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87-557: Formerly Known is the second mixtape by American Christian hip hop artist Andy Mineo , and his first under the Reach Records label. It was released as a free digital download on September 9, 2011. Formerly known as C-Lite, Mineo dropped this stage name when he signed to Reach in July 2011. The album title is based on three concepts: Mineo was formerly known as "C-Lite," God intimately foreknows all of humanity before birth, and Mineo

174-520: A 50% stake in Casablanca (US) in 1977 (with the remaining 50% in 1980), Pickwick in 1978, and Decca (UK) in 1980 (the latter acquisition basically brought PolyGram full circle, see the HDD section above). PolyGram acquired United Distribution Corporation (UDC) in 1973, and changed its name to Phonodisc, Inc., and signed international distribution deals with MCA and 20th Century Records in 1976. In

261-826: A Stellar Award), Emcee N.I.C.E. & Jor'Dan Armstrong. In April 2022, with the increased demand for Christian Hip Hop and Rhythm & Praise, Sirius XM announced the launch of Holy Culture Radio (www.holyculture.net/radio), where audiences could listen throughout the day to faith-inspired music and enjoy any of the fourteen shows within the channel. To date, Holy Culture is a go-to destination for all things Christian Hip Hop. Various prominent mainstream hip hop artists who profess through some of their music to be Christians (including Kanye West , Nas , DMX and others), have incorporated Christian symbols and messages into their music and videos through images, lyrical content and overarching themes. The 2002 Nas hit song and music video " One Mic ", featured obvious references to his Christianity in

348-412: A classical music label along with Decca Records and Deutsche Grammophon. By 1985, PolyGram had returned to profitability. Wing Records was reincarnated in 1987 and became a very popular label over the following years, spawning the careers of Tony! Toni! Toné! and former Miss America , Vanessa Williams ; the label was discontinued in the mid-1990s. Fontana was revived in the U.S. in 1989, but only for

435-599: A distributor in the Netherlands. By 1931, his company Hollandsche Decca Distributie ( HDD ) had become exclusive Decca distributor for all of the Netherlands and its colonies. Over the course of the 1930s, HDD put together its own facilities for A&R , recording, and manufacturing. HDD was commercially successful during World War II because of the absence of American and British competition. Van Zoelen wanted to sell to Philips so that HDD would have sufficient financial backing when their major competitors returned after

522-584: A group. Grapetree Records was the first Christian rap label founded by Knolly Williams and Jeff Adams 1994. Gotee Records formed in 1994, co-founded by dc Talk member Toby McKeehan , better known as TobyMac, making it the first record label marketed explicitly for Christian hip hop and R&B that was backed by a major label. The label was among the first to market the Contemporary Christian music market through distribution at Christian bookstores and playing on Christian radio . In 2004,

609-572: A large factory in Baarn and factories in France, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Nigeria, and Brazil. PPI played an important role in the introduction of the long-playing vinyl record to Europe. Columbia introduced their LP record in 1948, and Philips presented its first LP at a record retailers' convention in 1949. Philips' commitment to LP technology was an important factor in its 1951–1961 deal with Columbia. In 1962, PPI and DGG formed

696-463: A lengthy exchange about Christian rap (rap being the core element of hip hop), with Dr. Aniol arguing that the style is sinful and inadequate for Christian messages, with Shai Linne responding that the musical messaging of hip hop is relative, being interpreted differently by people from different backgrounds. In the early 2000s, rap artists of the Roman Catholic faith began emerging. Today,

783-624: A manifestation of the Holy Spirit speaking through them. The Brazilian gospel rap movement sees itself as divinely favored over the fallen state of rap in the US and other parts of the world, and sees its origins in the Bronx which they see as similar to their own tough neighborhoods. This reflects the gospel rap movement's emphasis on neighborhood and seeking God and opportunities for their neighborhoods. PolyGram Later on, PolyGram expanded into

870-399: A manufacturing-only business plan. (In hindsight, analysts have pointed out how Philips ultimately benefitted from the manufacture and sale of blank CDs, which played a significant part in the music piracy that began to affect the industry in the early 2000s.) After weeks of speculation, on May 22, 1998, Philips announced that they would sell PolyGram to Seagram for $ 10 billion. Some of

957-631: A mixture of hip hop, rock and gospel music in their songs. Christian hip hop is also embraced and performed in the United Kingdom, by Gospel rappers including: Jahaziel, Dwayne Tryumf, Guvna B, Triple O, Sammy G, Simply Andy, MpFree and Just C. In the UK, Christian hip hop is often merged with a music style known as grime , which gives the music a different sound from American hip hop. Many agree that grime music originated in London's black community and

