American Christian Rap hot shot Lecrae flying high and now playing in the big leagues, talks about his Christian faith too. This interview
on the superstar says it all.
Not
every rapper could go from playing the Rock The Bells rap festival
alongside Wu-Tang Clan, J. Cole and Too $hort to earning an invite to
the long-running contemporary-Christian music tour Winter Jam.
In fact, it’s a very short list.
Lecrae
is that guy. The Christian rapper has crossed over into the mainstream,
with his last LP, “Gravity,” climbing to No. 3 on the Billboards chart.
He’s
currently on the road tending to his Christian audience, and he talked
about his first Winter Jam experience during a telephone conversation.
What are your impressions of your first time on the Winter Jam tour?
It’s
been amazing. It’s the first time they’ve ever had hip-hop. It’s been
an amazing show of events. The audience is really connecting. I’ve seen
people who previously couldn’t stand rap music fall in love with it, so
it’s been great.
Do
you present your performance differently when you’re playing a big
festival with an eclectic lineup like Winter Jam, or is that not a
concern?
The
only thing I do differently is take a little more time to explain. I do
an a cappella verse so they can understand the content and the lyrics.
But
there’s a younger demographic that loves hip-hop, and they like it
authentic, so they can smell when you’re altering for a new audience, so
I try to keep it as authentic as possible.
You’re
being promoted in the Winter Jam press release as a groundbreaking
hip-hop artist. What do you think is meant by that, and do you think of
yourself as groundbreaking?
I’m really not all that self-aware. I definitely see what they’re saying, the new ground that’s kind of being walked upon.
I’m
an avid Christian. I love my God and I don’t mind talking about it, but
yet I’m able to navigate within the Christian world and the mainstream
hip-hop world and just on top of that within CCM (contemporary-Christian
music), they’ve just never had anyone from the hip-hop culture kind of
walking in the terrain that I’m walking in.
You’ve
had a lot of crossover success. Have your mainstream fans been coming
out to Winter Jam, or is it more of a Christian-music-only audience?
I’d probably say it’s a Christian audience. I can’t say that they’re not
there. When there’s 15,000 people I don’t know who’s in the audience,
but I would assume that they’d probably opt to go to a different show,
different venue, just being that they wouldn’t know any other artist on
the bill.
Some hip-hop artists talk about God in interviews and how they
give praise to God, but there is little mention of God in their music.
How do you feel about artists who operate in this way?I
think it’s to be expected. A leopard can’t change its spots. I’m not
shocked when I hear people who don’t know God misrepresent him or say
things contrary to him, because that’s what people do. That’s to be
expected.
My job is not to be frustrated or mad at them. It’s just to help them see the error and the reality that they’re missing out on.
I
just liken it to a blind person. When a blind person steps on your
foot, you don’t get mad at them and say “Hey, watch where you’re going,
buddy.” You help them, show them where their seat is and give them
directions.
Do you think that the fact that you rap about God puts your personal life under more scrutiny?
Absolutely. I absolutely do. And some of that is warranted and some of it is a little bit unfair.
The
warranted part is definitely me just needing to be above reproach. The
unfair part is that I think that there’s a misconception that Christians
are perfect people and we don’t make mistakes.
I
think the glaring difference is the Christian struggles with life on
earth versus giving in to all the vices. We may struggle with different
things – with our anger, with our envy or whatnot – but we don’t live
life through those lenses.
Sometimes
people catch you in a weak moment and they begin to identify you, but
I’ve been trying to tear that down and just letting people know that I’m
imperfect, and that’s why I’m Christian.
Written byChris Varias, Enquirer contributor
