For 20 years, Lecrae has delivered dozens of hit records—all in the name of the Christian faith. From records such as “All I Need Is You,” “Sunday Morning,” and Grammy Award-winning “Your Power,” the talented artist achieved unprecedented success during a time when faith-based rap wasn’t accepted in mainstream music. Now, decades deep into his career, Lecrae is reaching further heights in entertainment, as well as in the business world.
As the founder of Reach Records, Lecrae built the company out of necessity. Label heads would either categorize his music as “too edgy or too Christian,” the rapper tells ESSENCE. So, he decided to cut out the middle man entirely and create a way to put out projects and artists the way he wanted to, without restriction. By forging his own path, Lecrae has not only built an influential imprint, but in turn inspired millions to speak their truth.
In honor of Black Business Month, the Houston-born emcee reflects on the delicate balance he’s maintained between his artistry and entrepreneurial endeavors. Reach Records isn’t just a label; it’s a platform that empowers other artists who share his mission of authenticity and hope. Through the years, he has shown that success isn’t just about chart-topping hits but also about creating opportunities for others to rise. His journey serves as an inspiring testament to the power of perseverance, vision, and faith in the face of adversity.
ESSENCE: I remember when you came into the game–you weren’t the first Christian rapper, but you kind of brought it to the mainstream. It was a time when music was either gospel or secular. What inspired you to blend those two genres, and how did you know that it would work for you?
Lecrae: That’s all I knew. When I came up, what I thought was a Christian album was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, so I just thought that’s what you did. I thought you just talked about your spiritual transformation in life, in the mainstream, because I knew I wasn’t Kirk Franklin. I knew I didn’t make gospel music, so I just always felt like, “Man, I just need to say what’s going on in me to the general public.” I think what happened was, when I first started, because I grew up just in hip hop culture. I didn’t grow up on gospel or anything like that.
When I first started changing the way that I wrote, because of my own life transformation, people said, “Man, you need to try to find a deal.” But I would send my music to the Christian music labels, they said it was too edgy, so then I sent it to mainstream, and then they said it was too Christian. So I was like, “Well, I guess I got to do my own thing,” because I didn’t make sense on either side.
Was that the impetus for the creation of Reach Records?
Yeah, it was. I had been making music in my dorm room, and that’s when I found God, in college, made this transformation, and I was like, “All right. How do I articulate what I’m doing?” In my mind, I thought it was just going to be like, “Oh, yeah. I’ll just be another version of OutKast,” or something like that, you know what I mean? That’s kind of what my brain was thinking, and I thought people would bite, because I was like, “I haven’t heard anything like it.”
But the Christian labels, I remember one label in particular didn’t respond, and I sent them a message. I said, “Everybody on my campus thinks this music is good.” They were like, “Yeah. It is just not for us. Maybe try such and such a label.” I remember we had conversations with Def Jam, Bad Boy, everybody, and it was like, “Y’all need to grow this into gospel,” so it just made sense for us to do it out of the trunk. Plus, I lived in Texas. Coming from Houston originally, I just saw how everybody did it. I saw how Chamillionaire, Paul Wall, and Slim Thug did it. Everybody did it out the trunk, so that wasn’t a foreign concept to me. I just said, “All right. Well, let me follow suit.”
How do you feel about being such a pioneer in the genre and influencing so many others to follow in those footsteps?
I had to get used to it, because when I came in, I had a chip on my shoulder, because people thought Christian rap was corny. So I was like, “Well, don’t call me Christian rap then. I don’t want to be associated with that. If y’all think it’s corny, don’t associate me with that.” But what I learned over the years is that I’m actually changing people’s perspective on it, so it’s like I can embrace the title now, because when people think of it, they don’t think of corny. They have a reference point of like, “Well, nah. Lecrae got some bops. You know what I mean?” So for me, I thought my job was to enter into the mainstream as a spy, but I think the reality is I’m an ambassador, and I’m making people realize, “Oh. It’s not exactly what I thought it was.”
In crafting a successful solo career, you’ve also constructed an amazing roster at Reach Records too. Can you talk to me about the challenges of being an artist, as well as the label head, and how have you been able to balance the two?
Well, I grew up wanting to be like Master P, wanting to be Baby and Slim, so I always had a mindset of, I want to be an integral part of the music business, as well as being an artist. So for me, that was just the natural hustle that was already in me from anything, selling candy to finding money on the corners, doing whatever I had to do. That was always an integral part of who I was. So for me, when we started the label, I instantly was like, “we got to get my homeboy signed because he dope too.” Then, I met this other kid that I’ve been mentoring. We got to sign him. My brain was already looking for talent.
The funny thing was it wasn’t a second thought. The money that came in, we spent $5,000 to make my first CD. All I remember is $20,000 later, it was like we could take this money, the royalties, and whatever. I could personally take that, or I could put that back into doing the artwork and the production for the next artist, and that’s what I did, so it wasn’t even a thought. I’ve been broke, so it ain’t going to hurt to be broke a little bit longer. Let’s put some money into his project. We were just on a mission, and it was building something, so it was so fun. I don’t think the thought process was how to make money. For me, it was how I can change the world, have fun, and keep reinvesting in my artists.
About two years ago, you signed your first Afrobeats artist, right?
