Tony Cummings looks at the surprising emergence of CCM hitmakers DC TALK.

dc Talk

DC Talk are a group which even such august publications as Billboard (America's secular record industry weekly) now speak about as a bone fide, 64 carat sales phenomenon. Their three albums have so far achieved sales of over one million copies (no, that wasn't a famed Cross Rhythms misprint...one million copies). Such sales for a band who are still waiting for a big marketing push from a giant secular record company is very unusual. And for a band whose style of music, rap, has been considered too "harsh" by many US gospel radio stations is unique. Now though, as DC Talk's 'Free At Last' sits at number one in the US Christian chart (they knocked off Michael W Smith) many conservative programme controllers are having to eat their prejudices and play the deliciously danceable new album. Not that DC Talk are the Christian alternative to Public Enemy. For a long time the Washington trio have artfully and deliberately fused three musical elements. Toby McKeehan (rap), Kevin Smith (Rock) and Michael Tait (soul) together make a sound that has a hint of the streets but plenty of pop accessibility. DC (they reckon it stands for Decent Christian, not District Of Columbia) Talk won the first Dove Award ever given by a Gospel Music Association. Since then DC Talk have been nominated for a Grammy and six additional Doves. It seems only a matter of time with all this sales activity and recognition in the Christian counterculture before a secular giant will make a major push to see the band cross over. Yet Toby McKeehan is under no illusions that it will be easy. "We're in a dilemma. Rap is an explicit art form. If NWA and Ice Cube can get radio airplay and be explicitly vulgar, why can't we get radio airplay and be explicitly Christian?"

So how did three young men from respectable Christian homes enter a musical genre which, if the world's cherished stereotypes are to be retained, incites violence, talks dirty and speaks of a world where the streets are mean? Toby McKeehan takes up the explanation... "I went to a party with a guy named George Small, I'll never forget it, man. He introduced me to the stuff. (Sugarhill Gang's) "Rapper's Delight" had been out a while. It was a real party... all these brothers were out there dancing... I was just amazed by the funk. From there on, I was just in love with hip-hop and dance music in general."

Not only did all of DC Talk get raised in Christian homes but the soul/R&B element of the group, Michael "Comfy" Tait, is a preacher's kid. "I grew up in my father's Pentecostal church and that particular style of music (soul) dominated. I try to provide a quality R&B vocal sound. Since DC Talk strongly believes that 'if it's Christian, it ought to be better', we want to deliver a quality sound to a well-deserving audience. I personally want to be involved in lifting the quality level of Christian music, and DC Talk has given me that opportunity."

Being raised as a preacher's kid definitely had a positive effect on Michael. He knows the difference between having to be a Christian and simply enjoying being a Christian. By his own choice, he is enjoying living for the Lord, a lifestyle that has been highly influenced by his family.

"There are many pros and cons of being a preacher's kid," he says. "I was never forced to become a Christian. My parents lived a sanctified lifestyle that was so different from all the craziness of the world. Now I have chosen to adopt that lifestyle. It just makes sense, physically and spiritually." Does Michael regret not being allowed to go to all the parties and participate in other events that could have led to trouble? "There were times when I wished I didn't live in a preacher's home. Then I thought I should have been able to go to some parties and that sort of thing. But looking back, I regret none of that. I wouldn't trade the time now that my parents held their ground and if I had to do it all over again, I would want it to be the same way."

Amazingly for a rap and soul group, DC Talk met each other in an institution which from a British perspective might be perceived as a bastion of Bible Belt, right wing fundamentalism. Jerry Falwell's Liberty College was where McKeehan, Tait and Smith got together. Amazingly, Falwell, the deeply conservative preacher and politician even once gigged with DC Talk! At a party held by Jerry's son, the Rev Falwell made with the rhymes. Toby remembers, "He took the mike from me once and said, like 'I'm a rapper/doo doo doo'. I have a photo of us rapping in Falwell's back yard." Predating their appearances on the 'Yo! Ho! Ho!' Christmas hip-hop compilation a couple of years back, the trio cracked some Yuletide carols door-to-door at the college.

After Kevin and Michael jumped from Liberty's only contemporary Christian pop/rock group, The Connection Band, to become the rest of DC Talk, it was Toby's growing maturity in faith and dissatisfaction with mainstream rap that forged the way for their current direction.

"I guess I was growing closer to the Lord," emphasises McKeehan. As for the growing filthiness of his favourite music, he added, "It didn't really build me up as a person or as a Christian, especially. I felt there came a time in my life, as I was growing up, rap was growing in the opposite direction. I also saw at Liberty that there was a way where people could have fun and be entertained while you're talking about the Lord."

The white rapper and rocker and the black soul man were drawn together, not because of their specific musical styles, but because of the message in their music. Their first recorded song, "Heavenbound", written by McKeehan, led to a Nashville recording contract. In January of 1989, the three moved to Nashville and their debut album, 'DC Talk' for ForeFront Records, led to a tour opening for Christian rockers DeGarmo And Key.

By the time their second album 'Nu Thang' was released in 1991 the band had clocked up two more tours with DeGarmo And Key and were clearly a band with more commercial accessibility than other Christian rap bands like hardcore teams SFC and PID. Not that 'Nu Thang' was a wimp out. DC Talk as a whole said this about their album... "Our first album reflected where we were - Christian kids from Christian homes at a Christian college. 'Nu Thang' reflects the harsh realities of life. Many of the songs were literally written on the road, following counselling sessions with broken and hurting young people. We have matured in our ability to apply Christ's heart to everyday life. Although many warned us against an issue-oriented album for the marketplace, this is what was on our hearts - providing God's solutions for daily living."

Said Toby McKeehan to an American reporter in 1991: "The issues we hit on 'Nu Thang' are tough, but sin is sin, and we are to address these matters in love and give the solutions. Some of the issues may not be issues people are comfortable with. I mean, no one enjoys talking about abortion or racism or greed, but we gotta stand up to the world and let them know we're not down with what they call a good time or with their so-called morality."

Toby sums up his feelings by quoting a line from "When DC Talks", the opening rap on 'Nu Thang', "I'll break it down letter by letter, if it's Christian it ought to be bet-ter/Yo, omit a bit it should be the best/'cause if it's of the King ya know it's blessed!"

It was a 50-city tour of USA and Canada with America's top CCM superstar Michael W Smith which gave DC Talk the kind of coast-to-coast exposure they could hardly have dreamed of when they first made with the rhythm and rhyme.

Another significant step for the band was the exposure of their highly visual performances, zaniness and uncompromising lyrical message through video. DC Talk's long form home video, 'Rap, Rock & Soul', clearly defined the personalities of each member. It combined behind-the-scenes interviews with six music videos. Their video single, "Walls", caused a stir of attention when it premiered in Pulaski, TN (birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan) on Black Entertainment Television's 'Rap City' in honour of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. The video won a gold medal award in the New York International Film Festival and is quickly approaching gold status. It communicated the group's strong stand against racism with its lyrics, "No negotiation, to love a certain nation/All means all, with no discrimination."