just for the faithful; Mr Wilkins says even an atheist could listen to The First and the Last and relate to his story.

“This album is kind of just me pouring my heart out, songs that are like happy and ‘I love you, God’ and then songs where it’s like ‘No more God, I can’t take it away from me’. It’s kind of a back and forth of my own internal conflict,” he says.

A call to faith

Believing there has to be more to life than just working nine to five, earning money, and acquiring material possessions, Mr Wilkins says people often end up seeking fulfilment in the wrong places. For him, finding faith has changed his life for the better.

“It’s made such an impact on not just myself but the people around me … It [faith] can help people to become better people and find purpose in their life and have meaning.”

For Mr Wilkins, his meaning is to help people through his music so that listeners experiencing hardships and trials will be able to find peace, joy and purpose as he has. He wants people to know they aren’t just a random person on the planet, and that everyone has a reason to live, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

“I just want people to have a relationship with God and experience what I have in my life and know that there is hope. This world isn’t as bad as it seems, because it is pretty bad; there is a purpose and there is a plan and everything will be alright,” he believes.

Wanting people to understand that Christianity isn’t about hate, judgment or telling people how to live their lives, Mr Wilkins says it is about loving those around you. Although some Christians can come across as judgmental sometimes, Mr Wilkins says that isn’t the message he wants to send.

“Unfortunately, the church has done that a fair bit, to be like ‘you’re a sinner’ and then go home and get drunk and beat their wife,” he says. “There’s actually a verse in the bible that’s like ‘take plank out of your own eye before you start trying to pull out the twigs in someone else’s’.”

Spreading the word of his Christian faith, Mr Wilkins and his congregation operate on the principle that everyone sins differently, and everyone can be forgiven.

“God hasn’t called us to save the saved, he’s called us to save the lost. The people that are on drugs and not having found God, they’re the exact people that I want to listen [to my rap], that’s my target audience. So, they can hear it and have that life-changing event like I did.”

Find out more about Kyle Wilkins and his music at kylewilkinsmusic.com

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