When Lil Mike and Funny Bone, who perform as the hip-hop duo Mike Bone, auditioned for the television show Reservation Dogs, they never expected the series to gain much attention outside the Native American community.

The show, co-created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi,  follows the lives of four Native American teens in Oklahoma and finds humor in some of the dark realities of reservation life. Now in its second season on FX, the critically acclaimed series received a Peabody and has been nominated for numerous other awards.

Fans of the show may not know that Lil Mike and Funny Bone, who appear as Mose and Mekko, respectively, have been Christian hip-hop artists for nearly 25 years. Using a style that draws together rap, dance, and comedy, they started performing at churches and house parties and eventually appeared on “America’s Got Talent” in 2013.

The duo recently spoke to Christianity Today about working for “Reservation Dogs,” throwing pajama parties for Jesus, and using music to fight Satan. On how they started making music, Lil Mike says he started in 1992 as a form of therapy for his anger issues. Instead of blacking out and hurting people, he was told to write out his problems. In 1997, the group came together. Funny Bone added, “Yeah, I would jump on stage and do something funny while he was switching out songs. And then I slowly started to write my own rhymes. I got some skits on different tracks where I’m like slapping Satan, making fun of Satan. It’s pretty hilarious. Like, “I just threw Satan off a cliff.”

Funny Bone got its start performing at talent shows, churches, and any nightclub that would let them perform. Eventually, they opened a teen nightclub and threw a pajama party playing only Christian music. Everyone was apprehensive at first but eventually opened up to the idea. Then, the duo would perform on “America’s Got Talent.” Mike Bone grew up in the Indian Southern Baptist Church. They were believers but didn’t consider themselves religious.

On fully embracing their faith and Native American identity, Funny Bone said, “A lot of people definitely need encouragement like that, especially in the indigenous community. They have the highest rates of suicide, depression. I got really close at one point. I’m not ashamed to say it. The Enemy was just attacking me. And the only thing that really kept me going was knowing that God has to have something better for me.”

Funny Bone also discussed how sometimes Christian could be an uncomfortable label for them; Funny Bone said, “I don’t wanna say that we get ashamed to call ourselves Christian, but amongst the indigenous community, there’s a bit of that. The colonizers stole a lot, including religion. So we try to tell the natives—just because that’s what colonizers are doing doesn’t mean that’s what Jesus stands for. They are manipulating the Word of God to get over on people.” Lil Mike added, “We’re just trying to stay grounded with our connection to Creator.”