Hip hop music has spread far and wide and has broken into many different sub-genres within the Rap/Hip Hop label. I’ve never been drawn to Christian rap in particular but I was captivated by Lecrae, co-signed by figures like Kendrick Lamar and DJ Premier, who isn’t necessarily a Christian rapper but calls himself a Christian that raps. His raps definitely contain Christian themes yet he is rooted in Hip Hop culture which has given birth to the unique mix of swagger, rap skill, and wisdom that is Lecrae.
To be honest, some Christian music just sounds corny but Lecrae does an amazing job combining wisdom and rap skill. Currently, I’m listening to “Church Clothes” which is a commentary on the discrimination and hypocrisies within church culture such as having to have a dress code for church. “I walked into church with a snap back and they said that’s a no-no?” As he says, "If God already takes me as I am, I already got on my church clothes." Overall Lecrae just keeps it real and points out the hypocrisy that probably keeps a lot of people away from what may be perceived as a puritanical and non-welcoming environment.
Lecrae is a versatile artist which he illustrates through in a song “Just Like You”, He sheds light on the plight of black youth growing up without father figures. The seeming epidemic is that a lot of black youth come up without their real fathers and therefore get adopted by gangs who show them some form of acceptance and approval that was lacking in their upbringing.
Growing up Lecrae found people to look up to in rap videos. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were dead but he had Tupac. He grew up wrestling with significance and he never knew his dad. He experienced abuse and neglect and wanted real significance. “The people I looked up to were gangsters.” One of his uncles showed him his first gun and taught him the way of being a “real man.”
He got involved in criminal activities, was fighting all the time, stealing, and was put on a gang list yet amidst all of this he never felt like he fit in anywhere. His mother encouraged him to read the Bible but he ripped the pages out of it and threw them on the floor. He thought church was only for older people and something people just used as a crutch. Eventually, the emptiness started to get more profound and he had to drink more, smoke more, and find more women to distract him.
He ended up finding himself at a Christian conference where he met people who still embodied who they were personally but were devoted to Christ.He was more interested in going to a new city and seeing women but this planted a seed. He called out, “God get me out of this, just don’t kill me.” Later he was driving and lost control of the wheel and the car flipped over a couple of times, glass shattered, yet he didn’t have a scratch on him. He knew it was time for a change...
He started volunteering at juvenile detention centers and began performing songs for them, songs he wrote in his darkest times that would leave some of the kids weeping. They kept asking him to perform them those songs as reminders. He then knew what he wanted to do.
In his song “Will You Take Me As I Am” which has a Tupac feel to it, he opens up with talking about how most people think they have to clean up their lives first before they come to church or be accepted yet he points out that people have to come as they are. Come as you are. Whatever the source is, people need to know they are accepted as they are no matter what they’ve done in the past. Some people may be put off by the whole Christian vibe because of all the corruption in the church but we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Lecrae is a great example of this. He sees the hypocrisies and stays true to his heart and what he understands as the real teachings.
One song I listen to that is a reminder for me and a counter to all materialism found in mainstream rap is “Confessions." Again, a lot of people have the idea that money will solve all their problems even after countless people confess that it doesn’t bring true happiness. Yes, money can help support it but if too much time is devoted to the pursuit of happiness and the ambition to get more money, one may still feel empty inside. I think of what I heard from Jim Carey recently who said that he wished people would fulfill all their dreams of fame and fortune to see that it’s not where they are going to find their completeness.
Lecrae makes me think of Matisyahu who also took his passion for music and merged it with a strong faith and practice. It shows that music can sound good and still contain positive and powerful messages.
Links to songs mentioned in the article:
Just Like You-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiDOyQCCpKs
Confessions-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFVV5SXqqrA
Lecrae’s story and testimony:
