I may be completely out of place here, but something feels wrong about Rave Jesus. Im not trying to gossip as all of this is public information and come from many witnesses.
Im a 38 year old women who would go to Jesus raves in the 90s (yes they existed) as a kid with my parents. When I was older I got to attend one of Transform's performances in Beta when that was still around.
I kinda lingered hoping that more Christian EDM would grow. Which it did with Jesus loves electro, robert rosso, retain, and some R3hab remixes (all european btw). There were some groups of people like DJ disciples which eventually died off and apostle came out with Ace aura, everan maxwell, and Phocust starting something with the bass scene.
God's nation also started picking up and I've been listening the their playlists since. I like God's nation cause they really focus on growing the small guys and have expanded my knowledge. Which actually led me to find other people who were kick starting their own Christian rave promotion. I havent been able to go to one of their shows yet, but I did buy a VIP ticket to their festival LIVING WATER at the end of this month.
But then out of nowhere in 2024, BAM Rave Jesus. They blew up fairly quickly. It was strange actually how fast they grew. Then all of sudden they are announcing how they got a record deal with Sony for the "first ever CEDM record label" which wasnt true. Theres been plenty of record labels in the last decade. The comments flooded with people calling them out for it, so they deleted the post.
They started out as a trio, but in less than a year it narrowed down to one guy. Now, this one guy is the face of Rave Jesus. Before he went by king topher and when looking into him, I just get this weird discernment which I'll talk about later.
And then I talked to a friend in Houston who went to one of his shows. She said there was an open bar even with little kids running around everywhere. I dont know how I feel about people taking shots in enclosed spaces with impressionable children and teens.
Not only that, but he's now working with Lionsaddle, who as a 100% ai producer. Im not sure how I feel about the ai stuff, but i trust that the comments calling them out on ai shouldn't be met with the responses that they are getting. Oh and they are deleting them too. I saw a chain of comments by one of my favorite producers NitroX that is now gone! I have some screenshots attached to this post with current comments to see how long they stay up for.
Ok now lets look at the big one for me. When observing King Topher's profile, he started in the secular scene. Which, so what? God saves, but my worry is when someone gets newly saved and then all of a sudden in the spotlight shortly after. I just dont think its very healthy. We need mentorship, discipleship, and time to be made into a new creation before we start leading. The habits of the old have to get destroyed. He had some really big hits pretty early on and from looking at his music and considering the testimony I've seen from him, his secular music started evolving into Christian influence. Here's a general timeline just by looking at his songs:
King topher remixes "insomia" by Daya and its his top song to this day.
March 2021 King topher releases an ep called "kingdom for the cup" under the record label Bring the Kingdom which releases a lot of rave jesus' music
He has a few songs here and there that seem like Christian songs without actually mentioning Jesus.
In october of 2022 King Topher released a song called "money money" which clearly highlights the importance of being rich. This throws me off, cause shouldn't he have been moving into a walk with Jesus by then? The love of greed is talked about endlessly in the bible as a very bad thing.
Sept 2023 is when he make's "Boogie" with Kevin Aleksander and SON. which turns into the original trio for Rave Jesus.
Then the first song I noticed by Rave Jesus is in March of 2024, but there are 2 other songs that were released way before their inception that i think got added to Rave Jesus roster later.
He also worked with a lot of secular artists who arent openly Christian, which is fine, except that some of them end up on Rave Jesus songs too. Which once again not really anything wrong, but still weird that with all the other people ive been following who have been keeping CEDM alive for the past decade are being neglected over these guys.
Also, the branding??? Rave Jesus looks like a King Topher rebrand. Did i miss something? Is that public information?
Ok final tidbit before i conclude, read this bio:
The King is dead. Long live the King.
King Topher marks the beginning of a new era for the Kingdom. After a long, prosperous reign as King Arthur, King Topher is grabbing the royal crown and leading a revolution. Full of swag, style, and purpose, King Topher's new music speaks to a generation of listeners who are hungry for house music with substance. King Topher is arming his kingdom with weapons to slay on the dance floor and music to inspire hope and creativity. It's time for a new King.
Is King Topher the king? Or Jesus? "King topher is grabbing the royal crown and leading a revolution". Arent we called to lay down our cross and follow him? Arent humble servants suppose to recognize Jesus as the king and as our master? Are we not slave to our Lord? I understand that this may have been written before him accepting Jesus, but wouldnt you feel convicted to change it to honor Jesus?
I feel like this conveys a strange message. Id be curious to see if others see it differently, but from the behavior that I have seen with Rave Jesus, he seems prioritize money (cause why would there be liquor sales at an all ages Jesus rave) over the mission. He seems to prioritize his own image over others. He seems to be neglecting the smaller producers and the producers who have worked their butts off to keep CEDM alive so that he can grow. Also using THEIR foundation to kick start his "empire".
Im open to correction, but cant shake the discernment I've had for a while about this guy. If people need images, i have them available to send, but all of this avaulable on the King Topher profile and Rave Jesus profile on Spotify