Analysis
Through the course of this research, the analysis that I have come up with is that Christian music always seems to be a few years behind the mainstream. Christian artists never seem to be able to escape that label, which prevents them from crossing over and achieving mainstream success. While it may have started off as the same kind of music that was popular during the 60s and 70s, it seemed to lag behind in the decades following. This is evidenced by the types of mainstream music that was popular during the time. With a few notable exceptions, there seems to be a cultural gap between Christian music culture and mainstream music culture. Christian music seems to stick to the same sounds that it rose out from in the 60s, in the sense that it seems to stick with the same soft rock/folk sound that it started with in the Jesus music era. It is that same worship style of music that makes Christian artists popular in their own genre, yet keeps them down in the mainstream as they are not usually taken seriously by the general public. It is interesting to see that when Christian music “steps out of its comfort zone” that it receives the most mainstream success, both in terms of financial and critical gain.
There is also a level of hypocrisy within the music industry in terms of an artist making a declaration of faith. If a Christian artist were to release a song or an album that is comparable to a mainstream artist, they would be ridiculed by their peers and fans for releasing something that was cheesy and very shallow. However, when a mainstream artist does it, they are touted as being very artistically brave. They are heralded for presenting a fairly shallow or simple view of faith, even when other artists are releasing music that is just as good sonically and is much more spiritually deep. A prime example of this comes very recently in the form of Chance the Rapper’s mixtape Coloring Book. The album discusses spiritual themes and adds a gospel flair to the hip-hop sound, similarly to what Kirk Franklin did in 1997 with “Stomp.” Coloring Book ironically also has Kirk Franklin featured on one of the songs, further proving its place in the Christian/mainstream crossover. Chance’s album was praised by critics for its themes, despite the fact that to a Christian, Coloring Book could be seen as having the same depth as a children’s song. Music such as that only seems to receive praise when it comes from an unlikely source, and further shows the sectionalization that exists within music.