Rowan "Purified" Meldal-Johnsen is a Christian hip hop

Christian hip hop

Christian hip hop is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization , edifying members of the church and/or simply entertaining.-History:Since hip-hop started in the 1970s, various hip-hop artists have...

 artist from Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. He is currently living in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and attends Hillsong Church Sydney.

Purified got his start in hip hop by evangelist Nicky Cruz

Nicky Cruz

Nicky Cruz is a Christian evangelist, the founder of Nicky Cruz Outreach, an evangelistic Christian ministry. He was also once the director of Teen Challenge, serving under David Wilkerson before founding another ministry home himself in California...

. He has released two studio albums: Don't Hold Back (2009) and Set On Fire (2011).

Purified has performed in two international tours of the USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 (2008) and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 (2010) with another European tour scheduled for August 2011.

Don't Hold Back is the highest selling Christian hip hop

Christian hip hop

Christian hip hop is hip hop music characterized by a Christian worldview, with the general purposes of evangelization , edifying members of the church and/or simply entertaining.-History:Since hip-hop started in the 1970s, various hip-hop artists have...

 album to ever come out of Australia, which makes Purified Australia's highest selling Christian hip hop artist.

Set On Fire at the time of release March 1, 2011 was in the CHH charts at #3 behind Lecrae

Lecrae

Lecrae Moore is an American Christian Hip Hop artist signed to Reach Records, the record label that he co-founded. Thus far Lecrae has released five solo studio albums, and his latest Rehab: The Overdose was released on January 11, 2011...

 and Toby Mac in Australia.

Purified has worked and toured with several notable Christian hip hop and rock

Christian rock

Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...

 artists such as Tony Stone

Tony Stone

Tony Stone is an American music producer and project developer for Christian Hip-Hop artists. He has produced the music to hundreds of songs in the genre...

, JR, Lecrae, Tedashii

Tedashii

Tedashii "Tdot" Anderson, known simply as Tedashii, is a Christian hip hop artist and member of the hip-hop troupe, 116 Clique. Tedashii has released three solo albums, Kingdom People, Identity Crisis, and Blacklight, on Reach Records...

, Canton Jones

Canton Jones

Canton Jones, born in Deerfield Beach, Florida, is an American Christian musician and Christian hip-hop artist.-Early years:Canton Jones began singing at the age of 5 in a vocal group founded by his father...

, Braille, Sean Slaughter, Everyday Process, K-Drama, Relient K

Relient K

Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Brian Pittman, and Matt Hoopes during the band's junior year in high school and their time at Malone University...

, Switchfoot

Switchfoot

Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman , Tim Foreman , Chad Butler , Jerome Fontamillas , and Drew Shirley .After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream...

, Pillar

Pillar (band)

Pillar is a Christian rock band currently located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Their sixth studio album, Confessions, was released in 2009.- Formation and independent albums :...

, The Almost

The Almost

The Almost is an American alternative rock band from Clearwater, Florida, formed in 2005, and is most notable for being the side project of former Underoath drummer, Aaron Gillespie.-History:...

, Hillsong United

Hillsong United (band)

The Hillsong United band is an Australian praise and worship band that originated as a part of Hillsong Church. The band tours the world, performing at the various Hillsong church locations as well as general concert venues. They compose the songs for their own performances and for the other...

.

He has appeared at Australia's most notable Music Festivals Big Exo Day, Groundswell, Blackstump, and Spirit Festival. He has also appeared on Channel 10's morning show The Soup

The Soup

The Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...

and on the Australian Christian Channel

Australian Christian Channel

The Australian Christian Channel is a Christian channel featured on subscription-based television in Australia. The Australian Christian Channel is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on Foxtel, Austar, Optus, TransACT, and Neighbourhood Cable....

.

Purified was also a student at Hillsong International Leadership College

Hillsong International Leadership College

Hillsong International Leadership College in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia, is the training college of Hillsong Church, a Pentecostal Christian church, affiliated with the Assemblies of God. The college operates from the church's two main worship centres in Baulkham Hills and Waterloo...

 where he studied Pastoral Leadership. He has been a member of Hillsong

Hillsong Church

Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches and located in Sydney, Australia. The church's senior pastors, Brian and Bobbie Houston, began the church in 1983 as the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills...

 for 13 years .

Rowan married Rahel Schweikle on January 29, 2010 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Another ceremony was held in a castle in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

for European friends and family.