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1044-539: A number of active Catholic rappers and DJs are involved in what is known as the "Catholic hip hop scene". Fr. Stan Fortuna is the most notable in the scene found nation continue doing the Catholic hip-hop. Lutheran hip hop artists include Andy Pokel, who in 2017 launched the Here I Stand album based on the events of Reformation Day , as well as Flame , whose album Christ for You , focuses on Lutheran doctrines such as

1131-401: A personal favorite. Wildes listed "Fools Gold", featuring Sho Baraka and Swoope, and "Michael Jackson", featuring Thi'sl, Rich Perez, R-Swift, and Bubba Watson, as the two songs which he liked the best. "Michael Jackson" sampled a line from Kanye West and was based around the concept of Christians being former sinners who were "bad real bad Michael Jackson ". Wildes noted the humorous intent of

1218-763: A second album in 1991, titled And Now the Mission Continues . The trend of rap artists blending faith and rap continued in the 1990s, with D.O.C. (Disciples of Christ) who emerged from Oklahoma as well as the Gospel Gangstaz from Compton and South Central Los Angeles. In 1991, JC Crew emerged featuring Maximillian (West Coast beat box champion) and T-Bone. More Christian rap artists include Dynamic Twins, Freedom of Soul, IDOL King, Apocalypse, 12th Tribe, and Holy Alliance. 12th Tribe and Holy Alliance were produced by Scott Blackwell of MYX Records . S.F.C.'s (Sup, QP, DJ Dove) 1992 album Phase III

1305-472: A short while. Today, Fontana Distribution is an independent label distribution unit of Universal Music Group. Vertigo Records still remained a rare U.S. PolyGram label, as most of its music was from Europe. In April 1982, PolyGram assumed operational and managerial control of 20th Century Fox Records from its similarly named parent , which had just recently been bought out by oil magnate Marvin Davis , who

1392-488: A track entitled "Jesus Christ (The Gospel Beat)" by Queens, New York artist McSweet. The first full-length Christian hip hop album, Bible Break , by Oklahoma artist Stephen Wiley , was released in 1985, with the title track becoming a hit on Christian radio in 1986. Other early Christian hip recording artists from the mid-1980s included P.I.D. (Preachas in Disguise), who recorded to funky rock rhythms, as well as JC &

1479-549: A way of reaching the youth and mainstream culture. In 2003 DJ/Producer Vic Padilla shared his love for Christian Hip Hop with then KRUX FM Program Director Lee- and was subsequently asked to host a show he dubbed Holy Culture Radio. Fans would have to stay up to odd hours to listen, as the show was only broadcast live. Vic then partnered up with JZ Designs to bring HolyCultureRadio.com to life- bringing fans 24/7 access to Christian Hip Hop. In 2008, Holy Culture Radio partnered with The Corelink Solution , and James Rosseau (Trig), and

1566-504: A whole, with more artists outside of Lecrae such as Andy Mineo , Gawvi , Wande , Shepherd, 1K Phew, Swoope, Bizzle , Derek Minor and others receiving commercial notoriety in film, television and gaming. The Stellar Awards did something unprecedented at its radio awards main show when it opened up with hip hop and featured performances with DJ Dwight Stone who won "Gospel Announcer of the Year", Miz Tiffany (first CHH female nominated for

1653-459: A year later launched HolyCulture.net ; a place where listeners could get the latest news, videos, and interviews from their favorite Christian artists. Artists like Lecrae , who released his album Anomaly on September 9, 2014, through Reach Records .The album achieved mainstream success as it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of over 88,000 copies in

1740-597: Is a thing now!" The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has commissioned two rap videos— Kaunis Jeesus and Hoosianna . Latin hip-hop is a subgenre of Latin music and Christian hip hop, taking influence from Latin rapa s well as inP uerto Rican In Brazil, gospel rap comes out of Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelical Protestant movements, and emphasizes the message of the Gospel and salvation through faith over black politics and identity. Gospel rappers view their music as divinely ordained, and believe their lyrics are

1827-603: Is also considered a pioneer of Christian pop rap , with his first rap solo being "Ain't It Pretty" (1985). CCM 's first rap hit by a blue-eyed soul singer and/or duo, "The Wall" was later released on Gibson's successful album Change of Heart (1988), and featured MC Hammer (previously as the Holy Ghost Boys ). Other tracks included the hit "Love Come Down" and "In Too Deep" from Jesus Loves Ya (1990). Gibson also collaborated with MC Peace on "Enough Is Enough" (1990), "Happy to Know Jesus" (1992) and "You Are

