In years past, Billboard has lumped Christian artists and rappers such as Lecrae into Christian and gospel categories, but because Christian rap has become so successful as of late, superstars such as Lecrae tend to dominate the charts while traditional gospel efforts languish underneath layers of hip-hop. As such, Billboard no longer will classify Christian rappers and hip-hop artists as gospel, though they will (of course) remain in the Christian subgenre. While Lecrae’s label, Reach Records, supports the move, some suggest Billboard isn’t going far enough.
“Christian and gospel are not musical genres, rather labels that let a consumer know the content in the lyrics are Christian-based,” says Chad Horton, who cofounded the site Rapzilla. “Christian hip-hop is its own subgenre, which now often outsells most top-selling gospel and Christian titles because it’s finally getting the visibility that it’s fought for all of these years.” (Christianity Today)