A Conversation With Lecrae On “Blessings” Single, Giving Hope To His Listeners & His Next Album
(AllHipHop Features) Many artists step into the music industry with hopes of leaving a lasting impression by collecting accolades like golden trophies and chart toppers. Holding hardware on stage at an award show or seeing a project hit #1 can be seen as reaching the pinnacle of the business.
Lecrae Moore’s music career already consists of those very kudos. With 2014’s Anomaly, the Houston-bred rapper became the first act to hit number one on the Gospel Albums and Billboard 200 charts simultaneously.
A year earlier, Gravity
earned Lecrae a Grammy for Best Gospel Album, and he later took home another Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. The co-founder of Reach Records has proven he can be both a commercial and critical force.
For his next LP, Lecrae has expressed he’s done trying to prove his creative worth or where he belongs on the genre spectrum. Listeners often ask: Is it Gospel? Is it Hip Hop? Is it both? Lecrae does not seem to be concerned about the answers to those questions. He’s just looking to make relatable music.
The latest example of his mission came in the form of “Blessings” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, and it appears Lecrae has again been successful in the goal of creating widely accessible music. The lyric video for “Blessings” quickly collected 1 million plays on YouTube. Plus, a Twitter search of #Blessings along with #Lecrae yields countless messages of appreciation for the uplifting tune.
I connected with Lecrae to discuss his new single. We also chatted about his forthcoming 8th studio album, Chance The Rapper’s faith-filled moment at the 2017 Grammy Awards, working with Soul singer Lalah Hathaway, and more.
AllHipHop: You’ve always provided uplifting content whether it’s in your music or on social media. But I’m sure a lot of people are appreciative of this particular record right now. What has been the response for “Blessings”?
Lecrae: It’s been one hundred percent positive. People have been rocking with it and are grateful for this type of music in this season. It’s been so much depressing news broadcast over the last year. So people are appreciative of this. It’s just something to say it’s not all bad all the time. Plus, people love the song. Outside of the content, they love the sound of it and the feel of it. I’m really grateful for people loving it.
AllHipHop: It was produced by Apluss.
Lecrae: Yeah, Apluss from Ear Drummers.
AllHipHop: Did you guys do any other tracks together? Or did you work with anyone else from that camp?
Lecrae: We worked on quite a few tracks. I’ve been in there with Apluss. I’ve been in there with Ear Drummers, Metro [Boomin], Zaytoven. Just living in Atlanta, you have access to a lot of different people, so you’re able to get it in. So we’ve been really working and making some great music.
AllHipHop: You released a lyric video. Are there any plans to do a live action version with Ty?
Lecrae: Me and Ty shot the video not too long ago, out in LA. The video ought to be popping up at the end of the month or early next month. Calmatic directed it. He killed it on Kendrick and Jhené Aiko. He’s a beast with it. The video is going to be a movie. It’s awesome. I think the video compliments the song.
AllHipHop: I saw you posted a clip on Instagram where you were revealing the cover art to your mom. We got to experience that with you. But for you, what was that moment like?
Lecrae: It was dope. It’s something special, especially for my mom. You have to realize she never imagined any of this. Her biggest fear was that I was going to spend my life in the penitentiary. It’s a lot of men in my family that didn’t make it. It was either drugs or jail.
For her, all of this is – no cliché or pun intended – it’s all a blessing to see this happening. For me highlighting her raising me and putting her on there, it made her feel like she’s part of something that’s bigger. The best thing you can do is to show love to somebody and let them know how much you appreciate their investment.
AllHipHop: You also put up clips featuring 2Pac, Lauryn Hill, KD, Steph Curry, and Allen Iverson. In another interview, you said part of the reason you did that was to show the song could be relatable…