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1914-485: Is no identifiable Christian hip hop market, as the majority of Christian hip hop has been underground, or marketed towards the mainstream Christian music scene. In Australia, a multi-denominational group of Christian hip hop artists, led by Mistery from Brethren , have started a hip hop church, Krosswerdz. The church has been modeled on Crossover Church in Tampa, Florida. A small Christian hip hop scene has also emerged in

2001-689: Is otherwise regarded as illicit has sparked controversy over the validity of the religious messages expressed through the music. Some Christian listeners hold that "rap music, because of what it inherently communicates, is incompatible with the Christian Gospel", and attack the use of Christian themes and symbols in mainstream music as being disingenuous. On the other hand, "since the mid-1990s Michael Eric Dyson and others have pointed to some cultural sensibilities shared by Christian churches and hip hop music; namely male privilege , middle-class biases, sexism, and homophobia." Some analysts believe that

2088-461: Is predominantly described as a secular genre . Although British, grime music has a strong Jamaican influence as many of the artists are of British-Caribbean heritage. The GL Live music event 2010, held in the United Kingdom, included a fusion of Christian rappers (both American and British) celebrate their faith together whilst demonstrating their own unique styles. The event was attended by Trip Lee and Tedashii , who performed several songs during

2175-600: The Grammophon-Philips Group ( GPG ) as a joint-venture holding company, with Philips taking a 50% share in DGG and Siemens a 50% share in PPI. In 1971, the UK record labels of Philips, Fontana, Mercury, and Vertigo were amalgamated into a new company called Phonogram, Ltd. In 1972, Grammophon-Philips Group reorganized all its operations and was renamed The PolyGram Group (in some countries, like Argentina, its name

2262-577: The ITC Entertainment library, which was sold on January 19, 1999 to Carlton Communications for £91 million. On April 8, 1999, USA Networks announced they would purchase PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's domestic division (including PolyGram Video's US & Canada operation), among other assets. After the sale, the divisions were renamed USA Films and USA Home Entertainment respectively. The assets of Slash Records and London Records were sold to Warner Music Group . What remained of PolyGram

2349-650: The disco craze included the Casablanca FilmWorks production Thank God It's Friday (1978) and its associated soundtrack. During the boom in disco, PolyGram's US market share had grown from 5% to 20%. This can also be attributed to multi-million selling albums and 45s by the Bee Gees , Donna Summer , the Village People , Andy Gibb , Kool & the Gang , and rock band Kiss . For a short while in

2436-618: The sacramental union , the Lutheran teaching on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist . Flame named his album Christ for You as he wants his fans "to experience the joy and freedom that I've found in the sacraments." His track "Scattered Tulips" is a critique of Reformed Christianity 's five points ( TULIP ). The release of Christ for You led the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod to declare that "Lutheran hip hop

2523-639: The Boys and Michael Peace. During the 1990s and 2000s, rapper KJ-52 rose to prominence in the field. Christian rock band DC Talk blended hip-hop and rock, and were successful in mainstream Christian music . All three band members have had successful independent careers, Michael Tait and Kevin Max Smith in Christian pop , and TobyMac as a Christian rapper and label owner. Along with Lecrae , NF , KB & Emcee N.I.C.E. who have emerged recently on

2610-514: The Chemist and then finally Soup the Chemist. Christian emcee Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez was another well-known early Gospel rap artist, but was murdered in 1990 in Texas . Prior to his death, he helped launch the career of his sister, Genie Rodriguez-Lopez, known as MC GeGee – one of the first female Christian rap artists, by collaborating on her first album I'm for Real . She would go on to release

2697-604: The Christian music market. The record label Ministers of the Underground was one of the few labels to showcase underground hip hop with the group, Secta 7. Members included: Apocalypse, Optixs, Blackseed, Lord Metatron, Righteous Knight, Kaoticgal (who later was known as Keturah Ariel), O.N.E., The Final Chapter, A.T.O.M. the Immortal and Stress. Ministers of the Underground had a small-time show on Christian television, but

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2784-535: The Gospel" by West himself. Although generally described to be Christian rappers, artists such as Lecrae , Andy Mineo , KB , Trip Lee , Tedashii , Social Club Misfits , NF , John Givez , Derek Minor and Propaganda describe themselves as hip hop artists who are expressing themselves, yet are openly Christian. Just like in Christian rock and other Christian music genres, some artists welcome being called Christian artists while others do not want to be labeled as "Christian music", as to not limit their music to

