When Dishon Knox stepped foot on the Covenant Seminary Campus, Hip-Hop and Reformed Faith were set on a crash course. Music and faith first collided when Dishon (a.k.a. “Born2Di”) jammed a semester's worth of church history into a 3 minute and 36 second rap entitled "True to Reformed Faith."

Chorus excerpt:
Faith for the Holy Scriptures; True to Reformed Faith.
Presbyterian Church in America—Grow in grace.

Verse excerpt:
1646 Confession Westminster—
Official document compiled by England’s best ministers.
Covering such issues as: worship, doctrine and discipline;
Along with church government, Short and Larger Catechisms.

“This helped me to realize a potential for intentionally proclaiming particular truths that I had not witnessed in my music prior to this song,” Dishon said. “Although I did not use it on my album, I feel that it gave my music a lot more momentum in terms of my creative confidence and even expanding and exposing more of my audience.”

That song and Dishon were later featured in World Magazine [“Holy Hip Hop,” Mark Bergin, February 03, 2007]. Dishon also performed the composition in the context of a chapel worship service at Covenant.

Hip-Hop and ministry may not be such strange bedfellows as they may seem.

“There is no place for Christianity within Hip-Hop,” Dishon Knox (MATS, 2009) says, “but there is room for Hip-Hop in Christianity—so long as the elements of that sub-culture can submit to the lordship of Christ.”
It was during his junior year at Washington University that Dishon Knox found himself wrestling with his identity as a believer—and as a budding rapper. One night he found himself asking, “Why am I born to die?” This question developed into song; and from the song he took his stage name—Born2Di.

Born2Di’s audience includes many people who have been impacted by Hip-Hop culture. For them rap is a form of verbal expression—and rappers have used this medium to address many issues. The idea of presenting a homily or short sermon in the form of a rap has always been possible. The questions has always been, “Will someone do it?"

 In Dishon’s case, he had a desire to bring his excitement for reformed theology into his art—and this desire led him to studies at Covenant Theological Seminary.

Knox grew up in a very traditional African American church. He confessed Christ at the age of 13, but found his enthusiasm waning about six years into this relationship. As a college sophomore, he came to the realization he was living as a hypocrite, “ I would go from holy to heathen, all in the span one weekend, sometimes one day. To the world, I might have still had a tame life since was never locked up and made it to a good college, but I knew full well that I was grieving God.”

Fortunately Dishon had accountability partners in his friends, his mom, his church. Through these relationships and through his study of scriptures he came to a point of surrender to Christ. With the serious turn in his life came a serious turn in his writing of raps. Dishon approached each song as a mini-sermon and had a desire to ensure that his messages were theologically sound. This desire drove him to consider seminary studies. Even before diving into prep and del with Dr. Chapel, Dishon was loosely following patterns for sermon preparation: pouring over scriptures which addressed a topic he was rapping about; carefully considering the full context of the passage; scanning theological journals and books to gain further insights; and then using his studies to develop a rhyme. It was through this pattern of studies that Dishon found himself gravitating towards theologians in the Reformed tradition. His desire to make sure his rhymes stood on solid doctrinal footing and his properly exegete scripture led him to Covenant.

Seminary is not the typical path for rap artists—even those who have risen up the charts in “Christian Rap” or “Holy Hip Hop” communities. A rapper from the group Cross Movement, who goes by the name “Ambassador,” was Di’s primary inspiration to follow the path to seminary. Ambassador graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Masters in Theology and went on to co-pastor a church plant in Philadelphia. There are a handful of others who have studied at Christian Colleges or Seminaries, but this is more the exception than the rule.

So how does rap fit in the context of more conservative Presbyterian worship?

“Rap and the PCA are almost like oil and water,” Dishon likes to say. “I ended up in the PCA because of the dreams and desire of a black PCA pastor to see reformed theology reach and equip more Black Christians for ministry. Currently I am serving in my home church—which is not PCA—though I still diligently hold to Reformed doctrine. As for support of my music, I tend to see support coming from most every denomination but it tends to be more so in denominations where there is not only a higher ratio of Christian rappers, but a higher ratio of Christian rappers who are biblically sound and espouse biblical holiness/integrity.

”

Dishon’s CD is titled Apologia which is the Greek word for “answer or defense.” Dishon drew encouragement from 1 Peter 3:15 which instructs us to always be ready to make the defense or give the answer for the hope that we have as Christians. With Born2Di’s Apologia the goal is to bring deeper meaning to the concept of apologetics. Apologia is the mindset and lifestyle that, as Chrisitan rapper Da
T.R.U.T.H. says, “welcomes unbelievers to the Faith, to our world.”

The CD took over four years to write, record and release. It’s progression could easily be tracked side-by-side with Dishon’s studies at Covenant. Some tracks were written and recorded fairly quickly. Others changed over time. The driving force behind all Dishon’s music is the fall of man—sin. 

 Seeing how dramatically the world, church, and humanity have been affected by the fall inspire his muse to want to try to provide the godly solution.

“The goodness of the Lord, just His character in general makes me desire to better understand Him and how our lives should relate, in light of knowing Him,” Dishon told me. “So from my desire I want to help others to understand the character and goodness of God so that they too may be drawn to Him.”

His desire was to paint a realistic picture of what life is like for many disenfranchised people in the world and leave his listeners with Christ’s charge to minister to these people. 



“First and foremost I feel that parents do this by protecting the innocence of their children by raising them with love, discipline, and in the teaching of the Lord,” Dishon says. “I also feel that the church does this by ministering to the wounded in spirit and the body of Christ at large. I feel that, in His ministry, Jesus communicated a sacredness regarding children and the poor; a sacredness that many of us have not grown to embrace.”

Dishon’s desire as minister and musician is to help his listeners to embrace the fullness of life in Christ. Like a good sermon, his raps seek to drive us outside of our comfort zones and force us to contemplate God’s kingdom. For Dishon, studies at Covenant helped bring new depth and meaning to his songwriting. His songs are truly mini-sermons encompassing much study and exposition—skills he picked up during his studies at Covenant Theological Seminary.

Dishon Knox (MATS, 2009) released his CD “Apologia” in February 27, 2009; graduated from Covenant Seminary on May 15; and was married on May 23rd to Kimberly Like! Kim has been a huge support when it comes to his music and helps bring life into balance. Kim and Dishon both work and reside in the Saint Louis area.

Matthew Hundley (MATS, 2008) lives in Saint Charles, Missouri with his wife and four children. He serves as managing/contributing editor for CRITIQUE magazine and Notes from Toad Hall—both publications of Ransom Fellowship. He also assists several other ministries with marketing and creative endeavors.

This article copyright ©2009 Matthew Edward Hundley. Used with permission.

Originally published: Covenant Magazine: The Magazine of Covenant Theological Seminary, Winter 2009 - modified for web use.