Michael Peace

Rap / Electro
New York, New York, USA

Michael Peace (born November 30, 1958) is an American rapper and one of Christian rap's first solo artists. Peace was raised in New York City as the second oldest of four children.

Considered the Grandfather of Christian hip hop, he received the “African-American of Distinction” award in 1994 for his commitment to urban communities from then New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

Peace is the founder and president of Michael Peace and Associates, a multi-faceted youth, urban affairs, music, and general consulting organization. He has developed curriculum for educational at-risk children and is part of a team spearheading the establishing of abstinence education funding for the city of Rochester (the City-Wide Black Experience History game), as well as being an instructor in public schools.

Peace is the executive director and pastor of Bethel Express of America, a non-profit in Rochester, New York. He earned a B.S. degree in 1981 in mass media and speech communications from State University of New York at Brockport. In the early 1990s he was a contributing writer to Christian music publication Digital Audio Notebook/Diganote. He was the co-author of an article in 2000 in the Journal of Community Health entitled “Abstinence Education for Urban Youth.”

Peace started out in 1985 with several albums released by Reunion Records and StarSong Records in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1995, he stopped touring in order to concentrate on mentoring at-risk youth in his hometown of Rochester.

After a long layoff, Peace made a live recording at Kingdom Bound in Darien Center, New York on August 7, 2007. It was his first new recording since 1994. During the live session, he assembled about two dozen artists to put together the “world's biggest freestyle single,” where rappers each had several seconds to add their own unique lyrical spin to a funky beat.

Peace was married in 1987, and they have one son. He is also a 2018 recipient of the Martin Luther King Everyday Hero. Peace said that God told him “to minister by faith and not charge a fee.” Thus, he only made $1,000-2,500 per concert at the height of his career. “The couple depended on God to provide for the ministry, and He did.”

1987 Reunion Records (7010022127)

Michael Peace - Rap vocals
Tom Hemby - Guitar, bass, Casio SK-1 keyboards, synclavier, standard oil trash can

John Hammond - Drums on “No Solution”
Mark Douthit - Saxophone on “Wise Up”
The Thanksgiving Day Choir - Background vocals on “RRRock It Right”

1. Heart Trouble (4:25)
2. Rock Your World (3:48)
3. J-E-S-U-S (3:53)
4. Wise Up (3:44)
5. RRRock It Right (4:12)
6. Automatic Witness (4:20)
7. No Solution (3:39)
8. In the Ghetto (4:52)
9. Rappin' It Up (1:14)

1988 Reunion Records (7010034125)

Michael Peace - Rap vocals, BGVs
Luis Cruz - Solid rock crew
Abraham Malave - Solid rock crew
Tom Hemby - Guitar, keyboards, synclavier, BGVs

“Rockbox” Leonard - Beatbox
Jeff Moseley - BGVs
Bill Deaton - BGVs

1. I'm Fed Up
2. Old Style
3. That's Right
4. It's Wrong
5. Solid Rock Crew
6. On the Throne
7. Christian Girl
8. Break the Chain
9. My Favorite Rap

1989 Reunion Records (7010050724)

Michael Peace - Lead rap vocals
Dez Dickerson - Guitar, background vocals on “Livin' on the Edge”
Dave Moulton - Keyboards The Far North Posse - Background vocals

Brown Mark - Bass Solo on “How It All Started” Fanchon Akins - Background vocals on “I'll See You There” and “Livin' on the Edge”
Jean Stewart - Background vocals on “I'll See You There” and “Livin' on the Edge”
Lawrence Tolbert - Background vocals on “I'll See You There” and “Livin' on the Edge”
Paul Sherman - Background vocals on “I'll See You There” and “Livin' on the Edge”

1. The Intro (4:34)
2. Solid Rock (4:15)
3. I'll See You There (2:36)
4. Livin' on the Edge (5:43)
5. Perpetrator (3:19)
6. So You Wanna Get Paid (4:40)
7. Reality (3:56)
8. Vigilante of the Rhyme (4:46)
9. Don't Tell Me (4:52)
10. How It All Started (4:11)

1990 Reunion Records

1. Ad Lib (4:11)
2. Rrrock It Right (Let's Get Busy) (4:45)
3. J-E-S-U-S (4:04)
4. Vigilante of the Rhyme (4:30)
5. I'll See You There (3:30)
6. Solid Rock (5:22)
7. That's Right (4:09)
8. He's the Baddest (4:40)
9. Livin' on the Edge (7:21)
10. (The New) Solid Rock Crew (6:27)
11. On the Throne (2:25)
12. Rock Your World (4:06)

1991 StarSong Records (SSD8211)

1. J.D.'s Jam
2. Time Bomb Posse in Effect
3. Plain & Simple
4. They Call Me Crack
5. My Manifesto
6. Get the Power / Do the Right Thing (to be continued…) (instrumental)
7. Threat to Society
8. I'm Man Enough
9. Think It Over
10. Peace in a Time of Chaos
11. In a Minute

1994 StarSong Records (SSD8280)

1. Outta Control/Reprise (4:04)
2. Undefeated (3:43)
3. Shine Ya Light (3:16)
4. Front Page (3:15)
5. Echoes of My Mind (4:18)
6. A.I.D.S. (4:17)
7. Back in the Loop (3:21)
8. In the Ghetto (6:27)
9. In Control (4:06)
10. New Flow Posse (7:16)
11. Amen (1:35)
12. Flashback (5:05)