2871-503: The Holy Bible. Prominent Christian rapper Lecrae , whose 2014 album Anomaly reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 and received numerous other accolades, expresses an explicitly Christian message in the majority of his music. However, while generally categorized as a gospel or Christian rapper, he distances himself from the genre of gospel rap saying, "Christian is my faith not my genre". The use of religious themes in music that

2958-467: The One" (1992). Other rap groups emerged in the late 1980s, including dc Talk , E.T.W. (End Time Warriors) and S.F.C. (Soldiers for Christ). ETW was led by producer/artist Mike Hill who went on to pastor one of the largest inner city youth groups in the country out of Tulsa Oklahoma. S.F.C. was led by Chris Cooper who originally rapped as Super C (short for Super Chris / Super Christian) and later became Sup

3045-523: The UK. Rap Fest is an all-day, outdoor, evangelistic outreach concert which takes place every summer. 2011 marked the 18th year for this event held annually in South Bronx area of New York City . Flavor Fest Urban Leadership Conference is held yearly at Crossover Church in Tampa, Florida , founded by Pastor Tommy Kyllonen, lead pastor of Crossover Church of Tampa. Fire Fest International Ministries

3132-425: The US and UK markets, and did so by a process of both formation and acquisition: Polydor Records established its American operations, Polydor Incorporated in 1969, Mercury Record Productions (US) was acquired in 1972 from sister company North American Philips Corp. , and became Phonogram, Inc. MGM Records and Verve (US) were acquired in 1972. Subsequent PolyGram acquisitions included those of RSO (UK) in 1975,

3219-674: The United States. On October 6, 2017, Christian hip hop artist NF released his third studio album Perception , through Capitol CMG alongside NF's newly launched label NF Real Music LLC. Perception debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 55,000 album-equivalent units , including 38,000 pure album sales. In 2018, the Holy Culture Mobile App was launched- the first app solely streaming Christian Hip Hop and  R&P (rhythm and praise) around

3306-609: The United States. But in 1951, after Columbia had failed to renew its international distribution agreement with EMI , PPI agreed to distribute Columbia recordings outside the United States. Columbia became PPI's distributor within the US. This agreement ran until 1961 when Columbia set up its own European network. PPI signed a worldwide distribution deal with Mercury Records in 1961. PPI's parent company Philips, through its U.S. affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp (a.k.a. Conelco ), acquired Mercury in 1962. PPI built or bought factories in smaller countries. In 1962, PPI had

3393-467: The appearance of golfer Bubba Watson and stated that it "closes out a fine project". Christian hip hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap , also known as Christian rap , gospel hip hop or holy hip hop ) is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music . It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s. Christian hip hop music first emerged on record in 1982 with

3480-608: The big budget musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band (1978). The film starred the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton at the height of their popularity, and featured the Beatles covers by them as well as Aerosmith , Billy Preston , and Earth, Wind & Fire . The film was highly anticipated to surpass the box office success of both the Saturday Night Fever and Grease , mostly due to its popular music stars. The soundtrack LP, based on only advance orders,

3567-436: The clock. In 2019, Christian hip hop had a historic breakthrough in radio, when Los Angeles based radio station God's House of Hip Hop Radio (powered by Dash Radio and curated by CHH artist Emcee N.I.C.E. ), became the first Christian hip hop station in history to win a Stellar Award (one of gospel music's most coveted trophies) at the 34th Annual Stellar Awards . The win signaled a shift not only in gospel but radio as

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3654-470: The company's dependence on superstars by spreading the repertoire across different genres and nurturing national and regional talent. Also by 1983, PolyGram's U.S. roster of labels included: ...which were all consolidated into PolyGram Records, Inc. (now UMG Recordings, Inc.) In 1981, PolyGram launched domestic television syndication unit PolyGram Television (unrelated to the latter day incarnation that became Universal Worldwide Television in 1997), but it

3741-569: The company. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, PolyGram continued to invest in a diversified film unit with the purchases of individual production companies. In 1981, Philips executive Jan Timmer became a member of the Group Management of PolyGram and was appointed president and chief executive officer of newly formed parent company, PolyGram International Ltd. in 1983. He cut the workforce from 13,000 to 7,000, reduced PolyGram's LP and cassette plants from eighteen to five, and decreased

3828-576: The disco craze ended in 1979 and record sales for both the Bee Gees and Casablanca's Village People plummeted. PolyGram also experienced losses with the defection of Casablanca's Donna Summer to newly formed Geffen Records as well as the dropping of Andy Gibb , whose personal problems with cocaine and alcohol began to affect his recording career, from RSO. Summer and the Bee Gees also had legal disputes with their labels which further complicated matters. Summer ended her contract with PolyGram in 1980, and