I just love signing artists that bridge the gap, that cut the tension between mainstream and the gospel or Christian world, because unfortunately, Christian music, it is still a business, and people don’t want to take a risk on soundscapes and music that they feel like, “Well, we don’t really know about that.” We had signed an EDM artist when EDM was the thing. We were hip hop. We were used to being the renegades, and I was like, “Yo. No one’s touching this Afrobeats music, and it’s going crazy everywhere, and we literally got an artist right here who we can invest in,” so it was a no-brainer. He was dope. Then, we put a song out with him. All of a sudden his first single’s charting on the Afrobeats chart, and I’m like, “That’s exactly what I wanted to happen.” It’s for the world to see what that looks like, and we’re still following that same model, so we got some other new artists that we haven’t announced yet, but in different genres, because a lot of times Christian music is scared to touch it.
I also wanted to talk about your upcoming single, “Lift Me Up.” What was the story behind the song, and what sparked you to put pen and paper to write it?
I’m going to tell you the truth, because I’ve been in the game so long, I’m not trying to make myself look amazing. So the truth is, there’s a reggae artist named Papa San. He was big back in the day, and his son is an artist named Beam, and Beam had been around us for years, and we had been working with Beam on different production, different songs. I featured him on some stuff. Well, he became a very prominent writer—he’s written for Rihanna, Justin Bieber, everybody, and Beam had a hook for “Lift Me Up,” and the song was for Kanye, because Kanye was on his Christian path. But then he went left and did the whole Vultures joint, and so Beam was sitting with this concept of a song that didn’t fit Ye’s new direction, so he brought it to me like, “I don’t know anybody else who could do something with this.”
As soon as I heard it, I said, “Oh, this is crazy.” So, it was just easy to start writing to it. With the song I know what it’s like to be in a dark place and needing God to lift me up. That’s where the mindset was. I think what Beam was thinking for Ye, I could totally relate to. It’s like, what does it feel like when you are just overwhelmed and you feel pressure coming down on you? You have to remind me that you are going to be here for me, and it’s like, “Man, I’m willing to take a chance, but can you give me some assurance?” Anybody who has been in a relationship with somebody, and they messed up, you’re like, “All right. I’m going to give you my heart, but you don’t mess me over this time,” and I think it’s a similar concept with “Lift Me Up.” It’s like, “All right, God, I’m going to go in again. Please take care of me during this process.”
Now, you’re very talented as a musician, but you also are the host of the Deep End Podcast too. Why did you decide to get into that game, and what do you feel as though you bring to the podcasting space?
It was the same element, man. I couldn’t find a podcast that fit me. It’s like I would listen to T.D. Jakes, and I would listen to Joe Budden, but where do Joe Budden and T.D. Jakes come together? And I couldn’t find it, you know what I mean? Who’s speaking my language? And so, I feel like there’s a lot of folks out there who want to know where faith in real life crosses over. That’s great, you can give me a podcast about what Genesis says. It’s great that you can give me a podcast about how hard divorce is, but can somebody give me a podcast where we talk about divorce and what my faith looks like in the midst of it?
And that’s kind of what I wanted to do; cross those boundaries and mix it up so people can have a faith lens on culture. I just wanted to do that, so I felt like it worked in music and people will resonate with it.
So, August is Black Business Month, and with you being a mogul and label head, I wanted to ask you what advice would you give the young, Black entrepreneur trying to build their business?
Yeah. I think, right now we’re in an era of accessibility. You’ve got access to everything, so when I was coming up, there were a lot of gatekeepers, and you had to get through these gatekeepers in order to get your business to pop off or to thrive. I would say now, the internet has leveled the playing field. So if you can weave through the BS and not buy all these $500 plans to build your business better, but to do the research, to take your time, learn and read, and ask good questions, and go talk to somebody who’s killing it, where you want to be killing it, then you can do it—but you have to actually put in the work. And so, a lot of times people spend so much time trying to network and say “Oh, if I can just get with so-and-so,” but that’s an antiquated way of doing things. You don’t need to go find the mogul in order to get your stuff popping. You can get it popping in your bedroom, whatever that may be.
Then, you do the research so you can grow it, because once you make your first check, don’t get content and satisfied. Start figuring out, “All right. You’ve been working in the business to make this money. Now learn how to work on the business to make it work better and to make whatever it is that you are building better.” Then, my last piece of advice, which I tell everybody, especially within the Black community, is you are never, ever not in the people business. Whatever business you are in, it’s the people business. If you take care of people, they’ll take care of you. You take care of your people, your people will take care of you. If you try to get over, you try to make it cheap, you try to just hustle folks, it’s not going to last. So man, make something and take care of people. Whatever it is you’re creating, selling, or whatever, make it beneficial to the customer so that they’ll say, “Man, I got to mess with you. I have to come back.”
I know they say you’re not supposed to regret anything, because your journey is your journey. But is there something that you would have done differently in your career path?
Yeah. I think, obviously, it took maturity, therapy to get to that place, but I would’ve not been as insecure. You know what I mean? I was super insecure initially, which made me second guess myself, which made me not be as bold as I could have been, which made me not take certain risks because I was just insecure. “What are they going to think? What are they going to say? What if they don’t like this? What if they don’t like that?” I think, in hindsight, it’s like I’m the only me they’ll ever be, and I should have leaned into that, instead of trying to figure out how to be who people wanted me to be.