Christopher Scott Greenwood (born July 19, 1979), known by his stage name Manafest, is a Canadian Christian rapper and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

artist from Pickering, Ontario, Canada. He has won multiple awards for the

GMA Canada The Gospel Music Association of Canada or GMA Canada (formerly known as the CGMA) is a not for profit association, founded in 1974, whose purpose is to promote Christian music in Canada. History GMA Canada is created in 1974 in Ontario with ...

Covenant Awards The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in C ...

GMA Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

s, and has been nominated for multiple Juno Awards. Signed for a decade with

BEC Recordings BEC (Brandon Ebel Company) Recordings is a Christian rock record label that is an imprint of Tooth & Nail Records. The label was formed in 1997 in partnership with the EMI Christian Music Group. The label promotes bands with more adult Christi ...

, Manafest became independent in 2015.

History

After a skateboarding accident in 1998, Greenwood shifted his focus to musical writing. He and fellow rapper Jusachyl started a hip-hop group, Under One King. During this time, Greenwood used his skater nickname 'Speedy' as his moniker. In 2000, Greenwood shifted to the stage name Manafest and began to produce music independently. In 2001, Manafest debuted his EP, '' Misled Youth''. The release garnered "Modern Rock/Alternative Song of the Year" for the song "Freedom" at the

in 2002. The following year, Manafest released his first full-length album ''

My Own Thing ''My Own Thing'' is the debut studio album by the Christian rapper Manafest. It was independently released on December 2, 2003. The release attracted the notice of Trevor McNevan of the Ontario-based rock band Thousand Foot Krutch and led sho ...

'' and attracted the notice of

Trevor McNevan Trevor McNevan is a Canadian singer who is best known as the lead singer, songwriter and rapper of Thousand Foot Krutch, lead singer and songwriter of pop punk side project FM Static along with Steve Augustine (the third Thousand Foot Krutch dru ...

of the Ontario-based rock band Thousand Foot Krutch. This led to his signing with an internationally distributed label,

under the Uprok Records label. After signing on with BEC, he released his second album '' Epiphany'' in 2005, The release achieved several nominations and awards. He released his third album, '' Glory'', in 2006,. The album won the Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year at the 2007 GMA Canada Covenant Awards, as well a nomination for Artist of the Year. The album also marked Manafest's first release to be nominated in the Juno Awards. In 2008, his fourth album, ''

Citizens Activ ''Citizens Activ'' is the fourth studio album by the Christian rapper Manafest. It was released on May 28, 2008 in Japan and shortly after released globally on June 24, under BEC Recordings. The release contains the singles "4-3-2-1", "So Beau ...

'', received many nominations and awards. The album boosted Manafest's fame and reputation in Japan immensely. In 2010, Manafest debuted his fifth full-length album '' The Chase''. The album was well-received with the single "Avalanche" charting on the Billboard Christian Songs, as well as selling over 50,000 copies of the track as of September 2011. The album showcased a directional change for Manafest, moving from a more straight hip hop flare to a heavier rock-based rap style. In 2011, Manafest released his first live album '' Live in Concert''. The album won "Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year" at the 33rd GMA Canada Covenant Awards. In 2012, he released his sixth studio album of '' Fighter''. The album continued the previous release's heavy rock influence and garnered a nomination for Hip-Hop/Rap Album of the Year in the

s. Because of this album's release, Manafest fans have since become known officially as "Fighters" amongst themselves, as well as Manafest himself. In late 2013, he released his first Christmas single "California Christmas", featuring

Joel Piper Joel Piper (born October 18, 1985) is a Mexican singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and disc jockey born in Sonora, Mexico. He most famously known for being the ex-drummer and clean vocalist for the metalcore band Confide from 2009 to ...

. In 2014, he released his seventh album '' The Moment''. The genre of the release deviated from his hard rock style and featured a more electronic hip hop sound. In late 2014, he released the single "Let Go", featuring Dave Stovall of

Wavorly Wavorly is an American rock band from Tupelo, Mississippi. History Wavorly formed in 2001 under the name Freshmen 15, and independently released two albums under this name. The group changed its name after signing to Flicker Records because the ...

