Andrew Ripp claims one of the highlights of his career, thus far, happened at the 2023 K-LOVE Fan Awards. The singer/songwriter was up for Song of the Year for his second No. 1, “Fill My Cup,” however he lost the category to Brandon Lake’s “Gratitude.” He might not have received a trophy that night, but Ripp contends he went home a victor.
Alongside Bear Rinehart and Seth Bolt from NEEDTOBREATHE, Ripp had the great fortune of announcing the winner for Breakout Single of the Year — an honor that went to first-time K-LOVE Fan Award recipient Rachael Lampa for “Perfectly Loved (feat. TobyMac).” A win for Lampa was a win for Ripp — a co-writer on the track and a champion of Lampa from day one. It was a moment the “Jericho” singer says was even sweeter than if he had won a golden ‘K’ himself.
“I’ve never felt that kind of joy,” he attests. “Getting to celebrate somebody else’s victory as if it’s your own — there’s no more divine celebration, I don’t think.”
Ripp and his wife are in a small group with Lampa and her husband, and that’s where the seeds for their friendship and her new music were planted. “My friend, Rachael, is one of the most servant-hearted, loving, caring, funny, amazingly loyal individuals I know; and one of the best friends we’ve ever had,” Ripp shares. “My wife and I went through a time when we were trying to have a baby for five years, and it was so dark. Rachael and her husband showed up for us like nobody else. They were just there for us, carrying the weight.”
Together with award-winning songwriter Ethan Hulse, Ripp and Lampa crafted “Perfectly Loved” after the subject of identity and self-worth kept resurfacing within the safety of their small group as Lampa shared her story. Handed a record deal at 14, the songstress quickly found herself thrust into the spotlight on the heels of her acclaimed debut, “Live For You.” She spent her formative teenage years striving to maintain a level of success most veteran acts would have trouble preserving. When she finally exited artist life in her early 20s, she struggled with who she was outside of the only life she had ever known.
“Rach had so many people telling her who she was, and she was having to live up to a standard that can’t be lived up to. When you grow up and you no longer have that career, you kind of have to sift through the mess, and we were sifting through the mess with her,” Ripp says of their small group. “Ethan and I encouraged her that you don’t have to have a song that works in order to be worthy. And the more we talked about the identity piece, the more she realized that was her message to other people.”
With the full support of Ripp and Hulse, who helped Lampa get it to the masses via their own Holly Street Records, “Perfectly Loved” went on to become Lampa’s first No. 1 hit in 22 years.
“When you find the core of who you are, and then you as an artist put it in a song like that, it doesn’t have to be a No. 1 for it to be successful,” Ripp offers. “The Lord took that thing and used it, but it was already a win.”
It’s a philosophy Ripp has adopted as a barometer for his own music. In 2019, very few Christian music fans even knew his name. That year, Ripp quietly co-wrote “Rescue Story,” the title-cut of Zach Williams’ esteemed sophomore album, which earned Ripp his inaugural GRAMMY® nod. Simultaneously bewildered and encouraged by the response to his first attempt at writing a CCM hit, Ripp released a song of his own to Christian radio. His debut single, “Jericho,” skyrocketed to No. 1 in 2021, making Ripp the first Christian artist to top the charts without the aid of a label. “Fill My Cup” followed, notching the rising singer a second No. 1. His surprising success yielded opportunities for the Illinois native to open for MercyMe, Tauren Wells, NEEDTOBREATHE and Lauren Daigle, among others. This fall, he’ll embark on the “Big Feelings Tour,” his first headlining trek in nearly a decade, with direct support from Lampa and Blessing Offor.
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Although a longtime believer, Christian music was never on Ripp’s radar in terms of a career move. The troubadour spent the better part of 10 years writing, recording and touring in the singer/songwriter, alternative-pop arena before becoming a burgeoning talent in the CCM space. In fact, in 2016, Ripp — weary from the grind — sold his guitar on Craigslist, resigned to the fact he’d never play music again. He assumed he’d take a break and shift his focus to support his wife’s growing interior design business. It was during this two-year hiatus that he discovered an entirely new direction for his musical gifts.
“I think that period of time was me going, ‘OK, I’ve been chasing my dreams, and it’s left me really tired and worn out, and now I’m selling this guitar to make room for whatever the Lord might have.’ When you get yourself out of the way, I think He can actually move through you,” Ripp offers. “I took music off the table, and from that heart posture of surrender came this fresh inspiration to make music in a new way, which was out of total service to other people. It wasn’t about me at all, and that’s when this whole new door opened for me.”
In addition to attempting to redefine his identity outside of his career, during this same season, Ripp and his wife were struggling to start a family. After multiple rounds of IVF proved ineffective, they opened themselves up to the prospect of adoption. Then, after five long years of riding a roller coaster of heartbreak, their adopted daughter, Frances, arrived quite swiftly in November 2018.
Looking back, Ripp can clearly trace God’s hand throughout the waiting, but at the time, he felt lost. That’s when he turned to worship music. “I was having trouble finding hope again, and these songs did what they do. It was this powerful experience that I had never had when listening to music,” he shares. “I was singing words I didn’t mean — or that I wanted to mean, but could hardly even sing — and it lifted me out of the pit.”
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The spirit of his latest single, “For the Love of God,” finds the prolific lyricist reflecting on his previous period of despair. “I’ll go back and just review notes that I made during the time when we were waiting for our baby girl, Frances, and I have journal entries from when my daughter had already been conceived. The victory was already done, but I didn’t know she was mine yet,” Ripp shares. “It reminded me that God has a plan, even if I can’t see it. And when I review the testimony of what He has done, my faith just explodes. I don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for the fact that God is absolutely real and He loves me. He hears our prayers, knows when to answer them and is way beyond what we think good timing looks like.”
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Armed with that knowledge, Ripp says he’s done prescribing to a certain picture of what life should look like, yet he’ll never tire of what he describes as “divine dreaming.” “I’ve found it to be so powerful to have dreams, but I have to make sure I’m holding them tightly in a wide open hand. Go after your dreams with all you’ve got,” he advises, “but be open to the Lord throwing you a curve ball. And man, those are so wild. You’re never ready for it.”
A baby who doesn’t share his genes. Christian music. The adventure of helping a close friend find her voice again. These are all wild curve balls Ripp never saw coming.
“My dream to have a family looked like me in my head, but God’s vision for my family was something much more beautiful than that for us,” Ripp asserts. “My parents had two biological kids, and it was perfect. It was beautiful. Divine. For us, God was like, ‘Hey, if you’re asking Me for My full will in your life, well, My full will in your life looks like this.’ And it’s exactly what the Ripp family’s supposed to look like.”
As for his completely unforeseen detour into Christian music? “It’s like I’m on a river in a canoe getting this awesome tour of this beautiful place, and every time I go around a bend, I’m like, ‘Holy smokes! Can you believe we’re here? This is insane.’ And around every bend, there’s another beautiful treasure. That’s what it feels like,” Ripp says. “I’m on this tour of this incredible place that I don’t deserve, but somehow I get to be on this ride.”
