Rap For The Soul Dj Brings Rap Music, Christian Themes Together

He’s called the “Gospel Diddy in the City.”

For two hours every Sunday night, Mike Barrow praises God with dance music.

“G-G-Get ready for more good Gospel myooo-sic,” he intones with his smooth, jazzy voice. “Hallelujah! Glory to God forever more.”

Barrow, 38, is the only DJ or “diddy” in the Spokane area who plays R&B Christian music.

His show, which airs on KTSL-FM at 5 p.m., features a funky mix of hip-hop and soul, dance-beat rhythms and syncopated rap.

“When his music comes on the air, your body is filled with the Holy Spirit,” says one of Barrow’s fans, 29-year-old Debbie Seideman of Spokane. “I couldn’t believe Christian music could be this cool.”

Before Barrow’s “Heart and Soul Show” started in 1995, Christian music fans could listen only to pop music or traditional hymns on the radio. Few thought it was even possible to bring rap music and Christian themes together.

“It’s the only sound of its kind,” says Mike Hadley, KTSL’s general manager. “The show is a niche within a niche, especially in Spokane.”

Barrow’s music sounds like the kind played in nightclubs - until you listen closely to the lyrics.

Behind the soulful sounds and booming bass, you’ll hear messages like: “God is good,” “Let’s work together for the Lord” and “Peace, brother.”

It’s a strange combination for many listeners, but Seideman is among those who find it refreshing.

Before Barrow’s show, she never allowed her children to listen to rap.

“Most rap music is violent, and it’s so unhealthy to hear that it’s cool to shoot somebody,” said Seideman, a mother of three. “But Mike’s music is different. His show is about God and positive things.”

Barrow, who volunteers his time to do the two-hour show, never thought he’d be a DJ. As a teenager growing up in Philadelphia, he would be the guy behind the turntable at parties and dances. He also worked at a nightclub, where he played lots of James Brown, Donna Summer and Earth, Wind and Fire.

He always loved music, but he didn’t think he’d get the chance to play it on the radio.

That changed two years ago, when he gave a demo tape to KTSL’s general manager.

“They wanted to reach all sorts of listeners by providing different types of music,” says Barrow, who works as a customer service representative at Washington Water Power Co. “I wanted to do a show and they let me do it.”

A member of Solid Rock Christian Center in Hillyard, Barrow didn’t grow up with religion. His parents - separated for 19 years because “Southerners don’t believe in divorce”- never brought him to church except for an occasional Sunday service at the YMCA.

Barrow, who moved to Spokane in 1989, became a non-denominational Christian 15 years ago when he was still in the Air Force working as an aircraft scheduler. A friend had given him a pamphlet with a Scripture verse - “For God so loved the world …” - and it changed his life, he said.

“I was trying to get an understanding of who God was,” he says. “When I read that, something hit me. Since then, I’ve believed in the Lord.”

Barrow is soft-spoken, almost shy. He’d rather talk about his wife and three kids than himself.

But put him behind the mike on Sunday nights and he takes on a celebrity personality. He laughs more, he grooves, he gets a little crazy.

“He’s flamboyant and charismatic,” Hadley says. “This is his chance to let his hair down.”

His listeners just know the man who tries “to make everyone’s day a little bit better,” said Ed Kelly, who has been tuning in to the “Heart and Soul Show” for the past five months.

Although Barrow’s music is predominantly “black,” most of his listeners are white and between the ages of 10 and 50. He gets dozens of calls and letters from kids who thank him for his show.

“He plays what young people want to hear,” Seideman says. “I can be a Christian and love the Lord and still like good music.”

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