Wagner, Ron, \u2793

English

Furman University

Furman MagazineVolume 50Issue 4 Winter 2008 Article 251-1-2008Mars ILL: Hip-hop music with a faith-based beatRon Wagner '93Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/furman-magazineThis Article is made available online by Journals, part of the Furman University Scholar Exchange (FUSE). It has been accepted for inclusion in FurmanMagazine by an authorized FUSE administrator. For terms of use, please refer to the FUSE Institutional Repository Guidelines. For more information,please contact scholarexchange@furman.edu.Recommended CitationWagner, Ron '93 (2008) "Mars ILL: Hip-hop music with a faith-based beat," Furman Magazine: Vol. 50 : Iss. 4 , Article 25.Available at: https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/furman-magazine/vol50/iss4/25MARS I LL: H I P- H O P  M U S I C  WITH A FAITH-BAS E D  BEAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . Whi le  a d eg re e  in business admin istration from Furman is certa in ly something to be proud of, it's not exactly news. Putt ing that degree on the backburner to pursue a career in  faith-based hip-hop, however ­now that's a story you don't hear every day. Chances are, you haven't l istened to a lot of fa ith-based hip-hop. But in that small  but growing world, there aren't many names bigger than Mars I LL, which probably makes Greg Owens '97 - also known as manC H I LD - the most successful Christian rapper in  Furman history. Owens is the voice behind the two-man group. He and h is collaborator, DJ Dust (Nathan Corrona), have sold more than 60,000 albums, and their videos have been viewed tens of thousands of times on YouTube. In a genre that operates on the fringes of even the ind ie m usic scene, that's a dizzying amount of success. So much, in  fact, that Owens has had a chance to ca l l  on h is  d iploma after a l l .  " I t 's b igger  than I ever thought it cou ld  be,  to be honest," he says. " [My degree] is someth ing I actually have used . From 1 999 to 2005, I managed us and d id  the whole th ing,  procured record deals, negotiated with labels." So t ime at Furman wasn't wasted, after a l l .  But Owens, who is married to Mary Pa lmer '98 and is a father of five, laughs when asked if h is  classmates would have predicted where he is today. " You might have a few surprised people," he says. "There are a lot of people who know what I do, and it's just second nature. But when you fi rst meet people they're l ike, 'Oh, get a life.' " It's always an interesting thing to see them at first They don't believe you. I don't usual ly volunteer the information. I just say I'm in  music" Don't take that to mean that Owens isn't proud of what he does, however. Mars ILL's three a lbums have been positively received by mainstream music critics, and while Owens doesn't deny that rel ig ion plays a prominent role in  the lyrics he writes, he insists that it's not a l l  the duo is about "We wanted to be a good influence and try to touch some peoples' lives," he says. "Our  faith is something that has always been very important to us, but we d idn't get out and try to break into the Christian industry. Bel ieve it or not, Christian publ ications would question us because we didn't  say Jesus enough or use Christian terms enough ."  So i s  Mars I LL Christian music or not? Owens doesn't th ink the label is even relevant "We make hip-hop music You could describe it any n umber of ways," he says. " Some people call it true school hip-hop, some people call it underground, but ultimately you have to listen to it yourself and decide what it is." Owens fell in  love with rap in  the 1 980s, pointing to groups l i ke Run DMC and Publ ic Enemy as influences. Their courage as rappers told him it was OK to express ideas that he felt were important But it wasn't unti l  he met Joe Brewer '97 at Furman that he really began to think he could create that music himself. Owens and Brewer shared a love of hip-hop that made them fast friends even though Owens hai led from tiny Ridgeland, S .C . ,  and Brewer was from Balt imore. They formed their own group, The Pride, and released two a lbums of their own before graduation sent Brewer to law school and Owens to Atlanta to keep pursu ing  his dream.  Now a lawyer in  Green­vil le, Brewer sti l l  counts Owens as one of his best friends. And he's one of Mars ILL's biggest fans. "There was a big part of me for a long time that wished I could be out there with h im," Brewer says. " I 've got a l l  of their albums, and I 'm obviously not an unb iased source, but I th ink that both of them are near the genius level in this genre of art Both of them have found a special voice that's un iquely theirs." Not to mention a fan base. B rewer admits that once music is labeled "Christ ian" it often loses the respect of critics, but he thinks Mars ILL  successfu l ly shares its message whi le creating legitimate art "There are kids all over this country that, really, their lives were changed because they realized that they could be a person of faith and stil l be un ique to their interests," Brewer says of Mars ILL's inf luence. "The general perception is that C hristian music is corny, and I think that's what most people th ink,  even C hristians themselves." In Brewer's view, what Mars ILL does - and what it represents - is to say, " Look, you can be a person of faith and stil l be ab le to pursue and create th ings that are important to you and what you love . . . .  You don't have to compromise on the qual ity. Those th i ngs can co-exist" Mars ILL performs regularly and plans to continue making mus ic Or, perhaps more accurately, add ing to its legacy. " People should appreciate how successfu l  Mars ILL is," Brewer says. "They've done some really special things." To learn more, v is it www.mars i l l .com.  - RON WAGNER '93 

Mars ILL: Hip-hop music with a faith-based beat

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Mars ILL: Hip-hop music with a faith-based beat

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