3915-503: The early accepted artists were Disciples of Christ (D.O.C.). One of the most notable mainstream reactions to Gospel rap was to KJ-52 (pronounced "five-two") and his single "Dear Slim", which was written to Eminem in an attempt to reach him with the message of Christ. The song became famous and controversial among Eminem fans when it was featured on the hit show Total Request Live . KJ-52 began to receive hate mail (including death threats) from Eminem's fans, though KJ-52 claimed that

4002-594: The event including "Jesus Muzik" and "No Worries". Christian music awards shows such as the GMA Dove Awards and Stellar Awards have added rap and hip hop categories. With the notable exceptions of tobyMac and his label Gotee Records , and Lecrae , no Christian rapper or hip-hop group has garnered the attention of the mainstream Christian music industry. The nominal sales of Christian rap labels have been almost exclusively to church-going Christians. Christian rap exists almost exclusively underground. There

4089-469: The founding of the label Reach Records by the Americans Lecrae and Ben Washer also had a considerable influence in the development of Christian hip-hop. In 2015, the label have been setting records with sales and award-winning albums. In 2019, Kanye West, a popular artist and producer, released his ninth studio album, Jesus Is King (shortened as JIK). JIK was described as an "expression of

4176-556: The image of Tupac nailed to a cross pinned him as a hip hop martyr. Recent hip hop artists include Jay-Z with Kingdom Come , DMX with " Walk With Me Now and You'll Fly With Me Later ", Nas with God's Son and Kanye West with " Jesus Walks " as well as Jesus Is King . However, although these artists may profess to be Christians, they are not generally considered to be part of the Christian hip hop movement. Some Christians believe that hip hop culture in any form conflicts with biblical teachings, while others consider hip hop to be

4263-475: The incorporation of secular hip hop culture into the Christian rap genre, holding that "Holy Hip-Hop" is still associated with the mainstream hip hop culture that they view as incompatible with Christianity 's teachings. Whereas many Christians hold that holy hip hop can be used to evangelize, others disagree, arguing that the use of this style distorts the gospel message. From December 2013 well into 2014, Scott Aniol and Christian hip hop artist Shai Linne had

4350-403: The largest global entertainment company, creating film and television divisions. In May 1998, it was sold to the alcoholic distiller Seagram which owned film, television and music company Universal Studios . PolyGram was thereby folded into Universal Music Group , and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was folded into Universal Pictures , which had been both Seagram successors of MCA Inc. When

4437-769: The largest record company in Europe. PPI's second attempt at a merger was with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG). DGG, owned by Siemens AG , and well known for its classical repertoire, had been the German licensee for Decca from 1935. DGG also owned Polydor Records . Shortly after PPI was founded it had made a formal alliance with DGG to manufacture each other's records, coordinate releases, and refrain from poaching each other's artists or bidding against each other for new talent. PPI and DGG finally merged in 1962. The alliance with DGG still left PPI without repertoire in Britain or

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4524-403: The late 1940s, Philips combined its various music businesses into Philips Phonografische Industrie ( PPI ), a wholly owned subsidiary. PPI's early growth was based on alliances. A merger was first proposed with Decca of London in late 1945, but was rejected by Edward Lewis , Decca's owner. (PolyGram finally acquired Decca in 1980.) In the early 1950s, Philips set itself the goal of making PPI

4611-538: The late 1950s and early 1960s, Philips had been at work on a new consumer magnetic tape format for music. The Philips Compact Cassette was introduced in 1963. It was small and could play longer than an LP. In 1965 the cassette accounted for 3% of revenues, growing in 1968 to 8% and in 1970 to 10.6%. In the late 1960s, and through the 1970s, GPG/PolyGram diversified into film and television production and home video. RSO's successes included Saturday Night Fever and Grease . PolyGram's highly successful marketing during

4698-420: The late 1970s, it was the world's largest record company. In 1969, PolyGram established a direct mail-order business in the UK, Britannia Music Club , which ran till 2007. Before 1978, PolyGram was losing money. When US operations were running at full capacity, PolyGram expanded aggressively, and would press large quantities of records without knowing the demand. In late 1979, PolyGram was caught off guard by

4785-513: The mainstream rap scene along with American popular music figures DMX , Snoop Dogg , and Kanye West . Outside of the United States, there are Christian rap scenes in the UK, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Canada. Asian, Black, and Latino rappers are becoming a major part of the genre, and this success is expanding the appeal of both Christian hip hop and Christian EDM within general hip hop and broader popular music . The first commercially released and distributed gospel hip hop record

