Christian Ska

Christian ska is a form of alternative Christian music, and sub-genre of ska and ska-punk which is lyrically oriented toward Christian music. Though ska did not constitute a genre within the Christian music industry until after third wave ska had peaked in the general market, Christian ska continued to thrive independently into the early 2000s.

Ska music came to be seen as "an excellent vehicle for exhortation and praise due to its up front lyrical style" and upbeat, energetic, joyful sound. While there were a large number of smaller bands, ska in the Christian marketplace in the late 1990s came to be primairly represented by three bands: The Insyderz, The O. C. Supertones, and Five Iron Frenzy; all of whom were commercially successful and ministry-oriented in their own right. As with third wave ska in the general market the sound was often intermingled with that of punk, swing, or rockabilly. In parallel with mainstream ska, many underground Christian ska bands released one or two ska based albums before completely genre-hopping away from ska or dissolving. Even the sounds of the "big three" tended to evolve. By 2002 one critic described the horn section of the Supertones as "providing color instead of the dominant sound".