One issue that has come up during the rise of CCM was that of racism and what impact it may or may not have had on the success of so-called "urban" artists. There are some gospel artists who have had and continue to have a sort of universal appeal across the Christian music market place (artists such as Mandisa, Nicole C. Mullen and Ayesha Woods don't seem to have as mcuh "reverse" crossover success, but this is an unverified statement). Cece Winans, Ron Kenoly, and to some extent Andre Crouch are a few that come to mind. This issue has been addressed directly by dcTalk (
E.R.A.C.E.) and even Toby Mac himself has stated that he feels racism has kept many listeners from exploring hip-hop and R&B sounds.
Of course others feel that it's really just a matter of musical preferences or demographics. I suppose they do have a point (and I mostly agree), but one has to wonder why secular hip-hop has been embraced by suburbia (i.e.; "white folks"), while the Christian music scene seems highly segregated - you know what they say about Sunday mornings in America.
Over the years, there have been efforts to try and bridge this gap with artists such as Anointed, Out of Eden, The Katinas, GRITS and Knowdaverbs. There was even a collaborative compilation titled "Bridges" that had only one song that got some airplay on gospel stations ("There's a Place For Us" performed by Fred Hammond and Natalie Grant). But it seems that these efforts have more or less fell by the wayside as the Church continues to be set in its ways.