Christian Musician Calls Out Believers for 'Living With Contradictions

Christian rapper KB believes music has the power to sway culture, and that artists and fans alike need to take personal responsibility for the content they distribute and consume.

In a recent interview with this author and TheBlaze TV's Raj Nair for audio series "The Freefall," KB specifically called the public out for turning a blind eye to negative music content.

"We don’t mind living with contradictions," he said. "We have a serious problem with sex trafficking, yet we don’t have a problem watching porn."

KB, whose real name is Kevin Elijah Burgess, posited that some of the popular music that comes out today is rooted in violent themes. While people have no problem giving money to those who perpetuate these ideas through their lyrics, the negative impact is profound.

He argued that it's something the public needs to pay more attention to, especially when it comes to peoples' decisions to support certain artists and messages.

KB also spoke about his vision for faith-based music, saying that it's time for artists to be more inclusive.

Listen to the interview below:

He said that the talent pool among Christian hip-hop artists is on the upswing and that, while some types of music in the past have been aimed at faith-based audiences, it's time to bring more people into the fold.

"A lot of what we’ve done in the past has been very narrow," he said. "The content is almost an acquired taste. So, because of that you’re going to have a niche audience."

In the end, KB said that reaching musical success is all about content, and that he believes it's time to broaden the scope.

"The only option we have is to begin to shift the content or to begin to broaden it so that we can, you know, begin to be less exclusive and more all-encompassing of a larger audience," he said.

KB said that his experiences with people have helped shape his music, but he said that artists can very often lose touch with the very people they're entertaining when they become disconnected from the realities faced by the vast majority of the public.

"I’m little KB from church and I’m stacking chairs and sweeping chairs and vaccuming and mopping like anyone else," he said. "In that I find my greatest content because I get to live with the people I’m actually rapping to."

Rapper KB speaks on stage (Image source: kb_hga on Instagram)

He continued: "What happens with a lot of artists is they get so removed from the 99 percent and so drowned in the 1 percent that their music starts to become irrelevant or it becomes very formulaic, because they’re not really writing from a real place."

The rapper said that it's important to consider how music can "shape the people," and encouraged artists to become more in tune with the realities of the world they're speaking to through their art.

As for Christian hip-hop, he believes the genre is poised for major success.

"Christian hip-hop, as it gains popularity, will become a legitimate alternative that people can turn to when they’re looking for hope," he said.