Christopher Scott Greenwood, better known by his stage name Manafest (born July 19, 1979), is a Canadian rapper from Pickering, Ontario. One of the most popular artists in Christian hip-hop, Manafest has garnered a strong following among Christians and non-Christians alike over the years for his diverse music, connection with his audience, and personal lyrical content.
He began rapping in his later teenage years after initially dreaming of being a professional skateboarder, following a severe accident in 1998 that physically limited him. In a dark place, Chris turned to the bible for guidance, and penned rhymes to express his feelings at the time. At first, according to the man himself, he "absolutely sucked", but was passionate enough about music to hone his craft, and he got his start rapping in the short-lived duo Under One King under the name "Speedy", his old nickname from skating, before he went solo and changed his name to Manafest, which he chose at the time because it simply sounded cool.
He released his debut project, an EP titled Misled Youth, in October 2001, which was followed by his first album My Own Thing in 2003. Receiving strong reviews, the album gained the attention of Christian rock label BEC, and he became one of the few rappers to be signed to the label. After his second record and major label debut Epiphany in 2005, he became popular with his third album Glory in 2006. This album featured a more diverse arrangement of sounds from Manafest, with Chris himself citing artists from Sum 41 to Kanye West as influences. After his fourth album Citizens Activ, he began to flaunt his rock influences to the max with his fifth record The Chase, on which he showed off his powerful singing voice and eclectic tastes. It received critical acclaim and is often considered to be his best album. Since then, he has enjoyed a following from both rap and hard rock fans, and has become a popular artist in his home country of Canada.
Starting with his 2015 album Reborn, he has returned to recording independently.
In addition to music, he is also an author, having written his autobiography Fighter: Five Keys to Conquering Your Fear and Reaching Your Dreams to accompany his sixth album Fighter, as well as the motivational book From Red to Black, and a vlogger/motivational speaker, where he shares his life stories to his fans.
Discography:
- Misled Youth (2001) - EP
- My Own Thing (2003)
- Epiphany (2005)
- Glory (2006)
- Citizens Activ (2008)
- The Chase (2010)
- Fighter (2012)
- Stories Since Seventy Nine (2012) - EP
- The Moment (2014)
- Reborn (2015)
- Stones (2017)
- This Is Not the End (2019)
- I Run with Wolves (2022)
Manafest and his music provide examples of the following tropes:
- Childhood Friend Romance: He met his wife Melanie when he was still a young teenager, and they got together not long after. They've been married since 2003 and have a daughter.
- Christian Rock: Surprisingly downplayed. While he is fairly subtle about his religion in his music, he's very outspoken about his beliefs in interviews, and there are some songs where he's considerably more blunt, especially on earlier albums. However, he has stated that he does not like being labeled as a Christian rapper, as he believes it gives off the false impression that he cares about preaching his values more than making good music.
- Crazy Homeless People: "Jimmy" is about someone like this, a (at least it's implied) homeless man who lived on the same block as Chris and his clique during his younger years.
- Driven to Suicide: His father, who took his own life when he was very young. He discusses his feelings on the matter in the song "Where Are You".
- Formerly Fat: Was this during childhood, to the point that he was ruthlessly bullied for it. In "Let It Go", he reflects on this:The voice of suicide used to creep up in my mind
The fat kid could care less if I lived or died
I didn't think it had an effect on me
But now I'm 25, watching my weight size, I'm really scrawny - Metal Scream: While he rarely shows it off, he's able to pull off a pretty good scream on his harder rock songs when he wants to, with "Bring the Ruckus" featuring a particularly impressive one.
- Rap Rock: A decent chunk of his songs. Fighter and Stones are the closest he's come to a straight-up rock album.
- Shout-Out: Revealed in one of his vlogs that the title of "Bring the Ruckus" pays homage to "Bring da Ruckus" by Wu-Tang Clan, as the group was one of his inspirations.
- Theme Naming: All of his albums from Fighter onward begin with the title track.
