Daddy Yankee has been moving crowds through his music for decades, and he now plans on using that same influence to spread the word of God.
On Sunday (December 3), the 46-year-old played a homecoming show in Puerto Rico as part of his farewell tour. During the set, he took a moment to update fans on his future and let everybody know that he will be devoting his life to Christianity moving forward.
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“Family: This day for me, is the most important day in my life,” he wrote on Instagram. “tonight I recognize and am not ashamed to tell the whole world that Christ lives in me and that I will live for him. This is the end of one chapter and the beginning of a brand new one.”
He then quoted Matthew 16: 26 from the New Testament, writing: “For what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, if he loses his life? Or how much can a man pay for his life? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father and with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to what he has done.”
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In an attached video clip from the performance, the “Gasolina” rapper let his guard down and addressed the crowd during an emotional interlude about where he is in life currently.
“Living a life of success is not the same as living a life with purpose,” he said in Spanish. “I have to confess that those days are over. Someone was able to fill that emptiness […] All the tools that I have in my possession such as music, social networks, platforms, a microphone — everything that Jesus gave me — is now for his kingdom.
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Daddy Yankee went on to thank Puerto Rico, encouraging those who have supported him to “walk with [him] in this new beginning” and to “follow Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life.”
He concluded: “Just like Jesus, with his mercy, allowed me to travel the world, in your mercy, Father, I hope you allow me to evangelize the world from Puerto Rico.”
Faith is a sensitive subject in Hip Hop, especially since several artists attribute their discipline, success and redemption to religion, despite creating music that stands in contrast to their beliefs.
That is precisely why Tyrese recently expressed that he’s not a fan of Lil Nas X after the latter said he’s entering his “Christian era.”
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The controversial star recently previewed a guitar-driven track with a video that finds him rocking straight hair, singing in a slow drawl in the passenger seat of a truck and later kneeling in the middle of the street wearing a jean skirt. In the caption, he hinted at infusing his music with Christian themes.
“Y’all gone learn to stop playing with God, Tyrese wrote on social media in response to the video. “God is not to be played with … From shoes with devil signs and devils blood in the [shoe] sole?” “We can all change I get it but I feel a way about people making a mockery about Jesus. Do you, life your life .. Do what makes you happy but yall better stop playing with Jesus out here.”
The TGT singer’s comments about the “devil signs and devils blood in the [shoe] sole” refer to the 2021 controversy wherein the”Old Town Road” rapper worked with MSCHF to create the “Satan Shoes” — 666 pairs of customized Nike Air Max 97s that the company claimed contained “60 ccs of red ink and 1 drop of human blood.” At around the same time, Nas X also dropped a Satan-themed video for his song “Montero.”
In response to the backlash for his recent leap of faith, the 24-year-old responded and shut down those who suggested his sexual orientation conflicts with his the religion at hand.
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“Making christian music does not mean i can’t suck dick no more. the two are not mutually exclusive. i am allowed to get on my knees for multiple reasons,” he jabbed back. “Y’all see everything i do as a gimmick. when in reality im just an artist expressing myself in different ways.
“whether im a cowboy, gay, satanic, or now christian y’all find a problem! y’all don’t police nobody else art like mine. y’all hate me because im fun cute and petite.”
