Christian rappers speak out on gun control laws and violence

In the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary and other areas of the United States, the debate over gun control is perhaps more heated than ever.

Some blame assault weapons or violent content in video games for the violence in our culture.

But others, like Thi’sl, argue more gun restrictions are not the answer. Here’s what he said about the issue in a recent appearance on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Other Christian rappers have also responded to this issue. Shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, Houston’s Bizzle pushed his song “Better Way – Part 2″ online.

Lines include:

“They like ‘Where is your God?’ / I’m like ‘I don’t know
When you kicked Him out of your schools / where’d you tell Him to go?’”

and in reference to the Sandy Hook shooter:

“Maybe he misunderstood / maybe he thought what he was doing was all good
Maybe what he heard was ‘School – and kill ‘em in the room’ / When you really said ‘It’s cool to kill ‘em in the womb”

And Cincinnati rapper D-MAUB released “Calm Down” as a reminder that outside pressures should never lead to a violent response.

VID: At SXSW 2011 Bentley, Ruslan, D-MAUB, Solo, & Ambassador discuss keeping the faith in full-time music ministry

Here's another clip from my friends at Factor Effects of the artist panel discussion I facilitated at SXSW (South by Southwest) last month.

In this clip, Fonzworth Bentley, Ruslan (from theBREAX), D-MAUB, Solo from the Gospel Gangstas, and Ambassador answer Gifted the Flamethrowa's question about keeping the faith and being able to consistently hear from God when you're on the road and doing full-time music ministry.

Vidz: Von Won & D-MAUB "Shine Their Light" in Houston

D-MAUB & Von Won

The young CUT-T D-MAUB was in Houston just after Thanksgiving and hit the city full force. On the cool, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a cat come to my town with such a full agenda.

Let me see if I can run it down for you – first off was the Black Friday video shoot in Tomball (of all places) for Von Won’s “High Beams On” single. This joint included some classic rides and a fully functional helicopter they used for some aerial shots and as part of the story line.

Gifted da Flamethrowa, Tre9, & Narrow Brown at the video shoot

Then, he did an interview with 92.1 FM – Houston’s gospel station (and home of the Yolanda Adams morning show), and after that D-MAUB helped served the homeless as part of the Feed a Friend ministry.

Later, the dudes hit up a local retirement home, homie got a break to attend a Rockets game, then he did some prison ministry, spoke to the Houston Hip Hop Alliance meeting about full-time ministry, and ended with a set at Hip Hop Hope Tuesdays in 5th Ward.

My man was beyond gracious, appreciative, and giving and the video turned out super hot. Peep it and some behind the scenes footage below.

"High Beams On" appears on Von Won's All-American Felon album which drops December 21.

Official video:

Von Won - High Beams On ft. D-Maub "Official Video" from Kyle Lamar/HD Publications on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes: