College Kids React to NF and the Results Might Surprise You

Something important happened yesterday and it’s a reminder of how music can be used to touch the lives of others even though they may think differently. College kids reacted to NF.

Moderately large Facebook page, FBE Shows posted a “College Kids React to NF” video on their channel. At the time of this writing, in just six hours the video has been watched over 53,000 times. This comes as no surprise because of NF’s ability to have the midas touch on seemingly everything he’s involved with these days.

However, the aforementioned importance occurs with the college students in the video. It is unclear if any of the students in the video identify themselves as Christians, but yet they, for the most part, have heard of NF or had heard the songs they were being shown whether they knew it was by him or not.

Regardless of how you feel on the topic of NF being or not being a Christian rapper, the people in the video didn’t know of any Christian roots before sampling his music. The initial reactions were, “this is so sad,” “Awe, who hurt you?” or “He sounds like a young Eminem.” These are often common gripes Christian listeners take up with NF. However, the qualms of the overall “sadness” were looked past because of “how real” the things he was saying were. It’s in NF’s tags all over the place in case you’ve missed it – ‘NF Real Music’.

Those watching the video were blown away by his ability to not only rap very well but sing, and also reveal deep and personal topics in his music. One of the students shared that they couldn’t imagine losing their mom in the way NF described how he lost his.

The students were emotional, moved, and one almost broke into tears.

Further along, they found out NF was a Christian, which was mind-blowing to them. One girl didn’t even know Christian Rap existed. Another one was surprised something Christian could be that good. The common denominator for all of them was that they respected him even more. They saw that his Christian background propelled him to make his “real music,” provide a little bit of hope through the sadness and relate to people. They admired the fact that he sticks to his guns and is willing to have a message.

The students also wished him all the best of luck and said he deserved every bit of the accolades coming his way. Their responses were quite amazing and a little unexpected.

Perhaps the most interesting part was the overall reaction to the “Christian” label. It was a non-factor for them. In the past, NF has said he is not a Christian rapper, but rather a Christian who raps. Yes, we’ve all fought, agreed, rolled our eyes, and moved on from this topic so many times already – however, it seems like Christian rappers are putting more stock on their label than people who just want to hear powerful and meaningful music care about. According to these students’ reactions, if NF had said in interviews, “I’m a Christian rapper,” they really wouldn’t have batted an eye. His quality of music was higher than any label or box he is put in.

Although this video is a small sample size, it’s curious to wonder whether the “Christian label” is as box-fitting in 2018 as it once was. People, regardless of belief are looking for good vibes, good music, and someone to relate to on an emotional level. NF checks all these boxes more than a Lil Yachty, Migos, or even today’s Eminem. He has managed to get on people of all walks of life’s level with his God-inspired music. Just read the comments on his videos. The results in the charts and on the streams dictate that.

So while Christians are fighting over who’s a Christian rapper or not because of how they present themselves, NF is just out there doing his thing, and not caring what anybody says. He clearly had an impact on a few of these students, and who knows if this little intro becomes the spark of something else for them. For those in the, “I’m ok with rappers that don’t call themselves Christians” camp, this is a win in your direction to show that at least for this instance, it’s working.

Remember, there is no real right or wrong if the end goal is the same and end goal is being fruitful. Yes, approaches may be wrong, but if God is using someone with flaws (and we all have them), and people are being moved by it, who are we to say otherwise. Maybe we should get out of the way and see how it moves.

Check out the NF reaction video below:

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Justin Sarachik
Justin Sarachik
Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Rapzilla.com. He has been a journalist for over a decade and has written or edited for Relevant, Christian Post, BREATHEcast, CCM, Broken Records Magazine, & more. He's written over 10,000 articles, done over 1,000 interviews, and is in post-production for documentaries on Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez & Mario "Machete" Perez. He's the project manager of the upcoming video game Run the Court and of the media brand Crimefaces. Justin likes to work with indie artists to develop their brands & marketing strategies. Catch him interviewing artists on Survival of the Artist Podcast & creating videos on his social media channels.
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