Christian Rapper Wande Shares Her Journey to Jesus

Published: June 9, 2023

Christian Rapper Wande Shares Her Journey to Jesus

By Movieguide® Contributor

Christian rapper Wande recently shared with I Am Second how she went from growing up in a Muslim home to becoming Reach Records’ first signed female artist.

Growing up, Wande’s home was split religiously; her father was Muslim, and her mother was Christian. Although she was allowed to go to church on Sunday, when it came to actual belief, her father was adamant that she would continue the Muslim tradition.

Wande was first exposed to Christian rap when she was in middle school. She stumbled upon the song “Praying for You,” by Lecrae and she was immediately drawn to that style of worship. She switched out all of the songs on her playlist for songs by Lecrae and another rapper group called the 116 Clique.

When Wande learned that Lecrae and the 116 Clique were going to be at a local summer church camp, things got serious between her and her father. Her father realized that Christian rap was leading Wande to a genuine Christian faith, something that would have been an embarrassment for him.

“As a child, now I’m having adult conversations with my father, saying things like, ‘well, who cares what your brothers think or what your family thinks.’ This is for yourself, your own spirit, your own soul, your own eternity,” Wande said. “After that point, he didn’t want me to attend church anymore.”

Faced with this adversity, Wande took her faith into her own hands. Although unable to go to church, Wande started to build a firm foundation in Christ by waking up before her parents so she could read her bible every day.

A song that really stood out to her during this time was “Don’t Waste Your Life,” by Lecrae. The song led Wande to ask why she was on Earth and what did the Lord have in store for her life. Those questions helped her persevere during that time because she didn’t want to waste the short time that she has on Earth.

“My freshman year of high school, I had a biology project that my teacher assigned to us, and she told us that [we] had the option to do a PowerPoint, and essay, or, we’re gonna mix things up, and you can do a rap if you want,” Wande said.

“I did the rap, and as I showed more people that rap it was the same thing I noticed over and over; Groups of people staring intently at me rapping. And so I was like, ‘wow. This is actually really powerful,’” She continued.

After that, she started to use that captivation to share the gospel with people. She would go to talent shows and summer camps to share her songs. Eventually, Wande felt like the Lord was calling her to make rapping into her career.

While some people might rejoice at rapping being their calling, for Wande, it was terrifying. For Wande’s parents, the only acceptable jobs that Wande could pursue were becoming a doctor or a lawyer. Wande would have to forgo the steps she had already taken to become a doctor in order to pursue music full-time.

“I actually had a dream. I was at a summer camp and I was watching a female rapper. The someone who was next to me turned to me and said, ‘Wow. This is so good. I didn’t know that you could have raps and have Jesus in it. And this is actually really changing my life.,’” Wande said.

“And then, I had a spotlight that shined upon me, and then the Lord tells me, ‘I was gonna use you to do this, but you weren’t listening to me and you’re too afraid.’ And then I woke up,” she continued.

After that, Wande started fully pursuing music by posting rap videos online. She also switched from studying medicine at school to studying communication. Following her senior year, Wande was hired by Reach Record in the a&r department.

After working at Reach for about six months, Wande was put on an assignment to help find a female rapper to sign to the label. She immediately felt that the Lord was calling her into the role, but struggled with knowing how she would transition from servicing artists to being an artist.

Without even submitting her name, Wande’s music was found by Reach. They surprised her at a meeting with a presentation about her music, and that started her journey to becoming signed onto the label as their first female artist.