“If you live for people’s acceptance, you’ll die from their rejection.” - Lecrae
If there is any quote that summarizes the revolutionary and ground-breaking career of twice Grammy-winning rapper Lecrae Moore, it is likely that one. Better known simply as Lecrae, the Atlanta-based rapper has spent his career redefining and challenging the hip-hop and rap industry, as well as traditional Christian ideas.
Lecrae broke onto the scene as a gospel and Christian rapper in 2004 with the release of his first album Real Talk. Despite a childhood of crime and abuse, he has grown an incredibly successful career, producing 7 studio albums that have reached almost 2 million sales, while winning a variety of awards besides his Grammys, such as a Billboard Music Award and BET Awards. Though the content of Lecrae’s creative work has often been Christianity and discussions of his faith, he dislikes being cast in such a restrictive label, claiming instead, “I am a hip-hop artist who happens to be Christian, believes in God, and follows the teachings of Jesus.” Regardless, he has become one of the most well-known, successful rappers in the Christian realm, which has led to its fair share of difficulties.
Lecrae, as a unique member in the hip-hop field, has used the creative mechanism of conceptual change to produce new works in his domain. The two concepts and fields of Christianity and hip-hop/rap have often appeared to be polar-opposites with little possible in common, but through his creative process and skill Lecrae has found a way to stay true to himself and merge both realms. The domain of hip-hop and rap is well-known for its popular use of profanity and controversial lyrics, and this culture is quite obviously at-odds with the Christian tradition. Without using profanity himself, Lecrae has used rhythm and flow of hip-hop music (such as the well-known “trap” style of music) to merge the concepts of Christianity and hip-hop into a combined field, while collaborating with secular artists such as Zaytoven, Waka Flocka Flame, and Ty Dolla $ign. In combining the style of his idol Tupac Shakur with the message of gospel, Lecrae helped to formulate and popularize an entirely new concept and category through the use of the domains of Christianity and rap.
However, his success has not come without criticism in his field. In many of his songs, especially in recent creative works, Lecrae, as a Black man, has used his platform to speak out regarding social injustice and systematic racism in the United States, much to the distaste of more conservative Christian fans. In songs such as “Can’t Stop Me Now” and “10 Toes”, Lecrae raps about the police killings of Tamir Rice and Breonna Taylor, respectively. He acknowledges the backlash that he has faced over the years for his criticism of injustice, rapping on “Facts”, “Aw man, now they actin’ like I’m suddenly political / Told me: ‘Shut my mouth and get my checks from Evangelicals.’” Despite this backlash, Lecrae’s last album titled Restoration was still wildly successful, reaching #1 on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart (his ninth #1 in total).
All in all, I would likely categorize Lecrae as a middle-C creative in the realm of hip-hop. According to his wishes, I will not categorize him as strictly a Christian rapper (in which case he would likely be a higher-level-C in that more specified field), but rather as a hip hop artist in general. Though he is incredibly successful and his creative work of combining the two concepts of Christianity and hip-hop (while speaking out regarding social injustice) is awe-inspiring, he is not on the popularity and household-name level of more famous secular rappers such as Drake, Lil Baby, Jack Harlow, and others. Despite this, his work as a creative is simply amazing especially considering his use of conceptual change in the creative process.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecrae
https://variety.com/2020/music/news/lecrae-interview-independent-1234620644/
https://www.reachrecords.com/artists/lecrae/
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/lecrae/cantstopmenowdestination.html
https://www.lyreka.com/song/lecrae-10-toes-lyrics
https://genius.com/Lecrae-facts-lyrics
https://www.billboard.com/pro/restoration-no-1-top-christian-albums/
Hi Josh! I'm not really an avid rap listener besides my workout playlist, so this was a really cool read for me! I can only begin to imagine the criticism Lecrae has faced both in his life and his career, so I really appreciate that he seems to be so unapologetically himself. Moreover, I appreciate it when creative people use their creativity to stand up for what they believe in and for the injustices they face, so I can really respect someone like him.
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