The Disciples of Christ are a Christian rap group which originated in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

 in the early 1990s. They released three albums for Star Song Records and later formed their own label, We are One/Throne Room Records.

Beginnings

The core of the group was Ben Reges (born Alton Hood) and Absalom (Kelvin Harvey) who were attending Oberlin College on football scholarship and friend Prophet (Michael Brown). Hood says of that time,

"Basically we were into the world. We both had scholarships to play football. We didn't have Christ in our lives, so we began to party and live the high life, hanging out with girls, that whole party life. We had this void in our lives. So what happened was that I was introduced by some friends to the occult

Occult

The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

. It got pretty serious."

Hood credits God with cleaning up both him and Harvey from drug addictions born out of their use in occult rituals:

"Praise God, through a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit, God's power came down right there in the room, saved me, delivered me right there on the spot...".

Following their conversion to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, the duo began performing raps and beat-boxing at parties. A year later they met third member Prophet (Michael Brown) at a Canton church which they now attended having moved to the Northeast Ohio area.

Deal with Star Song Records

Former rock band drummer Matt Stevens was the final member to join. The band met him while in the studio making a demo recording on the advice of friends. According to Hood, they didn't really think anything would happen with it:

"We were never into rap for the business or industry standpoint. We were just doing it as a tool. It was just a good idea to send [our demo] out, it was not like we put our hopes behind it-it was just something to do. We were content to be just in the northeastern Ohio area ministering, but God saw fit, because of our
faithfulness to Him, to take it abroad."

The demo was noticed by Star Song Records who included the group on a 1990 sampler. Their debut album So How Ya Livin'? followed in 1991. Also that year the group's Alton Hood made a guest rap appearance on labelmate Whitecross

Whitecross

Whitecross is a Christian metal band that formed in 1985 in Waukegan, IL releasing their first recording in the year 1987. Their early albums, which often invite comparisons to Ratt, are laced with fast, technical guitar work. In 1994, bandleader, primary songwriter and producer Rex Carroll split...

's album In the Kingdom, rapping on the song "Holy War". In 1993, the group released Pullin' No Punches and did another Christian metal collaboration, this time for Bride's cover of Argent's "God Gave Rock and Roll to You".

With their third album Righteous Funk the group began to resist the rap label and emphasize the 70s funk sounds they grew up on. ("We come from the '70s era of funk: Parliament, Earth, Wind & Fire, Heatwave. So, it was really great that we were able to express and come forth with that and introduce the Christian market to something they might not have ever known about.") The songs "Hollywood" and "Wind Me Up" featured funk legends Bootsy Collins

Bootsy Collins

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...

, Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...

, Bernie Worrell

Bernie Worrell

George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. is an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic...

 and Fred Wesley

Fred Wesley

Fred Wesley is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...

. The album earned the group a Grammy nomination.

Forming We are One/Throne Room records

Reduced to a duo of "Hoody Roc" (Alton Hood) and "Disciple Paul"(David Brooks) and based in Cleveland, Ohio the group formed their own record label We are One/Throne Room Records through which they released the CD The Antidote. The album was promoted with a tour merging their music with mime, poetry, dance and drama in a package the group called a "Rapusical".