For some people, perhaps members of an older generation, it is unthinkable to put gospel and hip-hop in the same sentence. But the reality is this new trend is fast gaining popularity. It was previously unheard of to sing anything other than the age old hymns in the praise of God, or in the preaching of the gospel to convert others.

The phenomenon of other genres being integrated into gospel started around the 1980s, gospel hip-hop was pioneered then by artistes such as T-Bone, Stephen Wiley and MC Peace. One of the big breaks for gospel hip-hop came about in 1994, when Toby Mac co-founded Gotee Records, the first record label to exclusively market Christian hip-hop and R&B. The label marketed this contemporary Christian music at Christian bookstores and through seeking airplay on Christian radio stations.

Other record labels soon copied, dedicating themselves to gospel hip-hop and helping these rappers seek a broader market. But they faced a problem. Most of their sales were only to people brought up in the church. The hope, which had not been met, was to encourage prospective members of the community to join the church.

In recent times, rappers have become more accepted by both those who did not grow up in the church, as well as the by the conservative church goers. The latter were perhaps converted when they realised gospel hip-hop brought people, especially the youth, back to church as it was something they could relate to.

It has always been said that to be a musician takes great talent, commitment and heart. Most of the time people go into the music business possessing only the talent- said to be the most important aspect. Although it is true that talent is a necessary ingredient, one sure does need heart. This is because despite the glitz and glamour there are so many dark sides to it. Once in the public limelight privacy is thrown out the window, the occasional fashion faux pas days and leisurely walks on the street become things of the past. The right to choose what to wear, where to be, who to date and even who to marry, becomes strategic decisions that are decided upon by so called managers and agents.

This immense pressure propels some musicians towards drugs and an early death, sometimes through suicide. Take an example of recently deceased Amy Winehouse; the young lady had talent no doubt, but so much pressure from different quarters pushed her into drug and alcohol abuse. She got stuck in a rut, a place where even her incredible talent could not drag her out. As her music is still being played on some radio somewhere in the world, she rests at last in peace. Alcoholic poisoning the coroner's report said and it is such a sad reality that the world has been robbed of her music. Her case however is replicated all through music history. Cases like Kurt Cobain; whose suicide was attributed to struggles with drug addiction, Jimi Hendrix who was said to have died of asphyxiation, but had a tumultuous life coupled with drug addiction, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin who supposedly died of drug overdoses and had struggled with addiction for a long time.

Weird as it may seem in order to qualify to be a hip hop artiste, you need to have served a stint in jail. Many successful rappers from time immemorial have had trouble with the law. But the hip hop world is truly a world of second chances; it has given a chance to previously incarcerated artistes to make a comeback in the industry. Lil Wayne, even when imprisoned on charges of weapon possession, went ahead to win numerous awards. His incarceration did not even cause a decline in his album sales, if anything they sold more.

In clear hip hop fashion, a blast from the past has recently declared a comeback. Mystikal, the fast rapping MC, known for his almost comical style has recently signed with Birdman under Cash Money records. After close to seven years of incarceration, the 41 year old rapper, whose real name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, was released in January 2010. The hit maker, known for hits like danger and shake ya ass, was jailed in 2004 on charges of sexual battery and extortion. To add salt to the injury, in 2005 while serving his sentence, he was additionally charged with failing to file tax returns for two years- attracting another year long jail term.

Other rappers who have served time in jail include T.I, who was imprisoned on felony weapons charges and drug charges but like Lil Wayne, his album topped the charts even when he was in jail. Maino, -who went to jail as a teenager on charges of drug related kidnapping, was later released and immediately signed to Atlantic records without a previous music career.

The 90’s were the glorious days of rap music. When the great MCs still walked and the rap game had its masters. This is when worldwide acceptance of hip hop was at its peak. The artistes from that era were those that had grown up listening to old school hip hop from rappers like Run DMC who served as their inspiration. Most of them had a history; this gave them something to rap about, topics that their audiences could relate to. They rapped about life in the projects, losing friends or family to gang violence, love stories in the hood as well as their everyday struggle to survive and to make it out of the ghetto.

These real life experiences kept them relevant, because there was a message in their music. Its often said that with time comes growth, or at least change and true enough, as the world moved into the twenty first century, the face of hip hop and rap changed. Buoyed by the struggles of their predecessors, a new crop of rappers came up whose rap message was different. It revolved around glamorous parties, multiple cars, female groupies and money. They had achieved the life that the older rappers yearned for. Rap was no longer about the message; it was about the beat of the music and the lifestyle. Many critics have dismissed this new hip hop as diluted, having incorporated various other genres of music like Rock and Soul music into it. Some critics claim that what is in the market nowadays is just ‘bubblegum rap’ and is completely baseless. They say rap has become too commercialized.

Hip-hop has been associated with African Americans and Hispanics since the 1970s. Hip hop culture gave them a voice, a way to express their frustrations with the system. It was also a way to channel out their culture and creativity through rap music and disc jockeying; and their art through graffiti. Hip hop – especially the music aspect has now become a globally recognized and accepted phenomenon proving to me a source of great wealth to the artistes.

Regardless of its growth, the origin of hip hop in the ghettos has not been forgotten, with artistes shooting music videos showing their so called ‘gangsta’ sides, and using lyrics that show the tough life. Due to this most people believe that despite the money these artistes get, they are uncultured and just from the ghetto with little or no education to boot. Well, quite a number of them did get a serious education- even went to college.

