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  Hey Errbody,

    Welcome to the very first "CD O' the Week".  This one is for any fans of Hip-Hop, or any of the new popular rap that has hit in the last decade.  Somehow, I had never heard of Lecrae despite listening to a lot of rap myself, and trying to find the latest stuff so I could be cool like that (I have no idea how to actually be cool).  You might be surprised that I like rap som much, but I have been a fan of rap ever since my friend lent me a tape and I first heard Newcleus do "Jam On It".  Within rap, I like rappers who can actually rhyme.  Some of the new stuff I bumped into recently sounds like the guy walked into the studio and started a verbal spit-up with a limited vocabulary, and barely two brain cells to rub together.  Such is not the case with this...Lecrae.  The songs on Rebel are as meaningful as they are intellegent, thought provoking, and morally righteous.

Lyrics.  No words are wasted when this guy puts a pen to paper and it is all gospel.  Lecrae tends to go after the things that everyone is telling you you need to have (i.e. clothes, money, girls {or guys}, or even love).  He comes straight across without metaphors and lets you know how it really is.  My favorite song off of the CD is "Don't Waste Your Life" and without putting all the lyrics from all the songs down, here's one of the verses that pretty much represents where he's coming from. By the way, you might want to listen to this whilst reading it to get the full experience.  There's a lot of words, but he goes through 'em quick.

Suffer Yeah do it for Christ / if you trying to figure what to do with your life
if you making money hope you doing it right / because the money is Gods you better steward it right
stay focused if you aint got no ride / your life aint wrapped up in what you drive
the clothes you wear the job you work / the color your skin naw we Christian first
people living life for a job / make a lil money start living for a car
get em a house a wife kids and a dog / when they retire they living high on the hog
but guess what they didn't ever really live at all / to live is Christ yeah that's Paul I recall
to die is gain so for Christ we give it all / he's the treasure you'll find in the mall

Lifestyle.  When I looked Lecrae up and read off of the Reach Records(btw, if you really like rap, I would check out everyone on there) website, I found some pretty interesting things.  He came to a saving knowledge of Jesus when he was 19, volunteered at a juvinile detention center, Co-founding ReachLife Ministries in 2005, the non-profit organization exists to partner with organizations to equip local leaders with culturally relevant tools and media projects designed to strengthen communities with the word of God. 

Live Preformance.  Sometimes I might not have seen these guys in person, but Lecrae actually came to our church to cap off the High School retreat (we called it "truth just is").  There wasn't a moment that went by that you could question where he was coming from. Really high energy, especially since he had to hype up about 100 Southern Baptist kids.

One more thing, here's a video, and if it wins you over, then go support this man's ministry and by a CD or three for freinds.

iTunes Link -Rebel by Lecrae

Lecrae's Artist Profile - on Reach Records