Giving Hip-Hop Culture a Good Rap: 20 Years of Krosswerdz
In partnership with Australian Christian Records, The Daily Declaration shares a monthly Christian music column featuring the official OZ 5 Top Tunes chart, artist stories, new releases, upcoming music events, and local Christian music news. If you have something to contribute, send it to news@ozchristianrecords.com.au.
Recommended New Releases:
- Until Clarity — Memories (QLD) #Rock
- Victor Claye — I Have Decided (SA) #Rap
- Alzzy — The Mental Game [EP] (VIC) #Pop
- Youth Alive — Live At WonderWorld Vol. 2 [Album] (QLD) #Pop
More local Christian releases on our Australian Christian Pop Spotify Playlists.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
- Krosswerdz 20th Year Anniversary, May 30 (NSW)
- OneSydney, June 14 (NSW)
- Creative Awakening, May 23 & 30 (NSW, QLD)
MAY OZ 5 CHART
*Compiled by TCM based on Australian Christian radio airplay from the preceding month.
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Giving Hip Hop Culture a Good Rap: 20 Years of Krosswerdz
This month marks 20 years since Australia’s first ‘Hip-Hop church service’, and since that time, Krosswerdz has grown to incorporate Christian hip hop communities across Australia and indeed the globe. Aaron Duff sits down with Founder Matthew ‘Mistery’ Peet to learn the Krosswerdz origin story and hear what’s next on the horizon.
What comes to your mind when you think of hip hop culture? Is it big cars, gold chains and provocative women? Perhaps you associate it with gang violence in the US, or think of that same-same ‘me against the world’ swagger replicated by countless rappers around the world who boast about their power, ability, success and wealth.
Undoubtedly, hip-hop has deserved a bad rap for promoting an unrealistic, unhealthy and often ungodly lifestyle. Yet God has never stopped working in the lives of people who love the art, poetry and beats that come from the street.
From Preachers in Disguise (P.I.D.) in the ’80s, to the breakout of DC Talk and MC Hammer’s well-publicised conversion to born-again preacher in the ’90s, to Christian rap pioneers like Lecrae and his Reach Records family in the 2000s, we have seen Christian hip-hop not only give generations of young people a godly alternative of music, but positively influence the wider hip-hop scene in return.
An excellent testimony of this is the Christian hip hop community Krosswerdz, which was founded in a Sunday School room at the Petersham Assemblies of God, Sydney, 20 years ago this month.
A pioneer in Australia’s hip-hop scene, Matt ‘Mistery’ Peet founded Krosswerdz in 2006.
The Beginnings of an Australian Hip-Hop Community
The origin story of Krosswerdz goes back even further, with their founder Matt Mistery coming to faith in 1988.
A self-described “Graff-writer, Emcee, B-boy, Pastor, and New Testament Jew“, Matt has a long history in the hip-hop scene – and even before he was saved.
Straight after finding faith, Matt began inviting members of his crew to church, and after Sunday services, he would begin rapping with his crew after church. It was unfortunate, but the majority of the church members were not very supportive, and some even termed his art and skills to be ‘demonic’.
At around the same time, Matt paired up with his mate Wizdm to form Brethren, a two-person crew that even now is well recognised as the pioneers of Christian hip-hop in Australia.
Soon after, Matt was signed to a secular record label and his career really took off. In his tours around Australia, he came into contact with a number of other Christian rappers and artists. In the days before the internet, it took a decision bringing hip-hop rappers and performers together at one of the Blackstump festivals in the early ’90s to really establish a national network of like-minded artists.
Throughout the ’90s, Brethren was one of Australia’s most successful hip-hop crews, signing an EP deal with Mushroom Records, music videos on ABC’s rage, and airplay in Triple J. In spite of their career success, Mistery and Wizdm were open about their faith and were involved with countless community outreaches, running workshops at youth centres and churches around the Sydney area.
Other early supporters included Grant Howard from The Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club, who is a former colleague of Matt’s when they were doing youth work at a community service organisation together, as well as DJP (also known as DJ Paine) of Mustard Records, whose label became a major supporter of the community.
In 2000, Brethren released a groundbreaking new release on Mustard Records named ‘InDaMidst’, which became Australia’s first ever Christian hip-hop album.
Based on Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them“, the compilation album featured 18 tracks from emerging Christian hip-hop artists across Australia and New Zealand and launched a national tour.
Legal street art is a big part of Krosswerdz and initiatives like #blessedpiecemakers point the scene straight to the Gospel.
The Founding of Krosswerdz
On the back of the InDaMidst tour and the emergence of internet forums and messaging, more and more Christian hip-hop artists were brought together, including from overseas.
A community was gathering, and so the question was put forward to Matt, “Why don’t you start a hip-hop church?”
