phat mass

Hip Hop Music Turns Hearts to Christ

By Henrietta Gomes
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 6/28/07)

With the stigma placed on it by many secular artists it is no surprise that hip hop music often gets a bad rap. As a genre of music that is perhaps the most defiled by vulgar profanities and the glorification of lust and violence, faithful disciples of Christ have started a revolution to transform the tainted musical genre.
While it may not make it to mainstream radio in the near future, that is beside the point. Evangelization, conversion and empowering Catholics to courageously live out their faith are some of the explicit themes of Catholic rap artists. There are no subliminal messages or underlying themes. It is the familiar in-your-face style of rap music placed at the service of the Gospel.
“God has given us gifts and talents and we should use everything we’re good at to glorify Him,” said Dust Sieber, founder of Phatmass.com, an apologetics Web site geared to youths and young adult audiences. The simple, but profound logic is that if someone is good at making music, they can make music to glorify God, he said. Phatmass, founded in 2000, has produced albums for various Catholic rap artists including Point 5 Covenant, Sammy Blaze and Akalyte.
“All the music that comes out of Phatmass is for evangelization and catechesis first,” said Sieber. Christ and His Church “should be glorified first and that’s why we’re making music.” Catholic hip-hop music, he said generally caters to Catholics. It draws the audience to God and enlightens its listeners about the faith.
In an effort to evangelize, the hip-hop and rap music found on Phatmass is marked by unabashedly Catholic lyrics. The Eucharist, the lives of the saints, love of the Blessed Mother, and the universal call to holiness are just some of the common themes among songs produced by Catholic rappers.
Sieber started the Web site when he returned to his Catholic roots after attending non-denominational services. He remembered a preacher at one of the services as extremely anti-Catholic. The experience provoked many questions and after reading and doing research, Sieber returned to the faith.
Shortly after his reversion, Sieber, who works as an analyst for Delta Airlines in Forth Worth, Texas, felt called to create an apologetics Web site to teach and defend the faith. Phatmass now has close to 3,600 registered members.
As someone who was immersed in the hip-hop culture, Sieber struggled with the conflict between his newfound faith and the secular hip-hop music that he once enjoyed. He eventually threw away more than 100 offensive CDs. He did not, however, have to abandon the genre of music all together.
Soon after the launch of Phatmass, a deejay from Philadelphia, known as DJ86, stumbled upon the Web site and posted a message on the forum, asking if there were any rap artists writing Catholic lyrics. For years prior, DJ86 had been involved in the production of rap music authored by “thugs,” but after a revival of faith and a return to the Catholic Church in full force, he decided he could not “be a platform to spread that negativity,” he said. For DJ86, Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Stan Fortuna was a “beacon of light.”
Collaboration with zealous young Catholics wanting to spread the faith and empower their peers to genuinely live the faith led to a compilation album entitled “Massmatics” with songs from various artists including two Catholic priests Father Fortuna and Father Claude Burns from the Diocese of Evansdale, Ill., who serves as the spiritual director of Phatmass.
By making beats for Catholic rap artists, DJ86 is striving to fulfill his call to evangelize. “Instead of standing on a street corner and preaching this is a different way to do it,” he said. The format of rap music allows the artists to “take doctrines of the Church and rap about them,” said DJ86, who makes beats for many of the artists. Sieber said, it is easy to “communicate many lyrics.” With rap music, “You’re basically able to deliver a targeted message. It’s direct and people will hear it. It’s a creative way to communicate with young people,” he said.
It was that desire to communicate the faith with young people that led David Rey to start writing Catholic lyrics in the late ’90s before the start of Phatmass. Growing up as a Baptist in Chicago, Rey, known as The Apologist, enjoyed writing rap songs and collaborating with friends to make music. However, after his conversion to Catholicism he gave up rapping and making music. It was during his missionary work in Nogales, Mexico, that he had the concrete realization of the need for Catholic rap music.
“I was washing dishes and outside I could hear DJ Quik,” said Rey, who recognized the song “Tonight” from his pre-conversion days. “It’s a bad song,” he said about the message. He was amazed and shocked that the hip-hop culture had reached the shanty outskirts of a poor Mexican town. Another time while at Mass in the same town, he could hear the music of Snoop Dogg wafting through the walls of the church from outside. He knew that the people could not understand the messages of the songs, and he felt strongly called to take action. He started rapping again, only this time with unabashedly Catholic lyrics that taught and defended the faith. It led to his first album “A Sign for the Times,” which includes a song about praying the rosary. “If a person likes hip-hop music, they’re still going to listen to it,” he said, noting that the key is to change the message.
“I’m just making music and it’s Catholic … I’m just happy to be a Catholic,” Rey said. Now when he writes lyrics it automatically comes out Catholic, said Rey, who mentioned that one of his listeners told him that he had responded to the call to join the Carthusians because of one of his songs.
Catholic rap artists and members of Phatmass make one thing clear — Catholic rap does not pretend to be liturgical and has no place in the Mass. Hip-hop music in the liturgy is “never an option for us … the Mass is sacred,” said DJ86.
“I like hip-hop, but I’ll admit it does not produce feelings of reverence,” said Sieber.
“Mass is not entertainment … Kids don’t want to be entertained at Mass.” It is perfectly fine to leave Mass and continue the renewal of mind by listening to Catholic rap throughout the day, but in the liturgy, he said, “no way.”
“Phatmass isn’t trying to bring hip-hop into church, we’re trying to bring the church into hip-hop.”
Phatmass also launched the website www.59beads.com, dedicated to helping the faithful pray the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet.
The Apologist’s music can be found at www.catholic-rap.com.
For a list of other artists or for more information about Phatmass, go to www.phatmass.com.

Henrietta Gomes can be reached at hgomes@catholicherald.com.