4872-505: The mid-1980s to 7-9% by the early 1990s. As well, videos were distributed by PolyGram Video . In 1988, Philips acquired the remaining 50% of PolyGram from long-time partner Siemens and later in 1989, floated 16% of PolyGram on the Amsterdam stock exchange, valuing the whole company at $ 5.6 billion. PolyGram embarked on a new program of acquisitions, including A&M and Island Records in 1989, Swedish company Polar Music which held

4959-739: The music industry. " God's House of Hip Hop 20/20 Summer Fest " featuring 75 Christian Hip Hop, Latin Christian Hip Hop & Gospel Hip Hop Music. in Los Angeles, California Founded by Emcee N.I.C.E. and Chantal Grayson of God's House of Hip Hop Radio . Although postponed to July 2021 due to the COVID-19 Corona Virus pandemic, 20/20 Summer Fest gained national attention securing one of Los Angeles's most premium venue's Banc of California Stadium . Holy hip hop has enjoyed some crossover acceptance as well. One of

5046-624: The newly formed entertainment division of Seagram faced financial difficulties, it was sold to Vivendi , and MCA became known as Universal Studios, as Seagram ceased to exist. Vivendi remains the majority owner of the Universal Music Group (while the film and television division was sold to NBCUniversal ) until 2021. In February 2017, UMG revived the company under the name of PolyGram Entertainment , which currently serves as their film and television division. In 1929, Decca Records (London) licensed record shop owner H.W. Van Zoelen as

5133-705: The reasons cited for the deal were a lack of pop hits from the music side of the company, and an equal lack of box-office successes from the film side. Alain Levy resigned as CEO of PolyGram on June 23 to prepare for the merger, and the deal was closed on December 10, 1998, with PolyGram's operations folding into Universal Pictures and Universal Music Group . Seagram however, was only interested in PolyGram's music division, and in October 1998 they announced that they would begin divesting PolyGram's entertainment assets, while

5220-488: The remainder would be folded into Universal. Prior to this announcement, the company announced the sale of their 75% stake in children's distributor Abbey Home Entertainment back to its original founders and the acquisition of Astrion plc. On October 23, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer agreed to purchase PolyGram Filmed Entertainment 's pre-April 1996 library for $ 250 million, which included over 1,300 films from various assets PolyGram had acquired within that point, but did not include

5307-572: The remains of PolyGram's theatrical assets would then be folded into United International Pictures. Mickey Blue Eyes would become the last film distributed under the ex-PolyGram unit. The PolyGram name now survives via reissue of music under the Polydor Records label as well as a publishing arm of Universal Music Publishing Group . The Japanese branches of the PolyGram labels that were absorbed to form Universal Music Japan and were rebranded: Polydor remained until 2002, when it merged with

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5394-527: The rights to the ABBA catalogue, Motown and Def Jam in 1994 and Rodven (Venezuela) in 1995. In 1990, after acquiring both Island and A&M, Alain Levy , (then) executive vice-president of PolyGram N.V., re-organized the U.S. operations of PolyGram Records, Inc. into a new expanded conglomerate: PolyGram Group Distribution, Inc. In addition to overseeing the sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution of music and video products created by PolyGram, PGD

5481-470: The second season of MTV's hit show The Buried Life . Christian symbols and themes have also been invoked by rap artists who do not consider themselves "Christian rappers", and do not claim to represent any particular set of religious beliefs. Examples include MC Hammer 's No. 2 single " Pray "; Richie Rich and his first single "Don't Do It"; and many of Tupac 's lyrics with his first posthumous record The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory , including

5568-586: The song was not a " diss ". This also led to the single being disparaged by VH1 as No. 26 on their "Top 40 Worst Moments in Hip Hop", an issue the artist addressed in "Washed Up". In contrast, the GRITS song " Ooh Ahh " received positive exposure on various TV Shows and movies, such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Big Momma's House 2 . It was also featured as the theme song for

5655-557: The song, including the chorus "Yo all I need is... One God to show me how to do things his Son did..." Kanye West's 2004 hit song and music video " Jesus Walks ", has received a notable amount of attention for its Christian content. DMX incorporated prayers in many of his albums, and his 2006 song and music video " Lord Give Me a Sign ", was highlighted by not only strong Christian lyrical content but actual scriptural quotes ("no weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that rises up against me in judgment, Thou shall condemn") from

