Of the many subgenres populating contemporary Christian music, it’s Christian pop that’s most concerned with churning out tunes brimming with the kind of hooks heard on the secular charts. The subgenre initially entered mainstream consciousness in the early ’90s when a handful of artists—including Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant and, to a lesser extent, the hip-hop-influenced DC Talk—scored uplifting crossover hits that, while religious, tuck messages of faith, hope and love inside universally appealing lyrics. In hindsight, these artists were harbingers of Christian pop’s transformation into a sprawling commercial phenomenon. After all, in the early 21st century, Christian pop artists like the soulful singer-songwriter Lauren Daigle, the electro-informed Hillsong Young & Free and for King & Country, who clearly pay attention to the latest trends in EDM and hip-hop for inspiration, can go toe to toe with their nonreligious counterparts when it comes to winning over fans of pop music with infectious songs.