It's been a busy 12 months for award-winning Christian hip-hop artist Aaron Cole. He signed with a new label, dropped a new album, made an appearance on the popular Sway in the Morning show, and hit the road on tour. Most significantly, though, he became a father. Cole's wife Erica gave birth to their first son, Omari Anthony Cole, Oct. 19.
"It's changed me so much -- just how I think about life," a smiling Cole told Crosswalk Headlines.
The 25-year-old Cole has grown up in front of the public, having signed with TobyMac's Gotee Records as a teenager and having won GMA Dove Award New Artist of the Year when he was 20.
It seemed only fitting, he said, to release a three-song project inspired by his new son. It's called Omari and is available on all major platforms. One of the singles is a collaboration with Tauren Wells.
"This whole year has been amazing," he said.
Cole's music has been a mainstay for fans of Christian hip-hop, beginning with the 2017 singles Right on Time and One More Day and continuing with 2018's Starts with Me. His voice also appeared on the 2022 Tauren Wells single Fake It.
He signed with Sony last year and, in April, released his newest album, Sorry, I Changed.
Music, he said, is part of who he is.
"I'm a Christian, and I've been blessed enough to make music in a way that I can be honest in my music," Cole told Crosswalk Headlines. "I can share my struggles. I can share the things that I go through and still feel like I'm relating to people that are not even Christian. I feel like this is my calling to still make music that's pleasing to God because that's what I do in my everyday life. I've been blessed enough to actually talk about my life and share experiences that help other people."
Cole sees the impact his music has on fans when he tours.
"When I go into these shows, and I go on the road, and seeing how much my music helps other people -- it's no greater feeling. I feel like I'm gonna be like Toby. I'm gonna be like 50, 60, and still doing music, for sure," he added, laughing.
Cole's God-glorifying approach to hip-hop stands in stark contrast to the coarse themes often found in mainstream hip-hop. Many of those artists, he said, feel pressure from their labels to make "toxic" content.
"I've come across a lot of just mainstream artists, from singers to rappers," he said. Mainstream labels "expect them to have that toxicity in their music."
"A lot of these artists think, like, 'Man, there's no other way. Like, I have to talk about toxic things in my music if I want to take care of my family' -- which is a sad thing. …And if they don't do that, then the label is going to let them go."
Cole hopes his music is an inspiration not only to fans but to mainstream artists.
"I want to continue to do what I'm doing and reach the levels that I want to reach because it shows other people, 'I could do it in a different way. I don't have to talk about toxic [stuff in my] music.'"
Meanwhile, Cole said he understands why mainstream hip-hop artists often collaborate with Christian singers.
"That's why you see the different collabs that you see of mainstream artists wanting to work with Christian artists nowadays," he said.
Although Cole did not mention names, one of the most controversial collaborations this year involved Maverick City Music and the rapper GloRilla.
"I get everyone kind of feeling like, 'Man, why is this person working with this person? All their other music is, like, terrible and toxic.' Sometimes," Cole said, "when we're meeting these artists and we're connecting with these artists, we give these artists hope."
Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Aaron Cole
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.