Day 2 - dc Talk - Jesus Freak

2. dc Talk - Jesus Freak
From the album Jesus Freak (Forefront Records, 1995)

After the success of their previous album, Free at Last, landed dc Talk a distribution deal with Virgin Records, many fans feared that the band would water down its Christian message to appeal more to a mainstream market. Those fears were entirely unfounded.

While the band's previous efforts were more rap and hip-hop oriented, here, dc Talk nearly single handedly invented nu metal. Released 4 to 5 years before bands like Lincoln Park and Limp Bizkit popularized the genre, dc Talk combined hard rock, grunge and rap to create one of the greatest songs of all time.

Although dc Talk broke in to the Billboard Top 40 with Just Between You and Me, it was the title track that was selected as the 2nd best Christian song of all time in Contemporary Christian Magazine's book, 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music.

Rather then watering down the Christian message, the lyrics in Jesus Freak are bold and "in your face."

Kamikaze, my death is gain
I've been marked by my Maker a peculiar display.
The high and lofty they see me as weak
Cause I won’t live and die for the power they seek, yeah

What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus freak?
What will people do when they find thats its true?
I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus freak 
There aint disguising the truth.

"The music video for Jesus Freak was directed by Simon Maxwell, who also worked on the music video for Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. Maxwell's treatment of the video, reminiscent of his work with Nine Inch Nails, features footage of Christian imagery such as doves and crosses mixed with stock footage of riots, book burnings, hate crimes, and propaganda films projected onto a screen. Interspersed between the stock footage is video of the band performing the song in a darkened room.

Although the song and video are, on the surface, about expressing one's belief in Jesus Christ, the band later commented that the song could also be a metaphor for the "preservation of standing up for what you believe in – even in the midst of persecution."

McKeehan later said that the point of the video was to "push the envelope" for the Christian rock community, and indeed, the song and video proved controversial. Although the song and video were an earnest attempt to "declare a single-hearted faithfulness in Christ in an age when such devotion strikes many as the freakiest kind of fanaticism," some of the more conservative Christian community members frowned at the video. The song however, was highly successful on Z Music and managed to achieve air time on MTV." (Source: Wikipedia)

The album sold over two million copies, and peaked at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. It won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album and a Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year in 1997. In 1996, the song won Dove Awards for Song of the Year and Rock Recorded Song of the Year and the band was named Artist of the Year. The music video for the song later won the award for Short Form Music Video of the Year in 1997.

Here is the original studio released concept video for the song.