Off the back of that remark, InDaMidst was soon rebranded to Krosswerdz, and after the first church service was held in Sydney, May 2006, additional Krosswerdz crews began setting themselves up in the Central Coast, Queensland, South Australia and elsewhere.
One of the philosophies of Krosswerdz is that ‘Skills is Currency‘.
According to Matt, this makes Krosswerdz much more than simply a collection of rappers. The community is about excelling at various elements of hip-hop culture, such as breaking, popping, making beats, street art and more.
In 2011, the first Uprock Block Party was held, allowing members from across the country to get together to demonstrate, create and share each member’s skills in an offering to the Lord. As well as giving members a platform, Uprock has also been about ‘Up-skilling’ too, in mentoring the younger generation; all the while respecting hip-hop culture.
Uprock is now held annually, and Krosswerdz has grown too, with team members and family all over Australia and the world, including Canada, China, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, and the US.
Some of the Krosswerdz crew in front of a huge piece painted by Mistery & Days One, recognising the late Arthur Stace and his ‘Eternity‘ artwork initiative.
Growing Australia’s Christian Hip-Hop Scene
Today, there are a couple of longstanding radio shows dedicated to Christian hip-hop, such as Hip Hope with Scottie on Adelaide’s Life FM, as well as Definition Radio.
Hosted by Kieren Webb ‘K-Man’ and Oaks from Canberra’s 1Way FM station, Definition Radio was established just one month after Krosswerdz and was inspired after discovering the In Da Midst online forums and meeting other Christian hip-hop artists at the Blackstump festival.
Definition quickly became the show for established and aspiring Christian hip hop rappers to share their latest rhymes, and nowadays the one-hour program is syndicated to around 70 other community radio stations across Australia, with 152 Australian hip hop artists and groups on its airplay database.
Speaking with K-Man, he notes that aside from Brethren, other major players in Australia’s Christian hip hop scene over that time have included his co-host Oakbridge ‘Oaks’, Izzie n The Profit, Eskatology, TEOP, Funky Nomads, as well as Shelley H and Kris-Bo, who are previous winners of Triple J’s annual Unearthed competition.
According to K-Man, a lot of the old artists are still active these days, thanks in large part to the strong community, but there are some new names to watch, with his recommendations including Victor Claye, River Movement, Young Faith and Vytal One.
What’s Next For Krosswerdz
After 20 years of faithful service, Krosswerdz hasn’t slowed down, and Matt and his team remain ambitious for the future of Christian hip-hop here in Australia and internationally.
In commemorating their 20-year anniversary, Krosswerdz will be returning to the building that started it all those years ago on May 30 for a night of celebrations full of music and street art.
A video documentary is also in the works with plans for the first screening to be held in Adelaide this November 6-8 as part of the KW-Summit where crew members from across Australia and indeed the world will be coming for workshops and fellowship. In the week following, Sydney will host Uprock 2026, which will include the Block Party with breaking and dance battles, live (and legal) graffiti, a basketball competition, dj’ing and lots of rap music.
On the subject of street art, one successful initiative Krosswerdz began three years ago, is called the Blessed Piece Makers. To be held 27-28 June this year, it’s where Christian graff-writers and street artists create artworks in their respective locations all around the globe and flood Instagram over one weekend with Christ-inspired graffiti.
Using the #blessedpiecemakers tag last year, there were 80 artists from over 30 countries who showcased their creative gifts by representing Christ with their art, including in places as far away as Monaco and Guatemala.
Asking Matt what might come next for Krosswerdz, he shares a story:
“I know how powerful the Gospel is and also how hip-hop music and culture can be the bridge to help carry that message. One life I’ve seen changed first-hand was a brother from Iran called Mohammad. I met him 15 years ago through the hip-hop scene and over that time I’ve seen God change his life remarkably. Today he’s a believer and has changed his name to Silas. He’s telling me we need to go to Iran and set up a Krosswerdz crew there!”
Similarly, Matt has seen the power of using music to evangelise in other corners of the world, such as China and Malaysia, and in this vein, would love to see a Christian hip-hop block party in North Korea and other such places.
Iran and North Korea might sound like a far-fetched dream, but when you see what God has done in Matt’s life and in the growth of Krosswerdz over the past 20 years, these facts all attest to how nothing is impossible for our God!
Follow:
Krosswerdz
Website: www.krosswerdz.com
Instagram: @krosswerdz
Spotify: @krosswerdz
Krosswerdz 20 Year Celebrations
Venue: Revive Petersham
93 Audley St
Petersham NSW
Time: 6 p.m., 30 May 2026
Registration: Event Facebook Page
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Published with thanks to Australian Christian Records. Images courtesy of Krosswerdz and Australian Christian Records.
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