Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Gospel of Hip-Hop

'Culture Shock [a San Diego--based hip-hop organization] is not Christian, but a kind of youth organization," says Tommy Moseley, associate pastor at Rock Church. "Ours has a purpose, and that's to be a gospel." Moseley's new ministry and company of professional dancers, called "Rock Steady," offer their first class in Christian hip-hop on Tuesday, April 3.

A pastor from another church was quick to express concern over the choice of material. "He said he'd just finished doing an eight-week sermon series on hip-hop and the bad effects it has on our kids," says Moseley, and goes on to explain that he replaces the lyrics of popular hip-hop songs with messages from sermons.

One churchgoer told Moseley via e-mail that he believes the church is no place for hip-hop dance. "The reason I was such an advocate for starting this ministry is because, when I danced for Culture Shock, everyone wanted to be in [the troupe] -- they would have done anything. They would have sold their souls." Moseley is hoping the dance classes will draw the "subculture of kids that follow hip-hop religiously."

Of his mixed martial arts ministry, called "Right Cross," he says, "Because it's a really good team of instructors, [students] will put up with ten or fifteen minutes of preaching and say, 'Okay, let's get to working out.' We get to share the message of Jesus Christ, but it's not a church. I grew up in a Catholic church, and there's nothing cool about the church. The church kind of gives Jesus a bad name -- the hope is awesome, but it gets caught up in people's rules."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Brandon Henschel, a professional dancer and choreographer, will teach most of the classes. He describes secular hip-hop as "an environment that isn't really friendly" but considers Christian hip-hop to be stress free. "You don't have to worry about hearing profanity, going to clubs, getting crunked [drunk] and all the bling bling," he says.

Henschel has danced with Britney Spears, Usher, and Beyoncé. His brother, Sean, created the sermon-dubbed mixes. "To label hip-hop as a sexual genre is a purely ignorant statement," says Henschel. "We could take 'Amazing Grace' and put a kick drum, a high hat, and a snare behind it and create a melodic beat. We think hymns are very holy and good today, but 'Amazing Grace' was a bar song. We've taken what Satan is trying to use for evil, and we're using it for good."

Henschel realizes that some Christians are not embracing this ministry. "People are afraid of change," he says. He explains his frustration that "on some levels, [the church] is a corporation" and that, because financial support comes largely from the traditional, conservative base, the church sometimes hesitates in efforts to appeal to a younger, nontraditional demographic. "There are certain Christians that, when worship music comes on, they don't want an electric guitar."

Henschel is hoping to use his reputation as an experienced dancer and choreographer to attract non-Christians. "We want Christians to bring their nonsaved friends. That's where we can get them in our environment and talk to them and get them saved as they're going out. We'll do that through influence, just by being their friends; talking to them after class, hanging out, that's where a lot of evangelizing happens."

On the Rock Steady web page, Henschel explains the long-term goal of the dance troupe: "To save and equip people with the Word of God and the foremost professional training in dance and send them back into the industry as soul winners for Christ, eliminating the promiscuous performing we see so prevalent in the industry today."

Henschel says his dance class is advanced. "If you've had no training period, this is probably not the best class to take. Someone with no dance experience wouldn't survive. It will be professional choreography taught at a slower pace." All seven current members of Rock Steady are dance professionals. "One of the reasons we wanted to have the class is because we have a lot of people interested in performing with us, and we want to see them first before we give them the okay." -- Barbarella

"Rock Steady" Christian hip-hop dance class Tuesday, April 3 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Lord's Gym 4153 Market Street Downtown Cost: $7 per person per class (packages available) Info: 619-226-7625 ext. 293 or www.therocksandiego.org/ministries/hiphop

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island

'Culture Shock [a San Diego--based hip-hop organization] is not Christian, but a kind of youth organization," says Tommy Moseley, associate pastor at Rock Church. "Ours has a purpose, and that's to be a gospel." Moseley's new ministry and company of professional dancers, called "Rock Steady," offer their first class in Christian hip-hop on Tuesday, April 3.

A pastor from another church was quick to express concern over the choice of material. "He said he'd just finished doing an eight-week sermon series on hip-hop and the bad effects it has on our kids," says Moseley, and goes on to explain that he replaces the lyrics of popular hip-hop songs with messages from sermons.

One churchgoer told Moseley via e-mail that he believes the church is no place for hip-hop dance. "The reason I was such an advocate for starting this ministry is because, when I danced for Culture Shock, everyone wanted to be in [the troupe] -- they would have done anything. They would have sold their souls." Moseley is hoping the dance classes will draw the "subculture of kids that follow hip-hop religiously."

Of his mixed martial arts ministry, called "Right Cross," he says, "Because it's a really good team of instructors, [students] will put up with ten or fifteen minutes of preaching and say, 'Okay, let's get to working out.' We get to share the message of Jesus Christ, but it's not a church. I grew up in a Catholic church, and there's nothing cool about the church. The church kind of gives Jesus a bad name -- the hope is awesome, but it gets caught up in people's rules."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Brandon Henschel, a professional dancer and choreographer, will teach most of the classes. He describes secular hip-hop as "an environment that isn't really friendly" but considers Christian hip-hop to be stress free. "You don't have to worry about hearing profanity, going to clubs, getting crunked [drunk] and all the bling bling," he says.

Henschel has danced with Britney Spears, Usher, and Beyoncé. His brother, Sean, created the sermon-dubbed mixes. "To label hip-hop as a sexual genre is a purely ignorant statement," says Henschel. "We could take 'Amazing Grace' and put a kick drum, a high hat, and a snare behind it and create a melodic beat. We think hymns are very holy and good today, but 'Amazing Grace' was a bar song. We've taken what Satan is trying to use for evil, and we're using it for good."

Henschel realizes that some Christians are not embracing this ministry. "People are afraid of change," he says. He explains his frustration that "on some levels, [the church] is a corporation" and that, because financial support comes largely from the traditional, conservative base, the church sometimes hesitates in efforts to appeal to a younger, nontraditional demographic. "There are certain Christians that, when worship music comes on, they don't want an electric guitar."

Henschel is hoping to use his reputation as an experienced dancer and choreographer to attract non-Christians. "We want Christians to bring their nonsaved friends. That's where we can get them in our environment and talk to them and get them saved as they're going out. We'll do that through influence, just by being their friends; talking to them after class, hanging out, that's where a lot of evangelizing happens."

On the Rock Steady web page, Henschel explains the long-term goal of the dance troupe: "To save and equip people with the Word of God and the foremost professional training in dance and send them back into the industry as soul winners for Christ, eliminating the promiscuous performing we see so prevalent in the industry today."

Henschel says his dance class is advanced. "If you've had no training period, this is probably not the best class to take. Someone with no dance experience wouldn't survive. It will be professional choreography taught at a slower pace." All seven current members of Rock Steady are dance professionals. "One of the reasons we wanted to have the class is because we have a lot of people interested in performing with us, and we want to see them first before we give them the okay." -- Barbarella

"Rock Steady" Christian hip-hop dance class Tuesday, April 3 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Lord's Gym 4153 Market Street Downtown Cost: $7 per person per class (packages available) Info: 619-226-7625 ext. 293 or www.therocksandiego.org/ministries/hiphop

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Morricone Youth, Berkley Hart, Dark Entities, Black Heart Procession, Monsters Of Hip-Hop

Live movie soundtracks, birthdays and more in Balboa Park, Grantville, Oceanside, Little Italy
Next Article

Todd Gloria gets cash from McDonald's franchise owners

Phil's BBQ owner for Larry Turner
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader