Do you love hip-hop music’s sound, but can’t find any with clean lyrics?
Meet the traditional Catholic hip-hop artist, E-Knock, who uses his talent to evangelize the Catholic faith.
ChurchPOP editor Jacqueline Burkepile recently sat down with E-Knock to unveil his incredible story of fleeing war-torn Iraq to come to the United States as a child. He now creates clean, hip-hop music to engage Catholic youth.
Watch ChurchPOP’s interview with E-Knock below:
Growing up in San Diego, E-Knock began his musical journey alongside his brother in high school. He fell away from the Catholic Church for a short time, but returned after delving into Scripture the teachings of the Church Fathers.
Now, E-Knock, a Syriac Rite Catholic who attends the Traditional Latin Mass, uses his musical talents and lyrical wordplay to evangelize the Catholic Church’s teachings. He is also a devoted husband and father of five children.
“I've been making music most of my life,” he says. “When I started back up again, I came with the new name, ‘E-Knock,’ which means ‘eternity knocks,’ but it has a play on words with the prophet Enoch. And I launched my first album in April of 2022– ‘Traditionis’–and I have released five albums ever since.”
As a poetic lyricist, E-Knock says he chose hip-hop because it gives him “a bigger canvas to write on.”
“With hip-hop, you could fit in an entire story,” he said. “My brain is always working to where I can take a few words and bend them a little bit and make two words sound the same but it's two different meanings. And that's what made me love hip-hop so much. Combining that with the faith–it's just been so fun to do.”
E-Knock also says Catholicism provides him with “an unlimited topic” lyrically. While secular hip-hop focuses more on oneself.
“With Catholicism, I can really focus the music on our Lord and the aspects of the faith,” he says.
The husband and father of five moved to Kentucky from California and now lives on a homestead with his family.
While living in California, E-Knock explains that he was a director of youth ministry for several years. He noticed many of the teens often used AirPods, and most of them listened to rap music. This inspired him to return to his musical roots as a means of evangelization once he moved to Kentucky.
“[I thought], the youth I was ministering to in California listen to this, why don't I give them something alternative, that has a Catholic message to it but with the same sound?" he told Burkepile.
However, the Catholic rapper says, “Hip-hop also has a syncopated aspect of music, which is not ordered according to the way music is supposed to be ordered,” so he recommends listeners turn to Gregorian chant first and listen to his music “in moderation.” He said he created this music primarily to minister to the youth.
“I highly recommend that everybody, first and foremost, listen to chant as much as you possibly can. Gregorian Chant, (classical music would be next), because that's the most ordered form of music you can find.”
Toward the end of the interview, E-Knock says his main goal as a musician is to perform at one of the biggest Catholic youth conferences in the country: SEEK.
“I'm trying to reach the ‘heights of the heights’ and I'd like to perform at SEEK one time. That is my goal,” he said.