John Reuben (born John Reuben Zappin; January 14, 1979) is an American Christian hip hop artist signed to

Gotee Records Gotee Records is a record label founded by Christian hip hop performer Toby McKeehan (known professionally as ''TobyMac''), Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood. The label began as a production company. At the time of the label's founding, McKeehan wa ...

until late 2010. Reuben has sold over 200,000 copies of his first four albums.Breimeier, Russ (May 2002)
"John Reuben - ''Hindsight''."
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Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

''. Retrieved February 6, 2007.Farias, Andree (2005)
"John Reuben - The Boy vs. The Cynic."
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''. Retrieved February 7, 2007."Biography of John Reuben."
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''. Retrieved February 6, 2007. He released his sixth album, ''

Sex, Drugs and Self-Control ''Sex, Drugs and Self-Control'' is the sixth album by rapper John Reuben, released on December 22, 2009. Track listing #"Jamboree" #"Radio Makes You Lonely" #"Burn It Down" #"In the Air" #"Paranoid Schizophrenic Apocalyptic Whisper Kitten" #"T ...

'' on December 22, 2009. The album was nominated for a Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 42nd GMA Dove Awards, while the song "No Be Nah" was nominated for Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song of the Year. Reuben continues to tour, and has played and recorded music with many popular Christian music artists such as

Five Iron Frenzy Five Iron Frenzy is an American band formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. Best known for playing ska punk music characterized by an offbeat sense of humor and prominent Christian themes, Five Iron was one of the pioneering figures of the Christi ...

Relient K Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman Board Message during the band members' third year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after ...

, The O.C. Supertones, Luke Dowler,

Hawk Nelson Hawk Nelson is a Canadian rock band from Peterborough, Ontario. Formed in 2000, the band has released eight studio albums to date. History Early independent releases (2000–2003) In 2000, Dunn, Clark, and Paige founded a Peterborough-based gr ...

MC Lars Andrew Robert Nielsen (born October 6, 1982), known professionally as MC Lars, is an American record producer, rapper, cartoonist, podcaster and educator. Lars is one of the self-proclaimed originators of "lit-hop", and is the founder and CEO of ...

, and

TobyMac Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was first known f ...

Background

Reuben is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

heritage and according to his MySpace, his mother is the owner of a Christian Death Metal record label. His brother is Maker Studio CEO Danny Zappin. Raised in Pataskala,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, Reuben got his start in rapping by taking the bus into the city to rap on open mic nights and participate in

rap battles Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...

at the age of fifteen. Reuben later released ''Monuments'', an independent EP, which caught the attention of

. They took a chance, signing him to the label and releasing his first project, '' Are We There Yet?'', in 2000.

, the founder of Gotee Records, provided vocals for the album's final track, "God is Love." The album was nominated for a

Dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

award in 2002. John Reuben

Reuben's next release, ''

Hindsight Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they actually were. People often believe that after an event ha ...

'' (2002), continues his use of a wide variety of musical genres and thoughtful, often funny lyrics. The album was praised as a "truly eclectic and creative hip-hop album that blends old-school sounds with progressive production." Once thought to be a Christian version of

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, Reuben's first two releases established him as an original, witty, sarcastic musician, as well as Gotee's top-selling solo rap artist.Farias, Andree (December 2003)
"''John Reuben - Professional Rapper''."
''

''. Retrieved February 6, 2007. JohnReubencropped

'' Professional Rapper'' (2003) marked Reuben's debut as a self-producing artist. The album is noticeably different from his previous efforts, using more instruments and less DJ sampling for the tracks. Along with these differences, the album is noticeably darker in both lyrics and feel. It includes several somber tracks which allow a glimpse into Reuben's struggles and self-doubt.

Adrienne Camp Adrienn “Adie” Camp (née Liesching; born 12 July 1981) is a South African singer and songwriter, who is known as the lead singer of the Christian pop-rock band the Benjamin Gate before the group disbanded in 2003. She briefly contributed ...

The Benjamin Gate The Benjamin Gate was a South African Christian rock band formed in 1998 by friends of musician Ben Herbert following his death in a traffic collision. Their name, which was also the name of one of the entrances into the original city of Jer ...

contributes vocals to two tracks on the album. The following year Reuben released '' So In Hindsight the Professional Rapper Isn't There Yet'' (2004), an album of remixed versions of songs from his first three albums.Farias, Andree (December 2004)
"John Reuben - ''So in Hindsight the Professional Rapper Isn't There Yet''."
''

'' Retrieved February 7, 2006. '' The Boy vs. The Cynic'' (2005) continued Reuben's trek from the non-serious songs which characterized his earlier work to music that's far more somber and meditative. Reportedly, when the time came for him to submit his work for the album, Reuben turned in enough tracks for two albums, one light hearted, the other more serious. Rather than releasing a two disc release, the label decided to splice them together into ''The Boy vs. The Cynic''.

