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.
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