If you’ve followed Lecrae’s 16 year rap career, then you know he’s not a fan of being labeled a Christian rapper.
Still, there’s a good chance that the topic will be brought up again after rapper and actor Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris invited Lecrae to chop it up on a recent episode of his expediTIously podcast. On the podcast, T.I. asked what the issue was with people considering Lecrae a Christian rapper.
According to T.I., Grammy award winner Lecrae is, “the one who made Christian Hip Hop popular.” Lecrae has tried to shake the label for years.
So in case you’re confused, we outlined three reasons Lecrae doesn’t want to subscribe to the gospel rapper category:
1. Lecrae Doesn’t Want Preconceived Notions About His Music
While on T.I.’s podcast, Lecrae pointed out that mainstream rappers like Scarface and Tupac created gospel rap records in their primes. Somehow listeners welcomed them blending multiple genres while weaving their beliefs in their music.
“That’s more or less what I’m on in terms of trying to communicate my vantage point, my perspective,” he said. “..Lecrae is a Christian. Now if you have a preconceived notion of what the music is going to sound like, get that out of your mind because the music don’t have a soul. The music don’t go to heaven, music is music.”
Lecrae explained that growing up, his influences were rooted in hip hop and not the church. People thought gospel rap was lame and had a hard time trusting the church.
“Your perspective of Christian and gospel rap, is it’s lame, it’s going to be corny. First of all our community don’t really trust the church so it’s a lot of stuff,” Lecrae told T.I.“There’s lots of reasons to not trust, so I’m coming from all of this stuff and I’m coming from a different vantage point. I think what it was was I’m talking about real life on my records.”
2. Lecrae Says His Faith and Musical Genre Are Two Separate Things
In 2013, Lecrae answered a question from a fan who wondered whether he considered himself a gospel rapper. You probably already know the answer, but in case you need a refresher Lecrae tweeted his response.
3. Lecrae Wants To Reach More Than Church People With His Music
In 2017, Lecrae was interviewed for the WADE-O radio show where he spoke about his desire to reach more than just people in church with his music.
“I believe some people make music for the church, and some people make music from the church to the world,” he said. “For me, I don’t want to exclusively for the church.”
Regardless of how you label the rapper, it’s clear that there are still elements of his faith in his music. Check out his latest video for “Set Me Free”:
What do you think about the Christian rapper label? Let us know in the comments.
(Photo: Raymond McCrea Jones)