By: Marcus Ellington
After more than three decades in music, DPB could be forgiven for looking backward. Instead, the Cincinnati-based Christian hip-hop artist is thinking about where his music might go next, and the answer may extend well beyond speakers and streaming platforms.
DPB, born David Paul Brooks, has spent his career combining hip-hop with messages of faith, perseverance, and personal transformation. From his early years singing with The Brooks Family to his work with the Grammy- and Dove-nominated Christian rap group D.O.C. (Disciples of Christ), he has watched hip-hop evolve from an outsider culture into a global entertainment force. Along the way, he has shared stages with artists including Salt-N-Pepa, TobyMac and Kirk Franklin while developing his own identity as a recording artist, entrepreneur and motivational voice.
Now, his latest campaign suggests that DPB may be ready to turn his music into something considerably larger.
At the center of that expansion is “God Mode,” the latest radio single from his 2026 album, Undefeated. The 15-track project was released March 9 and gathers together several chapters of DPB’s recent musical journey, including “Undefeated 3.0,” “God Loves Ya,” “Back in the Day,” “Let It Go,” and “God Mode.” The latter originally appeared as a single in 2022 but has gained renewed attention as part of Undefeated and its 2026 radio campaign.
“God Mode” follows one of DPB’s strongest recent successes. “Back in the Day,” his nostalgic celebration of family, faith, and formative experiences, reached No. 1 on the National Radio Hits AC Airplay chart. “God Mode” subsequently climbed to No. 2 on Christian Music Weekly’s Rhythmic Airplay chart.
The concept behind the song provides an obvious bridge into another entertainment medium.
In video-game terminology, “God Mode” traditionally describes a state in which a player becomes extraordinarily powerful or invulnerable. DPB transforms that idea into a Christian metaphor. According to the artist, the song was inspired by a dream that followed a period of prayer about what message he should communicate next. He came away believing that Christians spend too much time waiting for future victories instead of recognizing the spiritual authority available to them in the present.
The result is an energetic collision of hip-hop, worship, and gaming vocabulary, centered around the hook “Jesus Christ is the God Code.” Critics have responded to the unusual combination, with VENTS describing the track as a fusion of hip-hop and worship built around spiritual empowerment, while 24Hip-Hop highlighted the way DPB repurposes gaming language into a declaration of faith.
But DPB may not be finished exploring the idea.
Among the possibilities now being considered is a “God Mode” video game spinoff, which would take the themes and imagery surrounding the song and transform them into an interactive experience. Rather than simply licensing a track to play behind someone else’s game, the concept opens the door for DPB’s music to become part of the game’s identity, connecting faith, storytelling, challenges, and music within the same world.
It is an intriguing proposition at a time when independent musicians are searching for ways to build relationships with audiences beyond conventional streaming. A “God Mode” game could allow DPB to turn listeners into participants, giving them another way to experience the central ideas behind the song: overcoming obstacles, discovering strength, making choices, and refusing to live defeated.
There is also the possibility of developing the concept for television. While no television series or game release has been formally announced, the potential extensions demonstrate how DPB is beginning to think about “God Mode” less as an isolated single and more as intellectual property capable of supporting a broader entertainment universe.
For an independent artist, that distinction matters.
For decades, the conventional music-business model revolved around an album generating singles, singles generating radio play, and radio play hopefully generating sales or concert attendance. Streaming disrupted that system. Social media disrupted it again. Gaming, digital video, and interactive entertainment now offer artists opportunities to build worlds around their music rather than simply release recordings into an increasingly crowded marketplace.
DPB is particularly well positioned to experiment with that model because his songs are already driven by concepts. Undefeated is built around perseverance. “Back in the Day” creates a vivid world of childhood memories and community. “God Mode” arrives with its own vocabulary, visual possibilities, and central premise.
The potential television and gaming projects would also represent a fitting next chapter for an artist whose longevity has depended on adaptation. DPB has survived dramatic shifts in both hip-hop and Christian music without abandoning the message at the center of his work. In 2025, he was named Top 40/CHR Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the New Music Awards, while his releases have continued accumulating chart success across multiple formats.
That makes Undefeated an appropriate title. It is not simply a statement about winning. It describes persistence, the willingness to keep creating when the platforms, technologies, and rules surrounding the creator continually change.
With “God Mode,” DPB has found a concept capable of connecting the language of faith with the language of contemporary gaming culture. Whether that ultimately becomes a video game, a television production, both, or something unexpected remains to be seen.
What is clear is that DPB isn’t treating his latest charting single as the end of the story.
He may have just found the beginning of a much bigger one.
