The Gospel Hip Hop Christian Hip Hop Hall of Fame opened its doors for the first time on April 6th, 2024, at the historic New Black Wallstreet building in Stonecrest, Georgia. 

The culmination of months worth of work by Jay Williams and his nephew Chris, was ready to receive to its muses- the reason for its existence displayed on its walls for all to see. 

The creation of this hall was simple, to make a lane where there was none. To pay homage to those that had built the genre of Christian Hip Hop, from those in the background to the artists themselves. 

This is to be their home, a place where they are welcomed and recognized for their sacrifices and their achievements to further the Kingdom through the art of rhythm and voice. 

A week after its inauguration, Jay Williams sat down with Holy Culture to talk about the momentous occasion. 

Flipping the Narrative 

The story of the Hall starts in an unlikely place. Jay starts matter-of-factly:

“It’s crazy, honestly. 

Last year, his son was shot and killed, March 23rd. We had services on April 8th of last year. 

So, instead of dwelling and getting lost in the depression of the moment of that date every year, I wanted to flip it. 

The best way to flip this whole narrative, is to honor these other guys that people are overlooking, in honor of my son. Because when I did the Gospel Hip Hop Awards it was the same situation. It was looking at these other major platforms, when it comes to gospel hip hop, they have four artists do one song together, a five-minute set and that represents the whole culture of hip hop.

So I talked to Canton Jones and a few of my other friends, and I was like: “bro, I’m going to do the gospel hip hop awards.

My slogan is: if you don’t let me in your lane, Ima create my own. So if people won’t let us and acknowledge us, we don’t have to beg anyone, we’ll create our own platform.

And then when I saw the 50 years of hip hop, I was like man they are honoring all these legends on the secular side, nobody is honoring the gospel legends- and these dudes have been doing it longer, or just as long if not longer, than these secular guys. 

So once again, they won’t let us in their lane, Ima create our own. 

I didn’t want to wait until these guys died or passed on. People always wait until they are dead and gone and say, “Man, he was amazing. He was the best DJ, best rapper, or she was the best this and that.”

I said you know what? I’m gonna do something different, that nobody’s done, that nobody’s doing; I’m going to create the first and only Gospel Hip Hop- Christian Hip Hop Hall of Fame. The difference is that it is not just going to be for artists; I want everyone who is supporting the whole culture of hip-hop to be acknowledged. 

We have artists, we have DJs, we have CEOs, we have males, we have females, like it’s a movement that supports the entire genre of gospel hip hop vs. other platforms when you see the Hall of Fame is pretty much all artists. But you never hear about the people promoting these artists’ music; you don’t hear about the musicians that have played for these artists for twenty-thirty plus years that’s been with these people forever. You never hear about the people in the background, its always just that person in the front. 

I wanted to create something different where we could not just honor the artists, but I wanted to make sure we honored the DJs, people like Trig, who has the first and only Gospel Hip Hop Station on Sirius XM, that’s amazing. You have Urban D, who’s had FlavorFest for the past 20 years that’s amazing, you got KJ 52, who is still packing out arenas that’s amazing; and then you have BB Jay the Gospel Gangstaz, or Preachers in Disguise, and then you have  DJ Wade-O, DJ Supreme, Radikal, all these amazing DJs who have been pushing this genre of hip hop for 20+ years but no one really recognizes or acknowledges them.

God has truly done so many amazing things in my life. To be an inaugural inductee into the CHH/ Gospel Hip Hop Hall of Fame is up there.

Many of you know that Christian Hip Hop was the tool that God used for so much of the Christian Walk to stick for me. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/8DYcPpjMxk

— DJ Wade-O (@djwadeo) April 7, 2024

It takes more than an artist to be successful. If you don’t have a producer for that track, if you don’t have someone on the radio spinning your music no one would ever hear it. People need to know these DJs out here spinning this music; they need to know the people doing the tours going on, people that own these stations that are promoting their music, they need to know the whole genre. 

Because if you ask anybody about the hip hop genre, and they can name Big Daddy Cane, KRS-One, Kurtis Blow- but we ask the gospel genre about it and these people don’t know the roots of gospel hip hop. And there are so many young people, taking the torch and running, but they need to know who started this whole race.  

And I feel like with these legends, that we acknowledge, these are the people they should be paying homage to. Because it wasn’t for people like BB Jay, Canton Jones, and Preachers in Disguise all these guys that started this, it wouldn’t be where it is now. 

I really wanted to do a Hall of Fame to really put a stamp on this industry. Let them know, again, you don’t have to acknowledge us; we’re gonna acknowledge ourselves. 

You don’t gotta put us in your hall of fame. We have our own. We don’t have to beg you to be over there, we have our own home, our own foundation. 

And it made a statement when that happened.”

The Fruit of Their Labor

As Jay continues on to speak of the importance of creating the space, he begins to talk about the inductees. 

As he reaches out to each one, they start to vouch for each other, and ask to include others not yet named.

The spirit of the comradery fills the story of laborers and servants seeking and wanting to lift others up who have also made great strides for God and music. 

The passion of the project was felt by those being honored and it fueled Jay even more to finish the work he had begun. 

“The biggest thing for me was to see the success of it. Seeing their expressions, when these men walked into the Hall of Fame with their families, wives, and children and seeing their pictures on that wall. And to see these guys crying, and seeing the wives in there, who have been doing this for years with their husband and kids and just burst out crying. 

Because now people can see the fruit of their labor now. Cuz you see the kids, they don’t know why their parents are always gone. Now they can see: wow my dad is somebody, or wow my mom is somebody.

So it kinda validates a lot of these guys’ sacrifices over the years. And this is the first one, there is more to come.”

The Hall 

The hall itself is a room located in the historic New Black Wall Street Building in Stonecrest, Georgia. 

“With the history of the New Black Wall Street, I was like, ‘wow.’ I went into the building, somebody was having a birthday party or something, and I was like: yo, this would be a dope spot to have the Hall of Fame in, because the history of the building by itself is amazing. 

And when you walk in the building, just see the background and the foundation of all these people in this building, I was like: wow, I would love to make history in a historic building.”  

And so he did. 

Everything in the hall was carefully designed and crafted by Jay and his nephew. Each inductee had a picture in the hall, under which was a QR code embedded with the person’s place on the hall’s site as well as their social media links so the viewer could get to know each one. 

New inductees will be added every two years, to leave room for the Gospel Music Awards which is also owned by Jay. In the next year he hopes the hall will have a building of its own apart from the New Black Wall Street, a place to continue carving the path it has started. 

For now, the hall can be rented out for events, tiny desk concerts, and more. 

A Servant’s Heart

Perhaps the most striking thing about the whole interview with Jay, besides his infectious laughter, was his humility. 

One picture that is absent in the Hall is one of himself; despite being its owner and creator, Jay doesn’t feel like his picture belongs up there- his servant heart chooses instead to find satisfaction in honoring those that he grew up listening to, and those who made that possible. 

The building of the Hall is, without a doubt, a significant moment in CHH history, the planting of the proverbial flag that says: make a lane for the people of God; here is where we proclaim His glory through our works and love for each other. 

And a work of love it is. 

From Jay to all the people who have made Christian Hip Hop what it is today, the perfect tribute to the work they have done, in loving memory of his beloved son. 

To see a full list of inductees please visit https://www.theghhchhhallofame.com/inductees

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