The BET Award for Best Gospel Artist is given to an urban contemporary gospel artist. Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern form of Christian music that expresses either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music. Musically, it follows the trends in secular urban contemporary music. Urban/contemporary gospel is a recent subgenre of gospel music.Christian hip hop is a subtype of urban/contemporary gospel music.
Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is marketed primarily to young African-American adults.