Flame -- also known as Marcus Gray, a Christian hip-hop artist with Clear Sight Music -- has won accolades for his five albums, as of April 2011. Among these honors are Dove and Stellar awards and nomination for a Grammy award for his fourth album "Our World Redeemed." Flame's album "Captured," released in December 2010, hit No. 1 on Billboard Gospel's top selling list and fifth on Billboard Christian.
KJ-52 -- also known as Jonas Sorrentino -- is a veteran of the Christian hip-hop scene and an innovator in the industry, attempting to meld Christian rap with spoken prose. As of April 2011, KJ-52 -- the "52," pronounced "five-two," references Jesus' miracle of multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish -- has won four Dove awards since 2004, including three Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year awards. KJ-52 has released seven albums.
South Africa-born Purified started his hip-hop career with a friend, forming the group Purified Testimony in 2006. By 2008, the duo separated and Purified signed with Cross Movement Records as a solo artist. His first album, "Don't Hold Back," was released in 2009 and topped the sales charts in Australia for all Christian hip-hop artists. As of April 2011, Purified has released three albums.
Widely considered industry pioneers, DC Talk -- Toby McKeehan, Michael Trait and Kevin Max -- bridged the gap between contemporary hip-hop and Christian hip-hop with success and praise from both sides. The group won multiple awards, including three Grammy Awards and 18 Dove Awards; its career spanned two platinum albums and one semi-platinum album. The group's debut CD was a self-titled album released in 1989. This album's success inspired several CDs in the 1990s, including 1992's platinum album "Free at Last" and 1995's double-platinum album "Supernatural." In 2000, the band took a short hiatus with each of the trio releasing solo albums. However, in 2002, the band reunited for the album "Solo: Special Edition EP."
Although each has had success with solo endeavors, siblings BeBe and CeCe Winans gained attention in the Christian R&B industry with collaborative efforts. CeCe eventually sold more albums than her brother did, but both were successful when they released solo albums. In 2005, BeBe released the album "Dream," a gospel-inspired CD that pays homage to the dream of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. CeCe is widely considered a leading artist in the Christian R&B scene thanks to her longevity in the industry, with an active career since 1984. Her achievements include five Grammy Awards, 18 Dove Awards and a Stellar Award.