Zach Steensma — Staff Writer

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If you visit Dordt, you’re bound to run into a student musician, and not all of them are music students. From talent shows to open mic nights, the campus community brings together a host of young artists.

One such artist is Rebecca Groninga, or Rezin, as she is known on stage, a senior engineering major and music minor at Dordt. Although she has been writing music since high school, it wasn’t until her junior year debut at Dordt’s Talent Extravaganza (TX) that she started to put her work out in the open.

Since then, Groninga has appeared in a number of Dordt events, from the big crowds of TX and NC/DC to quieter worship arts gatherings and chapels.

“If I could actually go full-time in music, then I would. The difficulty is actually being able to do this type of music full time,” Groninga said. “When you go to school for music, you usually go to be a music teacher. With this, it’s something where you need to build a fanbase.”

For the most part, Groninga writes the lyrics for her rap and then finds other artists to write or sell her a beat to complete the song. And up until now, most of her opportunity for shows and performances came through Dordt-related events.

All of that changed over spring break, when Groninga received a message from Enoch Flow Records, a Christian hip-hop label based out of Shell Lake, Wisconsin.

According to Groninga, the company was impressed with her work in a competition she had entered. They wanted her to do a remix of a track from one of their artists, with whom Groninga was already familiar.

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“Even though I didn’t get into the competition itself, they still really liked [my piece] and asked me to do it with a beat they had,” she said. “Now I’m looking at getting that recorded this week.” Although she received the message over break, Groninga didn’t share the news on social media until late March.

“I wanted to pray about it first,” she said. Shortly after receiving the offer, Groninga spoke with Jon DeGroot, director of Worship Arts and Campus Ministries at Dordt, for advice.

Groninga felt the label was a good fit was because it was fairly new.

“They’re pretty much starting out the same as I am, but they have a few producers and artists already,” she said.

Being part of a record label means more opportunity for Groninga to continue pursuing music after graduation.

“I can get features from other artists, feature them on tracks, and get more shows,” she said. Groninga is the only female artist currently signed on with the label, which could mean even higher demand for feature performances and recordings. Groninga says she already has offerings from three other artists.

“I’ve kind of been stalled on stuff. I have multiple things I’m working on,” Groninga said. She has three or four songs on the way in the coming months, but for now, you can find Rezin on iTunes and Spotify.