5742-551: The structures of capitalism and mainstream media." Some think that the use of mainstream religious symbols in predominantly African-American music has increased the extent to which that music has disseminated through predominantly white American culture. The 2007 Holy Hip Hop Music Awards received a written endorsement letter from the mayor of Atlanta, acknowledging the event's support by the City of Atlanta, and recognizing its 7th year. However, EX Ministries and other churches contested

5829-420: The sudden end of the popularity of disco music, leaving it with an underutilized distribution network, profligate labels, and over optimistic product orders. PolyGram's Casablanca label was known for management spending on lavish industry parties and luxury cars. After 1980, PolyGram's losses had spiraled upwards of US$ 220 million. Another contributing factor to PolyGram's financial woes was the massive failure of

5916-492: The suffering expressed through rap music manifests itself in a certain spirituality that can be compatible with mainstream religious messages, although it approaches religious ideas in a much less direct way than most forms of religious expression. "Just as the MC slides into notes and dances around beats, "spirit" is not attacked straight on; it is courageously approached from below, from the margins, from youth, from uncertainty, through

6003-430: The time he took over, Philips was seen as a bloated company, laden with too many layers of management and unrelated companies that they could not leverage effectively. As a result, Boonstra began to sell or dispose of various non-core assets. While Philips began to withdraw from other media activities, Boonstra denied that PolyGram was for sale. However, by early 1998, he had changed his attitude, instead deciding to pursue

6090-761: The war, Philips built a large factory in Doetinchem to produce 78 rpm records. Recording took place in Hilversum, whereas development took place in Eindhoven. In the 1940s, the record business was spread out within Philips: research in the Eindhoven labs, development elsewhere in Eindhoven, recording in Hilversum , manufacturing in Doetinchem , distribution from Amsterdam , and exports from Eindhoven. During

6177-710: The war. This led Philips to purchase HDD in 1942. In the mid 20th century, the majority of large recording companies manufactured both gramophones and records; Philips CEO Anton Philips noted the risk in creating gramophones without an interest in music recording and record manufacture, and that Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had merged with the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929 for this reason. Philips' labs were developing magnetic tape and LPs , and they could support eventual new formats, although other record companies were notably unenthusiastic about experimenting with new formats. After

6264-468: Was DJed and produced by DJ Dove, whose credits also include the Gang Affiliated , Gospel Gangstas' 1993 debut album. Around the same time as Phase III , Dynamic Twins (Robbie and Noel) came out with their 1993 album No Room To Breathe . Freedom of Soul (MC Peace, DJ Cartoon) followed with their second album, The Second Coming ( Caught in a Land of Time was their first), also their last album as

6351-753: Was MC Pete Harrison of Queens, New York. Under the recording name McSweet, he released The Gospel Beat: Jesus-Christ (1982), written and arranged by Harrison and produced by Mac Sulliver on Lection Records of PolyGram . The first notable full album released was Stephen Wiley 's Bible Break (1985), written by Wiley and produced by Mike Barnes on Brentwood Records. In the same year, David Guzman founded JC & The Boyz. Some of America's premiere Christian rappers, such as: Michael Peace (one of Christian rap's first solo artists), SFC, Dynamic Twins , MC Peace and T-Bone came out of this crew. A more commercially successful group known as P.I.D. (Preachers in Disguise) released five recordings. Jon Gibson (or J.G.)

6438-401: Was Phonogram), of which Philips and Siemens each owned 50%. In 1977, both organizations merged operationally, integrating the recording, manufacturing, distribution and marketing into a single organization. The various record labels within PolyGram continued to operate separately. PolyGram gave its labels, as A&R organizations, great autonomy. After the merger, PolyGram began to move into

6525-535: Was also responsible for supervising a number of other divisions within PolyGram (U.S.) such as: PolyGram Music Group, PolyGram Video, PolyMedia, PolyGram Special Markets, PolyGram Merchandising, Independent Label Sales (ILS) and New Media & Business Development. PolyGram and Granada TV formed a joint venture, Big Picture Productions, in 1990 as a music programing firm which, at Cannes in 1990, purchased exclusive international distribution rights to Brown Sugar (The two-hour special featured black female performers and

6612-448: Was awarded the rights to her songwriting catalog by the courts; she owed them one more album, and finished out her contract by recording her album She Works Hard For The Money (from which the title track was a huge hit in 1983). In 1980, after PolyGram bought the other 50% of Casablanca Records and Filmworks, PolyGram renamed its existing Casablanca Records & Filmworks unit as PolyGram Pictures with Peter Guber becoming chairman of

