The rapper Eminem has made his debut on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart due to his latest feature verse on a popular gospel rap song featured on DJ Khaled's newest album.
Eminem, born to the name Marshall Mathers III, is no stranger to reaching the top of the mainstream charts with his violent/irreverent rap lyrics, including songs that hint at a desire to murder his ex-wife or extensively take drugs.
The 49-year-old critically acclaimed artist teamed up with Kanye West and DJ Khaled, a professing Muslim, for a remix of Kanye West's gospel song, "Use This Gospel," originally from West's Jesus Is King album. The remix appears on DJ Khaled's new studio album, God Did, and was produced by Dr. Dre.
Last week, "Use This Gospel" by DJ Khaled featuring Kanye West & Eminem reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart, making it the first time Eminem made an appearance on the chart in his almost 30-year career. This week, the track fell to No. 5 on the chart, with "The Goodness" by TobyMac featuring Blessing Offor reaching the top spot.
West, who in recent years has professed to become a Christian, started the trend of secular rappers appearing on Billboard Christian charts with his 2019 album Jesus Is King.
The album debuted at the peak of the Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums on its first week of release at the time.
In "Use This Gospel (Remix)," Eminem shares about the attacks of Satan and how God has been helping him.
"I'm holding on, but I don't know if I can take it much longer/Today's the day that I put all of my trust and faith in You, Father/Please let this hate make me stronger 'fore they turn on me like a zombie/It's like I'm being strangled unconscious/When temptation is almost like Satan is making you tryna take you away from your daughters/Danglin' a bunch of painkillers on ya," the Detroit-raised artist raps.
"So my Savior I call on to rescue me from these depths of despairs/So these demons better step because He is my shepherd/I'm armed with Jesus, my weapon is prayer/Soon as I squeeze it, I'm blessed like sneezes/Call me Yeezus, I'm F'd in the head, maybe I'm bonkers/Regardless, never claimed to be flawless/Long as the mistakes I've acknowledged."
Over the years, Eminem has openly shared his struggles with mental health. In times past, his lyrics and dark imagery were the opposite of God-honoring.
Eminem concluded his verse in "Use This Gospel" by saying: "Bible at my side like a rifle with a God-given gift/Every single day I thank God for/That's why I pay so much homage/Praises to Jesus, I'll always."
According to Rapzilla, the artist, who in the past called himself a "Rap God," would pray before his shows in the early 2000s, and "Then he'd go on to rap some of the most profane hip-hop of all time."
Of Eminem's Christian Billboard debut, Rapzilla Editor-in-Chief Justin Sarachik wrote: "It was shocking to see Eminem on a gospel rap track."
"[W]hat was even more surprising is that he didn't say anything controversial or blasphemous," Sarachik explained. "He just rapped about God."
© The Christian Post
