The Mixture of Faith And Rap Through Caleb Gordon
24-year old rapper Caleb Gordon has recently come to fame in the last few years due to his cutting edge version of Christian music. Differing from the norm, Gordon uses modern beats and equipment you would hear in a normal rap song, but makes his lyrics solely around Jesus and how he worships God as he gives his life to Christ. Caleb Gordon has found a way to blend Hip-hop and faith and turn it into something the new generation can relate to.
The Orlando native started in music when him and his brother used to freestyle. Gordon’s brother went to the studio a lot but one day, Caleb Gordon decided to go with him. Recording music for his first time felt natural to him, since he would freestyle at the lunch table everyday. Immediately, he loved the idea of making music.
After Gordon graduating high school, he continued making music, but wasn’t making christian music just yet. It was the usual rap you would hear everywhere, but it just didn’t sit right with the him. Caleb Gordon felt as though the music he was making at the time was dragging him down. Sooner rather than later, he realized that making music that lifted him up instead of dragging him down was the better option for himself.
Christian music wasn’t something that just came to Caleb out of nowhere. He actually always had his faith because of his father being a pastor. Though his faith never really unwavered, the Orlando rapper wasn’t listening to Christian rap in his headphones throughout his early years. His favorite rappers were Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. They were his influence into the style of rap he uses in his music today.
Caleb Gordon is an independent artist, which means he isn’t signed to a record label. Though it is freeing and lets you have your own creative ideas, it can be harder to promote your own music that way. Luckily social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok exist to help promote his music himself. On TikTok he has over 550k followers and over six million likes on the video-based app. These platforms have built him fans and listeners not just in christian faith, but also others who may not worship the same God as Gordon, but still like his music.
Caleb Gordon is not just about himself. His goal is to build a community of artists and creatives who are striving for greatness. He wants the music industry to have a sort of resemblance to heaven, that’s his dream.