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Da T.R.U.T.H. Puts Stellar Awards On Blast For Blackballing
Christian Hip Hop Article By Amber Herd, EEW Magazine Entertainment Reporter
Christian Hip Hop Article By Amber Herd, EEW Magazine Entertainment Reporter
It was an unprecedented moment in gospel music history. In 2012, for the first time, the Stellar Awards featured
a Hip Hop-focused performance led by three men: Canton Jones, Da T.R.U.T.H., and Lecrae.
Though the audience went wild and the performance was among the most buzzed about of the year,
apparently, the executives behind the curtain were not impressed. Two years later, details are emerging that
cast a dark shadow over the gospel industry’s attitudes toward Christian rap.
“We don’t want any Hip Hop.”
According to Da T.R.U.T.H., who won the “Best Hip Hop Album” at the 2013 Stellar Awards, this is the response
he received when calling to secure performance slots at the Stellars for some of the artists on his roster.
The 36-year-old newly minted CEO of his own full-service entertainment company, Mixed Bag Entertainment,
which recently signed gospel group, Virtue, shared behind-the-scenes details with DJ Wade-O Radio.
“We call the Stellar Awards this year. Now this is the first year I’m calling the Stellar Awards on behalf of [Mixed
Bag Entertainment]. I’m not calling for myself. I’ve never really had to talk to them for myself,” he explained.
“So this is the first year I’m coming in on behalf of the label and not the Hip Hop contingent of the label, not like
just the rappers.”
But despite his efforts to promote singers, it didn’t go well. The flat-out rejection came quickly.
Why, though?
Da T.R.U.T.H. surmised, “It’s the fact that they are associated with us and they got that little edge on ‘em. Guilty
by association. They in trouble, ‘cause they with us.”
Us versus them seems to be the pervasive dynamic that still plagues the gospel music genre. The very urban
sound, aggressive beats and lyrical flow rap brings to the table proves too much to digest for traditionalists.
“It’s a church bubble,” Da T.R.U.T.H. told DJ Wade-O. “That’s what the church has done. They have
compartmentalized in such a way that they feel very much justified in having predisposed biases to anything
that’s guilty by association.”
The outspoken rapper who just released his new single “Loud and Clear” featuring Tedashii and Capital Kings,
in the same interview revealed a 2012 conversation with a Stellar Awards executive following the historic Hip
Hop performance.
a Hip Hop-focused performance led by three men: Canton Jones, Da T.R.U.T.H., and Lecrae.
Though the audience went wild and the performance was among the most buzzed about of the year,
apparently, the executives behind the curtain were not impressed. Two years later, details are emerging that
cast a dark shadow over the gospel industry’s attitudes toward Christian rap.
“We don’t want any Hip Hop.”
According to Da T.R.U.T.H., who won the “Best Hip Hop Album” at the 2013 Stellar Awards, this is the response
he received when calling to secure performance slots at the Stellars for some of the artists on his roster.
The 36-year-old newly minted CEO of his own full-service entertainment company, Mixed Bag Entertainment,
which recently signed gospel group, Virtue, shared behind-the-scenes details with DJ Wade-O Radio.
“We call the Stellar Awards this year. Now this is the first year I’m calling the Stellar Awards on behalf of [Mixed
Bag Entertainment]. I’m not calling for myself. I’ve never really had to talk to them for myself,” he explained.
“So this is the first year I’m coming in on behalf of the label and not the Hip Hop contingent of the label, not like
just the rappers.”
But despite his efforts to promote singers, it didn’t go well. The flat-out rejection came quickly.
Why, though?
Da T.R.U.T.H. surmised, “It’s the fact that they are associated with us and they got that little edge on ‘em. Guilty
by association. They in trouble, ‘cause they with us.”
Us versus them seems to be the pervasive dynamic that still plagues the gospel music genre. The very urban
sound, aggressive beats and lyrical flow rap brings to the table proves too much to digest for traditionalists.
“It’s a church bubble,” Da T.R.U.T.H. told DJ Wade-O. “That’s what the church has done. They have
compartmentalized in such a way that they feel very much justified in having predisposed biases to anything
that’s guilty by association.”
The outspoken rapper who just released his new single “Loud and Clear” featuring Tedashii and Capital Kings,
in the same interview revealed a 2012 conversation with a Stellar Awards executive following the historic Hip
Hop performance.
MARCH 10, 2014
One of the “chief guys” at the Stellar Awards, according to Da T.R.U.T.H., said of the performance with Canton
and Lecrae, “Oh, I loved it, but I hated Da T.R.U.T.H.’s boots.”
In his interview response, Da T.R.U.T.H. rebutted, “What that shows you, really, is where their thinking is. And
this year, they just came out and said, ‘We don’t want anymore rap. We don’t like that.’”
Like it or not, Da T.R.U.T.H. has no plans of ceasing his efforts to make inroads into gospel music, among other
places.
“We’re not gone leave them out. We’re not gone leave the gospel music industry out,” he said. “So we got our
own lane. We got our own space. We got crazy ideas about where we’re going, where we don’t necessarily
need them, right? But we want them to be a part, because we don’t want to do to them what they’ve done to us,
which is marginalize us."
and Lecrae, “Oh, I loved it, but I hated Da T.R.U.T.H.’s boots.”
In his interview response, Da T.R.U.T.H. rebutted, “What that shows you, really, is where their thinking is. And
this year, they just came out and said, ‘We don’t want anymore rap. We don’t like that.’”
Like it or not, Da T.R.U.T.H. has no plans of ceasing his efforts to make inroads into gospel music, among other
places.
“We’re not gone leave them out. We’re not gone leave the gospel music industry out,” he said. “So we got our
own lane. We got our own space. We got crazy ideas about where we’re going, where we don’t necessarily
need them, right? But we want them to be a part, because we don’t want to do to them what they’ve done to us,
which is marginalize us."
(L to R) Da T.R.U.T.H., Canton Jones, Lecrae: Historic Stellar Awards 2012 Performance