(CL) – Openly queer artist Semler, the stage name of Grace Baldridge, claimed the number one spot on iTunes’ Christian album chart for two days and counting this week. Baldridge’s newly released “Preacher’s Kid” knocked Lauren Daigle’s album “Look Up Child” from the top of the chart, where it had held steady for much of the past two years.
“A Christian music exec told me to my face that there was no space for a story like mine in the industry, and I want to prove him wrong,” said Baldridge shortly before her album moved to the number one spot on the Christian chart. The artist said she wanted to claim the top spot “for anyone who has ever been cast out in the name of God.”
“Preacher’s Kid,” which has a parental advisory for explicit lyrics, had dropped to second place but is now back in the number one spot on iTunes’ Christian album chart as of this writing [Note: links to the album and its lyrics contain content some may find offensive.] The album also currently holds the ninth spot in All Albums on iTunes and was the fifth-ranked album on that chart at one point.
Grace Baldridge wrote “Preacher’s Kid” during quarantine and released it on Feb. 5. It has risen to the top of the iTunes charts in a few days with no radio play and no assistance from a label. Because Baldridge has achieved this success simply with the help of her followers, some have referred to the phenomenon as “GameStopping Christian music.” READ MORE
