Holy Culture Radio brings progressive music to the airwaves

James Rousseau is the Founder of The Corelink Solution and CEO of Holy Culture / Holy Culture Radio. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JAMES ROUSSEAU.
James Rousseau is the Founder of The Corelink Solution and CEO of Holy Culture / Holy Culture Radio. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JAMES ROUSSEAU.

 Holy Culture Radio brings progressive music to the airwaves

By Tia Carol Jones

Holy Culture Radio was founded by Vic Padilla in the late 1990s early 2000’s. Padilla was a lover of Christian Hip Hop. The station got its name from the Cross Movement’s “Holy Culture” album. Padilla’s radio show is now Holy Culture Radio. In April of 2022, it expanded to the Sirius XM platform and includes podcasts, videos, along with Christian Hip Hop music.

James Rousseau was a deejay in Philadelphia, but grew up in the church. He decided to get into Christian rap because he loved Christ and the church, but was providing a soundtrack with lyrics that were counter to that. He met Padilla who asked him to bring his program model to Holy Culture Radio. Rousseau became a partner at Holy Culture Radio in 2008. When Padilla left, Rousseau took over the platform.

Holy Culture Radio has 14 shows, four of them are daily shows, five air on Saturday and another five air on Sunday. Rousseau believes that it is possible for Christian Hip Hop to go mainstream. “Over the past few years, the Gospel Music Industry has reduced its footprint in the Music Industry overall from 6% to 2%. However, it is still noteworthy that over 50 million per month listen to some form of gospel music. The hypothesis of the cause of that shrinkage from leaders within the Gospel Music Industry is that in large part, the industry has often catered to an aging population,” he said, adding that   Christian Hip-Hop is an incredible bridge that reaches masses with a diverse collection of artists with a range of styles and songs that will meet the needs of many.

Rousseau points out that some of the early Christian Hip Hop and Rap was Bible scriptures, turned into lyrics and storytelling, over a beat. A big part of Rousseau’s prayer when Holy Culture launched on Sirius XM in April of 2022, was that the Lord would do something magnificent with it, beyond his expectation. It has reached 53 million listeners each week since then. Rousseau believes it is because of convergence and demand.

“The people who came to listen to us, came from all kinds of channels. The quick assumption from anyone is, ‘Oh sure, they came from the Kirk Franklin Channel.’ Guess what? The large portion of them weren’t, the large portion came from the Joel Osteen Channel, the Faith Channel, the Message Channel … people who were looking for a more positive message,” Rousseau said.

Rousseau believes Holy Culture Radio can be a good fit for families who want music that has a good beat, with a good message; people who are searching for answers, but don’t want to be preached to. The artists featured on the platform can answer those questions with the music, which can engage those people by walking alongside them.

 Rousseau believes the timing is good for the platform to reach people because with so much polarization from the past, people are looking for more things they have in common with other people. He sees Afro Gospel being the next big thing. Christopher Le Mark, Founder of Coffee, Hip Hop and Mental Health was a guest on Church on the Block, a show that airs on Holy Culture Radio at 10 a.m. EST on Sunday.

Rousseau hopes that people get progressive music and empowering conversations. He hopes people feel a sense of community. “It’s a place where people come and feel like they can hang out, where they feel invited and feel they can be part of the conversation. It’s really about community, without judgement. Just come be a part of it,” he said.

For more information about Holy Culture Radio, visit holyculture.net.

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