. The track was a song that didn't make the final cut of ''The Moment'' and was later released by itself. The song was recently pulled from iTunes. he has also hinted it might make his next album's track listing. He started a

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...

campaign for '' Reborn'' on April 24, 2015. The album released globally on October 2, 2015. On their 2016 album ''Hold the Light'', Bread of Stone featured Manafest on the track "Battleground". On February 20, 2017, he launched a Kickstarter project for '' Stones''. It was independently released on July 21, 2017. In May 2018, he launched another PledgeMusic campaign to fund '' Stones Reloaded'', a remix album and companion piece to the original album. The release was fully funded and publicly released on September 21, 2018. On September 17, 2019, after releasing several singles earlier in the year, he announced a new crowdfunding campaign in order to fund his tenth studio album '' This Is Not The End''. The album was released on December 13th, 2019. Manafest released his eleventh album ''I Run with Wolves'' on May 6th, 2022, featuring

Sonny Sandoval Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval (born May 16, 1974) is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. He is best known as co-founder and the lead vocalist of metal band P.O.D. Biography Sandoval was born in San Diego, California. to a Chamorro-Hawa ...

of P.O.D. on the track "Nemesis".

Musical style and influences

Manafest's genre has developed and changed over his career. After starting with a classic urban hip hop style for his first four releases, Manafest developed a style of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

and rap rock by lightly mixing it into ''

'', and integrating it by the time of '' The Chase''. In 2014, with the release of '' The Moment'', Manafest's style changed to a mixture of rap rock and electronic-based hip-hop.

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2003) * '' Epiphany'' (2005) * '' Glory'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008) * '' The Chase'' (2010) * '' Fighter'' (2012) * '' The Moment'' (2014) * '' Reborn'' (2015) * '' Stones'' (2017) * '' This Is Not the End'' (2019) * '' I Run with Wolves'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

* 2002 Modern Rock/Alternative Song of the Year: "Freedom" * 2005 Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year: ''Epiphany'' * 2005 Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year: "Let It Go" (with

Nasri Atweh Nasri Tony Atweh ( ar, نصري طوني عطوة, born 10 January 1981), known mononymously as Nasri, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, United States. He is the lead vocali ...

Adam Messinger Adam "Messy" Messinger is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist currently based in Los Angeles, California. He is a producer for Canadian reggae band Magic!, but was initially a producer/songwriter ...

, Aubrey Noronha and Gerhard Thomas) * 2006 nominee, Video of the Year: "Rodeo" * 2007 Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year: ''Glory'' * 2007 Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year: "Bounce" * 2007 nominee, Artist of the Year * 2008 nominee, Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year: ''Citizens Activ'' * 2008 nominee, Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year: "Good Day" (with

) * 2009 Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year: "4-3-2-1" (with

) * 2009 nominee, Artist of the Year * 2010 Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year: ''The Chase'' * 2011 Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year: ''Live In Concert'' * 2011 Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year: "Avalanche"

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

* 2007 nominee, Rap/Hip-Hip Recorded Song of the Year: "Skills" * 2007 nominee, Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Album of the Year: ''Glory'' * 2009 nominee, Rap/Hip-Hip Recorded Song of the Year: "So Beautiful" * 2009 nominee, Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Album of the Year: ''Citizens Activ'' * 2012 nominee, Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Album of the Year: ''Fighter''

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

* 2007 nominee, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: ''Glory'' * 2011 nominee, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: ''The Chase'' * 2015 nominee, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: ''The Moment'' *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

nominee, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: ''Reborn'' *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

nominee, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: ''Stones''

Touring band

Though a solo artist himself, Manafest travels with a touring band.

has provided the majority of instrumentation for Manafest's studio releases throughout the years, while the band supplies the music live on tour and at shows: Current * Josh Macintosh — lead guitar (2010–present) * John Panzer – rhythm guitar (2016–present) * Ian Hough – bass (2015–present) * Tyler Armenta – drums (2016–present) Former * Mike Crofts – bass (2010–2015) *

Joe Rickard Joe Rickard is an American drummer, record producer and mixing engineer. He was the drummer for the band Red from 2008 through 2014 and Swedish heavy metal band In Flames from 2016 through 2019. He then began primarily writing, mixing and pr ...

– drums (2014–2016) * Travis Blackmore – drums (2010–2013)

Guest appearances

Personal life

In 1984, at the age of five, Chris Greenwood lost his father to suicide, leaving only him, his sister Virginia, and his mother. A few years after, at a Bible camp, he accepted

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and became a Christian. At the same camp, he also met his future wife, Melanie. Around the age of fourteen, Greenwood invested himself into skateboarding and aspired to make it a career. He however experienced an accident in 1998 which crippled his dreams to become a professional skater. After hearing God telling him to turn his attention to music, Greenwood began songwriting and started his career as a Christian artist. In 2003, Greenwood married his wife Melanie Cardoza. They have a daughter. In 2012, Greenwood and his wife moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In October 2015, he and his family moved back to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Canadian Christians Canadian performers of Christian music Performers of Christian hip hop music Canadian male rappers 21st-century Canadian rappers Canadian rock singers Canadian heavy metal singers Rap rock musicians 1979 births Living people Musicians from Toronto BEC Recordings artists People from Pickering, Ontario 21st-century Canadian male musicians