At Flavor Fest 2022, Pastor Phil had a chance to catch up with CHH pioneer, Soldiers for Christ co-founder, Soup the Chemist.

Discovering Christian Hip Hop

“I always thought the worlds had to be separate.  Hip Hop was what I did.  Church was what I had to do.  When those worlds actually collided and I saw God loved Hip Hop too!  That blew my mind,” Pastah J says of hearing the Cross Movement.  After that, he said he had to learn as much as he could.  As it would happen Christian Hip Hop has been around just about as long as Hip Hop.

Soup the Chemist

The SFC founding member opened up about how he got into rapping.  “When I first got saved, I was a B-Boy and DJ.  My equipment got stolen.  I just started writing rhymes.  I had some stuff [equipment], so I just started writing to the breaks,” explains Soup. 

As he grew in the faith, Soup began moving away from secular music, “I was trying to get away from the hip hop thing at the time because it wasn’t edifying my soul.  But I never liked choir music.  I had nothing to really listen to.  So, I started writing my own rhymes just for me.” 

It wasn’t until he was listening to his music in his car and other people started responding to it, did Soup realize he could use his rhyming gifts in ministry.  After hearing Dave Guzman of JC and the Boyz on the radio playing CHH and talking about God, Soup took a leap of faith and called in to the station.   This would lead to Soup recording a four-track ep the following day.  And the rest, as they say, is CHH history.

Soup isn’t just a rapper.  He’s also a chemist.  Even producing songs for his fellow CHH architects Dynamic Twins.   What makes him legendary?  “The tenacity to stay and the pressure to be that pioneer.  The purity of an artist who is getting what’s on their heart out.  Label; no label.   I’ve got to get this off my heart and spirit because I’m called to this.  And building the community for this [CHH],” Pastor Phil explains. 

When asked what his favorite bars are from his catalog, Soup says the song Language Over Imagination.  “If rhyming from the heart is a part of history, then go ahead and chalk me up as the antiquated emcee, who wakes up early just to pluck first fruits from creativity, ingests and regurgitates fresh flows that will give them vision like bifocals.”

You can stream CHH legend’s classic albums wherever you stream your music and check out his new music now on Bandcamp.  If you want to learn more about the history of Christian Hip Hop be sure to check out Thru My Windows, The History of Holy Hip an audiobook by Soup the Chemist when it drops.

You can catch all-new episodes of Church on the Block Sundays at 10 am est. | 9 am cst. on Holy Culture Radio Sirius XM Channel 154.  And follow our hosts Pastor Phil, Pastah J, and DJ Ruckus on Instagram. 

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