Hulvey Says His Music Introduces Fans to Jesus, Shares Hope Behind ‘Could Be Tonight’

For Hulvey, winning a Dove Award raises a question bigger than industry recognition: What happens to listeners who never hear Christian music that speaks their musical language?

Speaking backstage after Could Be Tonight won Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 57th Annual GMA Dove Awards, the Christian rapper described an audience whose encounters with his songs sometimes mark their first exposure to Christian music.

"I have fans come up to me at shows saying, 'You are the first Christian artist I ever heard,'" Hulvey said, according to ChurchLeaders.

That response gives his work a significance beyond streams and awards. It also raises a searching question for Christian artists and churches: How many people remain unreached because the music offered to them feels culturally unfamiliar?

Hulvey understands that distance personally. Growing up listening to Lil Wayne and Eminem, he discovered through Lecrae that hip-hop could also encourage his faith.

"I had music to listen to help point me closer to God," he recalled.

Now, Hulvey hopes to provide that same point of connection for others. He described feeling a "massive responsibility" toward audiences who may struggle to connect with more familiar expressions of Christian music.

"I feel that there are many demographics of people left behind because their culture isn't resonated with musically," he said. "And I feel like we're able to do that because we're from it."

His comments invite a deeper conversation about how churches recognize cultural familiarity as a doorway to engagement. For Hulvey, hip-hop is the musical world he knows firsthand-and the place where he hopes to introduce listeners to Jesus.

But the challenge behind Could Be Tonight also turned inward.

Hulvey said the album's inspiration came while he was stopped at a red light, when he sensed God placing the project on his heart. Initially, he understood its message about Christ's return as something other people needed to hear. Making the record forced him to reconsider that assumption.

"And I realized that it was for me. I was the one that needed to be reminded that Jesus is coming back," he said.

That admission gives the project a personal urgency. The artist delivering the message also needed to receive it.

Hulvey also wanted to examine the emotional language surrounding Jesus' return. Rather than building the album around dread, he sought to communicate beauty, readiness and hope.

"I rarely see this topic spoken about in a way that is not just about fear. I wanted to make it in a way of beauty," he explained.

Together, those convictions give Could Be Tonight a searching premise: Can Christian music reach people who have never felt addressed by it-and can it present Christ's return as a source of confidence?

For Hulvey, answering those questions begins with remembering the listener he once was and allowing the message he shares to challenge his own faith.