This Fresh Artist Wants to Make ‘Cool Christian Music’ for The Next Generation
By Movieguide® Contributor
Forrest Frank has a goal for this generation — to make “cool Christian music” that he never had as a kid.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t necessarily have cool Christian music to listen to,” Frank said. “If I was going to the gym or if I was at the beach, it seemed like there weren’t really any Christian songs that would fit those facets of life, but there was great Christian music within the church and for worship. That actually kind of broke my heart; I would cry about it, and I’m not the most emotional guy.”
“So, I aspired to make Christian music that I think is cool. Not everyone’s going to like it, but I think it does serve a role in the sense of it being music that kids think is cool and want to have as their baseball walk-up song when they go up to the plate and listen to when they hang out with their friends,” he said.
The artist won an Artist of the Year award last year and earned a Grammy nomination for his album, Child of God. His songs “Good Day” and “Up!” with Connor Price have been streamed millions of times. His song “Never Get Used to This” currently rests at No. 18 on Billboard’s Christian Airplay Chart.
“For my song ‘No Longer Bound,’ the radio stations were like, ‘We can’t put this on the radio because the kick hits too hard; you need to change that.’ I was like, ‘Oh, then just don’t put it on the radio.’ I don’t care; I’m just making it the way that I love it,” he said. “I think that authenticity is what kids resonate with.”
Frank previously sang with the pop band Surfaces. Now he sings solo and believes God is guiding his career. And he’s been busy. He released albums New Hymns in 2023, A Merry Lofi Christmas and Child of God in 2024.
“It’s felt like God is just holding my hand through it, so I can’t take any credit for it. And I know that’s such a cliché thing to say, but with everything in my being, it feels like he’s holding my hand,” Frank said.
“Some of the songs that have been massive successes — like Lift My Hands, for example, I was just in the shower, and I heard the whole song in my head. I was like, ‘Okay, God, I’ll go make that song.’ I just traced it from my brain, which is so abnormal. The typical process is you clock in, attempt to make a good song, and then make seven songs, and none of them are good enough to put out. To have it come out backward, it’s just like…I didn’t write the song.”
READ MORE: FORREST FRANK SAYS HIS HIT SONG HELPED HIM ‘THROUGH THE HARDEST TRIAL OF MY LIFE’
Frank’s music also attracts non-Christian fans.
“This generation is waking up to a lot of things. There’s a sort of a distrust — or maybe not a distrust, but a questioning happening. There’s a second-guessing to almost everything now because it seems like corporations have taken over the airwaves,” he said.
“For me, for example, I used to have a whole laundry list of health complications, and when I would go to a doctor, he would say, ‘You have this, take this medication for it.’ I’d still have the issues, but then I’d have a medication overriding it and the side effects from it without a real solution. Then, I finally went to a naturopathic doctor who was like, ‘You’re gluten intolerant. You’re allergic to corn, and you’re eating this all the time. Take these foods out of your diet and switch to organic and whole foods.‘ I did, and all of my symptoms went away.”
He compares his experience with typical doctors to what youth experience when they take in what the media and mainstream teachings tell them.
“I think more people are doing this style of questioning because they’re like, man, the system’s just trying to sell us this and sell us that,” Frank says. “And I think kids are waking up to the fact that what you put in comes out; what you listen to and what you consume matters.”
“My main message is that Jesus changed my life, and every song is a reflection of that testimony. He saved my life,“ Frank said. “If you haven’t considered Jesus, then I would consider Jesus, ’cause that’s really all I have to offer — that’s all my music has to offer.”
Last month, Forrest released a new song, “DROP!” The song is about humility, combining hip-hop beats with thoughtful lyrics. This year, he’ll set out on his Child of God Tour Part 2 in the U.S. and Canada. The tour kicks off Mar. 27.
READ MORE: TIKTOK SENSATION TAKES OVER MUSIC INDUSTRY FOR CHRIST: ‘JESUS IS COMING’
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