If you're a fan of either Christian hip-hop or rock & roll, then there's a good chance this year's Grammy nominations left you a bit befuddled. Personally, I'm a fan of both, so for me, the nominations were...a double whammy. Before I explain, please allow me to offer some personal background for perspective's sake.

From the late nineties until the fall of 2003, I worked for Squint Entertainment and (then) Gotee Records--two labels whose artist rosters included faith-based hip-hop acts. While at Squint, I had the privilege of doing P.R. for Southern Cal. hip-hop collective L.A. Symphony, and during my Gotee years, I represented GRITS, John Reuben, DJ Maj, Verbs and Mars Ill. Christian hip-hop had come a long way since the days of my youth when I enjoyed the raps of mid-'80s pioneer Michael Peace. L.A. Symphony, GRITS and others have even been enjoying exposure on general market radio, in major mainstream publications and on television networks such as MTV2 and BET.

Faith-based hip-hop's profile remains on the rise with artists receiving unprecedented Christian pop radio airplay (specifically at the CHR format) and now a surge of Grammy nominations. Seeing three Christian hip-hop acts receive Grammy nominations would normally put me in quite the festive mood. Just one problem: They weren't nominated in a hip-hop or even urban music category. In light of this, I felt compelled to write an editorial for the February issue of CCM. And with the Grammy Awards just over a week away, I'd like to share it with you here...

THE CONVOLUTION OF HIPROCKSOUL?

Is your favorite hip-hop artist currently nominated for a GRAMMY in a Rock category? If you're a fan of Christian hip-hop, then there's a good chance the answer to that question is, "Yes." As a matter of fact, this year there are more hip-hop artists nominated in the "Best Rock Gospel Album" category than actual rock artists! Consider the nominees:

GRITS--Dichotomy B (Gotee)

The Cross Movement--Higher Definition (Cross Movement)

Fresh I.E.--Truth is Fallin' in Tha Streetz (SOAR/Red Sea)

Audio Adrenaline--Until My Heart Caves In (ForeFront)

Day of Fire--Day of Fire (Essential)

Perhaps NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) created the "Rock Gospel" category as a catch all for both rock and urban gospel? Think again. There are also GRAMMY Awards given out for the best "Pop/Contemporary Gospel," "Contemporary Soul Gospel," "Traditional Soul Gospel," "Gospel Choir or Chorus" and "Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel" albums.

This isn't the first time a hip-hop act has been nominated in the "Rock Gospel" category, but this moves things beyond a "rare peculiarity." And with rock & roll experiencing unprecedented popularity in the Christian music world, this miscue's timing couldn't be more ironic.

While CCM Magazine celebrates the increasing profile of faith-based hip-hop, we feel it's important that the genre be honored for the great art form it is. So our hat is off to GRITS, The Cross Movement and Fresh I.E. for their recent GRAMMY nominations, but we think they deserve better...as do the three rock artists whose albums were prohibited by non-rock albums. And though many might argue the obvious fix is to start honoring hip-hop in the "Contemporary Soul Gospel" field (along with the likes of Mary Mary and J Moss), we believe hip-hop more than deserves its own category.

This year's GRAMMY Awards take place on Wednesday, Feb. 8 and will be broadcast live on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

(Do you have an opinion on this? If so, I'd enjoy hearing from you. You can email me at: jay@ccmmagazine.com)

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