6699-477: Was folded into both Universal Music Group and Universal Pictures. On February 10, 1999, Universal announced that they would pull out of their CIC Video and United International Pictures ventures with Paramount Pictures and rebrand PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's international division (including PolyGram Video's international operation) under the Universal name. Whilst the home video division rebranding

6786-438: Was formerly an enemy of God before his adoption into God's family. Featured performers on the album include Lecrae , Beleaf of TheBREAX, Co Campbell, Thi'sl, Eshon Burgundy, Sho Baraka , Swoope , Rich Perez, and R-Swift, as well as a comic appearance of professional golfer Bubba Watson . Production was provided by Mineo himself along with Skrip, Alex Medina, and other, uncredited producers such as Tyshane . Formerly Known

6873-519: Was founded by Charles Onley (a.k.a. King C) in conjunction with Terence A. Townsend, "Apostle T", founder of Save Our City Crusades and Conferences (SoCity) to reach the international community of holy hip hop with a message of encouragement, enrichment, education and unity. Fire Fest conducts artist retreats, artists/industry conferences and new artists showcases, and is a traveling music festival organized to encourage and enrich holy hip hop artists in their ministries, while giving them insight on navigating

6960-572: Was hosted by Billy Dee Williams ) from the New York–based Gene David Group. In June 1991, Alain Levy was promoted to worldwide president and CEO of PolyGram N.V. In 1993, PolyGram purchased the video arm of Virgin Group from General Electric Capital for $ 5.6 million and remodeled the label as Vision Video ltd. In 1995, PolyGram purchased ITC Entertainment for $ 156 million. In 1996, Cor Boonstra became CEO of Philips; by

7047-641: Was named president and CEO of PolyGram. Asher was formerly the attorney for Don Kirshner 's Aldon Music music publishing company. The CD, invented by Philips and Sony , helped greatly in boosting the company's sales and market share. PolyGram's strength in classical music helped greatly, as many of the CD's early adopters were classical music lovers. Total US sales of CDs were $ 1 million in 1983, $ 334 million in 1990 and $ 943 million in 2000. Total UK sales were $ 300,000 in 1983, $ 51 million in 1990 and $ 202 million in 2000. The CD increased PolyGram's profit margin from 4-6% in

7134-479: Was not interested in keeping the record company. The assets of the former 20th Century Fox Records were fully acquired by the firm in July 1982, and subsequently were consolidated with the Casablanca label. After an attempted 1983 merger with Warner Elektra Atlantic failed, Philips bought 40% of PolyGram from Siemens, acquiring the remaining 10% in 1987. In 1985, former CBS and Columbia executive Dick Asher

7221-496: Was received positively by critics. Michael Wildes of The Christian Manifesto scored the mixtape four-point-five out of five and called it "one of the best albums" of the year. Jerome Hill of Jam the Hype Radio was also favorable to the album, stating that "Andy Mineo keeps us flowing with this project with sounds like 'whoop,' showing us that Christian hip-hop is not lame." Hill considered "Let There be Light", featuring Lecrae,

7308-490: Was released triple platinum. The movie was released to poor reviews and died at the box office. Despite its triple platinum start, the soundtrack LP's sales bombed after the film's release. In turn, record dealers flooded PolyGram with returned LPs. The resulting losses nearly wiped out the profits the company had made on both the Saturday Night Fever and Grease soundtracks. The company took further loses when

7395-446: Was soon folded after two years. Under its newly reorganized form, PolyGram decided to discontinue Philips as a pop and rock label in the UK and much of Europe, though it was still frequently issued records in France and South East Asia, where it issued many albums and singles by Chinese and Hong Kong pop artists. The majority of PolyGram's rock and pop music signings went to Mercury and Polydor. Philips became part of PolyGram Classics as

7482-478: Was successful (with CIC rebranding under the Paramount umbrella toward the end of 1999 ), the theatrical division rebranding would prove to be a failure, as films from the rebranded Universal Pictures International flopped at the box office, the company therefore announced in October 1999 that their operations would be downgraded to the home video market only and renewed their UIP deal with Paramount for five years,

7569-674: Was taken off the networks when Christian television opted for more orthodox style programming. The Ministers of Underground hosted events at a series of venues under the name CRU VENTION, or the convention of Underground Hip Hop for Christ, until around the year 2001. A few Christian rappers have emerged from Atlanta, including Remnant Militia and D.I.R.T. While many notable studios and artists share influence in holy hip hop, not one style dominates. Christian hip hop features all conventional hip hop styles , such as Midwest ( Hostyle Gospel ), West Coast ( T-Bone ), East Coast ( BB Jay ), Dirty South ( Pettidee ) and King Wes. Some, such as DC Talk , include

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