Rapper Common, previously known as Common Sense, graduated from Florida A&M University with a degree in Business Administration. He however does not fit the usual ‘stereotype’ of a rapper. Common is always calm and collected, his lyrics and diction showing his education level.

Popular rapper and actor Ludacris studied Music Management at Georgia State University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. With his credentials to back him up, he successfully co-founded a record label (Disturbing the peace).

The real shocker was old school legend Flavor Flav, who now stars in his reality show (The flavor of love). Flav graduated from Adelphi University back in the 1980s although the details as to what he specialized in are scarce. Some rappers have even graduated TWICE! David Banner is a fine example of this. He has a bachelor’s degree in business and Master of Arts degree in teaching.

It has always been said that becoming a musician takes great talent, commitment and a heart. Most of the time, people go into the music business possessing only the talent, which is arguably the most important factor. Although it is true that talent is a necessary ingredient, you certainly need a heart.

Despite the glitz and glamour, there are so many dark sides to the music industry. Once in the public limelight, privacy is thrown out the window, the occasional fashion faux pas days and leisurely walks on the street become things of the past. The right to choose what to wear, where to be, who to date and even who to marry, become strategic decisions that are decided upon by managers and agents.

This immense pressure propels some musicians towards drugs and an early death, sometimes through suicide. Amy Winehouse is a prime example of this. She had bags of talent, but the pressure of being a celebrity pushed her into drug and alcohol abuse. She got stuck in a rut and even her incredible talent could not save her. According to the coroner's reports, she died of alcohol poisoning and it is a sad reality that the world has been robbed of her music.

Amy Winehouse's case, however, is replicated all through the music history - Kurt Cobain, whose suicide was attributed to struggles with drug addiction, Jimi Hendrix, who was said to have died of asphyxiation, but had a tumultuous life coupled with drug addiction, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin who supposedly died of drug overdoses and had struggled with addiction for a long time.

It often appear that in order to qualify as a hip hop artist, you need to have served a stint in jail. Many successful rappers have had trouble with the law. But the hip hop community is truly a world of second chances, as it has given previously incarcerated artists the chance to make a comeback in the industry. Lil Wayne, even when imprisoned on charges of weapon possession, won numerous awards. His imprisonment did not even cause a decline in his album sales, if anything they sold more.

In clear hip hop fashion, a blast from the past has recently declared a comeback. Mystikal, the fast rapping MC, known for his almost comical style has recently signed with Birdman under Cash Money records. After almost seven years behind bars, the 41 year old rapper, whose real name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, was released in January 2010. The hit-maker, known for ‘Danger’ and ‘Shake Ya Ass’, was jailed in 2004 on charges of sexual battery and extortion. Whilst serving his sentence in 2005, he was additionally charged with failing to file tax returns for two years - attracting another year-long jail term.

Other rappers who have served time in jail include T.I, who was imprisoned on felony weapons charges and drug charges. But, like Lil Wayne, his album topped the charts even when he was in jail. Maino, who went to jail as a teenager on charges of drug related kidnapping, was later released and immediately signed to Atlantic records without a previous music career.

The 90's were arguably the glory years for rap music. The great MCs still walked the streets and the rap game still had its masters, whilst worldwide acceptance of hip-hop was at its peak. Artists from that era had grown up listening to old-school hip-hop, such as Run DMC. Most of them had interesting backstory which gave them something to rap about and topics that their audiences could relate to. Their lyrical content was generally about life in the projects, losing friends or family to gang violence, love stories in the hood as well as their everyday struggle to survive and to make it out of the ghetto.

These real life experiences kept the music relevant, because there was a serious message. It's often said that with time comes growth, or at least change and, true enough, as the world moved into the twenty first century, the face of hip hop and rap changed. Buoyed by the struggles of their predecessors, a new crop of rappers appeared with a different message. Their lyrics revolved around glamorous parties, owning multiple cars, cavorting with female groupies and, of course, money. They had achieved the life that the older rappers yearned for. Rap was no longer about the message, it was about the beat of the music and the lifestyle. Many critics have dismissed this new hip hop as diluted, having incorporated various other genres of music like Rock and Soul music into it. Some critics claim that what is in the market nowadays is just ‘bubblegum rap' and is completely baseless. They say rap has become too commercialised.

Hip-hop has been associated with African Americans and Hispanics since the 1970s. Hip hop culture gave them a voice, a way to express their frustrations with the system. Rap music and disc jockeying was also a way to channel their culture and creativity, as well as their art through graffiti. Hip hop – has now become a globally recognised and accepted phenomenon

Regardless of its growth, the origin of hip hop in the ghettos has not been forgotten. Artists shoot music videos showing their so called ‘gangsta' sides, and use lyrics that portray their tough nature. Due to this, most people believe that, despite the money these artists earn, they are uncultured with little or no education to boot. In fact, a large number of professional rappers did get an education and many even went to college.

Rapper Common, previously known as Common Sense, graduated from Florida A&M University with a degree in Business Administration. He does not, however, fit the usual stereotype of a rapper and is always calm and collected, both in nature and lyrically.Rapper and actor Ludacris studied Music Management at Georgia State University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. With his credentials to back him up, he successfully co-founded a record label called Disturbing The Peace.

The real shocker was old school legend Flavor Flav, who now stars in his reality show The flavor of love. Flav graduated from Adelphi University back in the 1980s. Some rappers have even graduated TWICE! David Banner is a fine example of this. He has a bachelor's degree in business and Master of Arts degree in teaching. Other rappers who attended college but did not graduate include Lil Wayne and Plies, who surprisingly studied nursing.