I recently had the good fortune (or was it divine intervention?) to run into Christian rap artist D’Aych (pronounced DH) on Twitter. This led to a review of his latest mixtape, “Supply & Demand Vol. 2” on ReverbNation.

Being that this was my first real experience listening to Christian rap, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised to hear a mixture of good solid rap with an uplifting message of hope. In addition, D’Aych shared with me how he got to where he is today, and it’s a truly magnificent tale of salvation and redemption. I will include my conversation with D’Aych at the end of this article.

D’Aych’s ReverbNation site holds all the songs in his Supply & Demand Vol. 2. Each one has sophisticated lyrics that combine the struggle of the streets with praising the Lord. What I really liked about his music was that this wasn’t a sanitized, whitewashed version of rap. Actually, it was gritty and heartfelt as regular rap. The difference is that D’Aych is unafraid and unashamed to openly give the glory to the Lord. Somehow, he combines this honesty with real rap music to create a very unique and real experience.

One of the most moving songs is “Beautiful You Are,” an amazing song praising women of all ages and races, and honoring them with respect. “Heaven” is a beautiful instrumental track. “Celebration” is just that, a celebration of all the Jesus has done for him and his team. “You Can’t Run, You Can’t Hide” is a frank look at unbelievers in the days of the Rapture. “Get Down” is awesome and quirky; all in all, this is uplifting, fun, moving and honest rap, and I enjoyed each track.

But the real voice in this post comes from D’Aych himself. His words explain his music and belief much better than I could, so I will let him speak for himself:

I heard in one of the songs about you being in prison and that’s when you were converted.
I don’t have a problem sharing what God has done for me at.  I was sentenced to 4 years in prison for armed robbery & gun possession.  My best friend who I ran the streets with was facing life in prison.  In order for him to get his time reduced he turned over valuable information to the Milwaukee Police Department about some of his closest “friends”.  I happened to be one of those “friends”.  However, I take full responsibility for my actions.  I wasn’t raised in the streets, but I was raised in an environment where the street life was glorified & embraced.  When I say that Jesus saved my life, he did it in more than one way.  If it weren’t for the experience of serving time in prison I wouldn’t have the desire to serve humanity through music.  I gave my life to Jesus Christ in solitary confinement during the first year of my prison sentence.  It was the darkest time of my life, but it was also the first step towards becoming who God has predestined for me to be.  By accepting Jesus into my life as my lord & savior it meant that I took 1 step away from the graveyard & a closer step towards my destiny.  It’s been a life changing experience so far…but this is just the beginning.  #FollowMe

When did you become a Christian?
I was raised by a Christian woman.  My father was unsaved, but my mother taught us what it meant to live a life that God would be proud of outside of the four walls of a church.  I was filled with the holy spirit at the age of 4.  Its actually one of the first memories I have as a child.  Once I became old enough to make my own decisions about what I wanted to do with my life, I began walking on the path of destruction.  It took something as drastic as sitting in a prison cell for me to realize that I needed to know God.  I couldn’t make it to heaven off of the relationship that my mother has with God.  I have to know him personally for myself.  I began seriously walking with God in 2003, and I haven’t looked back since.  Some ppl call it “jailhouse religion”….but I haven’t been back to prison since I was released in 2007.  So what do they call that?  Lol!

Tell me why you chose rap to share the Christian message.
I chose rap to share the gospel of Jesus Christ because rap music is the primary language that my generation speaks & understands.  In order to reach them where they are I have to speak their language.  The music is just the bait to reel them in to hear the truth.  Sometimes your life is the only bible that people will read, so I channel it all through rap music to share with the world.  My goal is to be able to share it with millions of people all around the world.  The notoriety & the money is secondary to sharing the love of God with people who are hopeless.

I’d like to give S/O to #Muzikkzone #ArtistUnited and #D_AychPromoNY for helping me to reach more people around the world.  #DreamBigWorkHard

• D’Aych on Twitter
• D’Aych on ReverbNation
• D’Aych’s blog on ReverbNation