Christian Hip-Hop’s Gawvi Is Labeled Amid Nudity Accusations

Gawvi, an artist and producer in the Christian hip-hop community, has been kicked out of an upcoming tour by his label, Reach due to a growing scandal involving his allegedly sending unsolicited nudity to women.

“Due to conduct that is inconsistent with our core values, we have terminated our professional relationship with GAWVI.” Access profile said in a statement Monday afternoon. “This has been a difficult decision for us because of the level of complexity and because we invest in our artists not only for their talents, but as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is something we’ve been dealing with for over a year and have struggled to find the right path forward. New details have been provided that make us realize today’s decision was necessary.”

An all-inclusive package tour of the Reach list, “We Are Unashmed,” had been announced five days earlier. The tour will continue into March and April sans Gawvi, with the rest of the label’s artists – Lecrae, Andy Mineo, Trip Lee, Tedashii, 1K Phew, Wande, WHATUPRG and Hulvey.

Gawvi announced his divorce on his Instagram account on Saturday, saying that he and his wife have separated in 2020. While divorce remains a controversial topic in Christian music, this announcement unleashed a storm of accusations that soon made it clear that the news of the marital split was likely to be the least of his problems in the gospel world, and that there would be little credence in his promises She said that “there is no scandal to gossip”.

His divorce announcement was soon followed by a tweet from a visual artist who identified himself as Cataphant. “Years ago, I did album artwork for Gawvi,” the San Diego-based designer, also known as Catalina Bellizzi-Itiola, wrote on Twitter. “For my next project, I’m going to collage all the no-nonsense dick pictures he sent to women when he was still married. “

When another user reminded the designer that “dragging people out in public is not biblical” and that all of Gawvi’s advice should be kept in church circles, Cataphant replied, “You Do you think I would do this if he really listened to the circle? They solved it, he cut it all off. He has 3 friends left. Cataphant has also had Twitter exchanges with other users claiming to have met or known about similar incidents involving the rapper.

The Rapzilla website posted a detailed story originally included a series of TikTok videos from Gawvi’s estranged wife, Brianna Azucena, the article said “seems to imply infidelity, hurt, and healing”, but the TikTok account has been set to mode. privacy level after the story is published.

Gawvi could not be reached for comment. The artist’s Twitter account has been deleted, and his Instagram page currently has no material newer than early December.

Reach’s statement concluded: “We also want our actions to reflect our love, care and concern for those who have failed and those affected by our failure. Each of us needs God’s grace and we invite you to pray for the families and individuals whose lives are being affected. This is not an opportunity to throw anyone away. We continue to expect the recovery to be the outcome. ”

Gawvi, 33, has won or been nominated for several Dove Awards, the gospel’s highest honor. He signed with Reach that same year and released four full-length solo albums, the latest of which is the all-Spanish “Noche Juvenil” in 2021, along with three EPs. His peak to date on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart was “Fight for Me” at number 25, featuring Lecrae, in 2018; The song won a Dove in the rap/hip-hop category the following year. Two of his releases reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Christian albums chart.