NF is undoubtedly one of the biggest artists in the world right now. If you peel back that onion a little further, he might be in the top 5 Christian artists right now. Take one more step, and NF is the biggest Christian rapper of all-time…
PAUSE.
Calling NF a Christian rapper will probably get a lot of people mad. Not calling NF a Christian rapper will get a whole other segment of people mad. So let’s describe it like this – NF is a Christian, who came up through the ranks of Christian hip-hop and is now a heavyweight in music. What does that make him? It makes him a believer with a platform bigger than anyone else’s in the genre. For the purpose of this article, NF is a Christian rapper…
UNPAUSE.
NF is about to embark on a tremendous nationwide tour with Logic. Logic is on top of the world right now and has a huge fanbase. From a musical standpoint, Logic is a hybrid of different styles. From an ideological point, Logic appears to be open-minded and knowledgeable of religion, culture, and society. NF and Logic pair up pretty well if you are going to place a Christian artist with a mainstream artist. The thing that binds them is how deep they are willing to empty themselves out on a track. They both also have ravenous fanbases.
If you think back throughout the history of Christian Hip-Hop (unless we’re missing something), never has their been a pairing of this magnitude. Christian rappers always toured together. Christian rappers have always toured churches, nightclubs, and mainstream concert venues. NF is touring with one of the hottest rappers in the game and getting ready to pack out arenas. He is performing at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN! That is crazy.
This is unprecedented for Christian Hip-Hop and a testament to just how influential Christians are in the culture (More on this in another article). It is also a great way to see how effective music is at reaching people.
He started speaking to the people in the church. They listened. Then he started speaking to people in the streets. They listened. Now he’s speaking to the people in/of/around the world. And guess what, they’re still listening.
Check out some of these facts and numbers:
- “Let You Down,” earned RIAA platinum certification for total consumption in excess of 1 million singles sold-combining equivalent traditional sales and on-demand audio and video streams. The song has more than 500 million worldwide streams.
- Surpassed one billion total streams across his career, including more than 700 million worldwide streams for his latest album, Perception. “Let You Down” staked out a spot in the Top 15 of the Billboard Hot 100, signaling another first for the artist. It simultaneously hit #2 on Shazam’s Top 10 as well.
- Perception debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. “Let You Down” has reached platinum status in the United States, Sweden (3x Platinum), The Netherlands (2x Platinum), New Zealand (2x Platinum), Ireland (2x Platinum), Canada, Australia, and Italy.
- Five album tracks have already exceeded 7 million Spotify streams each. Regularly averages over 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and emerges among the “Top 60 Most Listened To Artists in the World.”
The numbers speak for themselves. NF is a force to be reckoned with and he may have the largest non-Christian base for a Christian artist of all-time. This gives him the unique opportunity to be someone’s only ticket to hearing about God. Now whether that is a round-about-way, in the music, or through then discovering other Christian artists, the point still stands. It’s an extreme amount of responsibility, one that despite what you may think, he probably wrestles with.
We all know the label of “Christian rapper” doesn’t die, just ask Lecrae. So if NF absolutely kills it as the “Christian rapper” opening for Logic, that’s a big step forward. That’s good for NF, good for Christians, and good for Hip-Hop. It helps usher in and gives the next generation a chance to be heard. It also shows the mainstream that Christians don’t make corny music. Christian rock music has already infiltrated the mainstream for almost 20 years. Hip-Hop, aside from collaborations and some cosigns, not so much. Why does the world seem ready for it now?
So what do you think? Is NF the bridge to the sacred and secular in music? Sound off in the comments.