Matt Thiessen Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. Wit ...

contributed to the album's second track, "Nuisance". Tim Skipper of the band

House of Heroes House of Heroes is an American alternative rock band from Columbus, Ohio. They have released six albums: ''What You Want Is Now'' (2003), ''House of Heroes'' (2005), ''The End Is Not the End'' (2008), ''Suburba'' (2010), ''Cold Hard Want'' (20 ...

appeared on the track "So Glad". On this album most of Reuben's songs used more "traditional"

musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

, typically the guitar, though he experimented with many different instruments and musical styles. At this time Reuben also filmed and released the pilot for a reality show detailing his "rise" to stardom while poking fun at many of the conventions of reality television. Though the show was never picked up, the pilot was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Reuben released his fifth album, ''

Word of Mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...

'', on February 6, 2007 which took on more experimental characteristics, with the aid of Beck producer Joe Baldridge. Allmusic.com called ''Word of Mouth'' an "unqualified triumph" and said that "You won't find a truer, more honest, or more celebratory album this year." Two songs from the album, "Focus" and "Good Evening," were included in the 2007 video game, '' Thrillville: Off the Rails''.

released Reuben's sixth studio album, ''

'' on December 22, 2009. The first single, "Town Folk" was released on July 14, 2009. The next single, "Jamboree", was released August 18, 2009. Followed by "Confident", which was released September 15, 2009, "No be Nah" was released October 14, 2009. In 2010 a best of collection entitled Zappin was released, before Reuben entered an unannounced musical hiatus that would span until fall of 2016. It was at this time that in anticipation of his next album, Reuben released two singles, "Old as Religion" on September 16, and on December 9, a collaboration with Issac Ryan Brown and Aaron Cole, titled "Angel and Drums". On May 19, 2017 Reuben independently released his seventh studio album Reubonic. The album stirred minor controversy for the inclusion of several curse words within the lyrics, Reuben quickly responded on Instagram and was unapologetic. Reuben released a self-titled album in early 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

*2000: '' Are We There Yet?'' *2002: ''

'' *2003: '' Professional Rapper'' *2005: '' The Boy vs. the Cynic'' *2007: ''

'' *2009: ''

'' *2017: ''Reubonic'' *2020: ''Greatest Christian Rapper Ever''

EPs

* 1997: ''Monuments EP''

Compilation albums

*2004: ''So in Hindsight the Professional Rapper Isn't There Yet'' *2010: Zappin (The Best of)

Music videos

* "Do Not" * "Doin'" * "Move" * "Nuisance" * "Good Evening" * "Make Money Money" * "Trying Too Hard" * "Word of Mouth" * "Town Folk" * "No Be Nah" * "Confident" * "Jamboree" * "Candy Coated Razor Blades" * "Fallen" * "Bury This Verse" * "Future Nostalgia"

Guest appearances

* '' Coalition: the Hip-Hop Alliance (Compilation, 2000) * ''Area'' (

DJ Maj Michael Joseph "Mike" Allen (born October 9, 1970), professionally known as DJ Maj, is a Christian music DJ and rapper, contributing to gospel music albums released by tobyMac, GRITS, Ill Harmonics, Carman, dc Talk, and the Newsboys. DJ Maj ha ...

, 2001) * ''

Extreme Days ''Extreme Days'' is a 2001 comedy-romance film about four boys on a roadtrip that they have been planning their whole lives. Their dreams are to participate in many extreme sports, but they are stopped short due to many circumstances. Plot Four c ...

'' (Compilation, 2001) * '' Collaborations'' (

KJ-52 Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac,"

, 2002) * '' The Ringleader: Mixtape Volume III'' (

, 2003) * ''Roots'' (

The Katinas The Katinas are a contemporary Christian music group. They are a family of five brothers. The group's members sang in Assembly of God church as children, and began playing fairs, soon moving up to nationwide slots opening for R. Kelly, Jasmine ...

, 2003) * ''Just Ragga'' (Compilation, 2003) * ''X 2004: 17 Christian Rock Hits'' (Compilation, 2004) * ''X 2005: 17 Christian Rock Hits'' (Compilation, 2005) * ''Sens'' (The Evan Anthem, 2005) * ''Hip Hope Hits 2006'' (Compilation, 2005) * '' Freaked! A Gotee Tribute to dc Talk's "Jesus Freak."'' (Cover Compilation, 2006) * ''Gotee Records: Twenty Years Brand New'' (Cover Compilation, 2014) * ''STAGES'' (Kim Beyer, 2021)

References

External links

*
John Reuben at Purevolume
at ''

'' (March 2007)
John Reuben Music Videos
at Rapzilla.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Reuben, John 1979 births Living people Midwest hip hop musicians American performers of Christian music Jewish American musicians Musicians from Columbus, Ohio Performers of Christian hip hop music Gotee Records artists Jewish rappers People from Licking County, Ohio 21st-century American Jews