Lecrae may hail from Houston, Texas, but the 38-year-old rapper has some deep ties to the Tampa Bay area.
A local company, R I V A L S, designs and distributes his merchandise, and he got his start playing Flavor Fest. Orlando Davis, program director for Bay area radio station WiLD 94.1 FM was the first person to play Lecrae's 2017 hit, "I'll Find You."
"Tampa has always shown me a lot of love," Lecrae told CL during a quick phone call. "My man KB, on my indie label Reach Records is from Tampa as well. So there's always been a lot of love in Tampa."
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Lecrae — touring in support of his latest album, All Things Work Together — is set to give a lot of that love back when he arrives to play a March 23 show at The Ritz in Ybor City, but don't expect him to tiptoe around the tough topics (and songs like "Always Knew" and "Facts") which caused many of Lecrae's fans to distance themselves from him in the wake of what many saw as the murder of Mike Brown at the hands of the Ferguson Police Department.
"It's not like I was trying to mess with anybody's feelings, I was just being what I always had been," Lecrae said.
"I'd been saying the hard things, but this one affected me a lot closer because Mike Brown is, like, that could be my cousin, that could be my brother, it's not just this person off in St. Louis somewhere. I've got Mike Browns in my family, you know what I mean? So it's not just his situation. It speaks to broader issues going on in our society."
For 15 minutes, Lecrae touched on that topic and others like spirituality, new music, and the dark days that almost led him to suicide. Read our full Q&A — and get more information on the show — below.
Hey Lecrae, how are you?
What's going on, man? How you doing?
Good, man. First off, I told some friends that I was interviewing you, and one of them told me to greet you in the name of Jesus, and I wanted to make sure that was OK.
Yeah, that's what's up.
I think you’re back from the European dates, but is your security telling you not to crowd surf on these upcoming U.S. and Africa dates?
Nah, they didn't tell me yet. I know it's a dangerous thing, but the energy was too crazy. I couldn't stop myself.
That's awesome. And were they able to put pink teddy bears in your green room on this tour?
Ah, look at you, reading my rider. Yeah man, you gotta keep something on the rider to make sure that they're reading it. Haha.
Did anybody get one in there?
Nah, they'll ask. Some people ask for a live elephant to see if they read it.
My same friend who wanted me to greet you in Jesus' name had questions about your philosophies. Throughout your life and your tours, when you look into the crowd and think about the direction of mankind…are we getting more aware of our surroundings when it comes to spiritual battles? Or when you look out, do you feel like the world is just kind of lost?
I think, it's all perspective. At the end of the day, it is what it is. It's not necessarily getting better or worse — I think it's just consistent, you know what I'm saying? I think there's always an ebb and flow and moments where people are more conscious and more aware and other time periods where there are different kinds of revolutions. The ones societies go through. Constant change. One thing at a time. Like when the Egyptians ruled at one point in time, there were their views. It ebbs and flows.
And you mentioned the Egyptians, and you've talked about that before, are you excited for that Egypt trip and the Africa tour coming up?
Yeah, Africa is gonna be crazy. I've been there before, but the crowds are next level because they don't get to see you as often, so just showing up there is, like, a real genuine love. I think in the States people, uh, get used to you. You can be disposable. Their top five will change all the time, but in other countries when they are rocking with you they rock with you. It's for life.
I feel like you might suggest prayer here, but what's your advice regarding how the devil is using alot of unseen elements to bring us down..emotions..feelings..the things that really get to us the unseen trials…what's the best way to cope in these times?
At the end of the day, if you have spiritual blinders on you'll see all of it is a microcosm of something bigger. If you're not in tune, then you can get bent out of shape with, not that they're little things, but these things in society, but you realize it's a war. It's more than just racism and nationalism and all the other things going on. There are a lot of spiritual undertones. If you have eyes to see, then you can see that. That's how you realize that this isn't a world of flesh and blood — spiritual darkness is all around. When you see that, then you can think about it in the proper light.
Right on, and I know part of this album, All Things Work Together, is part of this reaction you had to your sugar coating of things on previous material. I like you talking about these ideas about being ready to weather a storm by having a good head on your shoulder. Are you OK with the way the conversation is going now that everyone is talking about your “break” from traditional or white evangelical Christianity? It seems like it was part of the plan, and you were ready to endure this. Was it part of the plan to change this conversation or start a new one up in a different way?
Nah, it hit me from left field. I came into this thing making music, and I was reaching my community with the music I was making, and then in many ways my music met a lot of fringe groups and other sects of society. And they began to embrace my music as well, but I thought we were all in this together, and that it was this one, kindred relationship. Then after Mike Brown got killed, and I said something about it, I realized that everyone started backpedaling. And Evangelicals kind of fell silent, and that's when I realized, "OK, I'm kind of on my own," as far as this community is concerned.
It's not like I was trying to mess with anybody's feelings, I was just being what I always had been. Just saying, and I'd been saying the hard things, but this one affected me a lot closer because Mike Brown is, like, that could be my cousin, that could be my brother, it's not just this person off in St. Louis somewhere. I've got Mike Brown's in my family, you know what I mean? So it's not just his situation. It speaks to broader issues going on in our society.
I didn't know how they would respond, but you've got to be willing, if you're gonna call the shots, then you gotta take some. I didn't know it was going to be that strong of a response to what I had to say, but it's my reality, and I can't hide it.
Yeah, it was textbook example of music fans only supporting, kind of, a customized version of an artist. Somebody that fits, it's like confirmation bias. Have any of those fans who were a little confused by the comments, have they come around since All Things came out?
Absolutely. I mean, I think it created a lot of solidarity, and people from different walks of life who may not connect with me on certain levels connect with me now, and people who didn't get it researched it. They read books, saw movies, listened to some podcasts, and they did their research, and when they do the research, then they make the connection. I don't know in general how, the general consensus, but I do know that I still feel. I don't feel any need to placate or pretend that I am something that I'm not. I definitely feel the love from those who've taken the time to listen and understand.
And now that you've kind of moved on from that flashpoint. Why do you think it took you so long to speak out on these things that were troubling you? Or do you feel like the Mike Brown was really the spark, I would imagine that some of the feelings were rustling around in there, kind of, there, but maybe they needed something to bring them out. Was that the case for you, or no?
Yeah, I mean, a little bit of a mix. On one end of the spectrum I had mentioned certain things before. Like I have a song called "Dirty Water," where I'm talking about stuff. That was 2014. I'm addressing some social ills in that song, self-hatred, you know, like when I was walking by a lady's car, and then she caught a look and locked her door, you know. I've mentioned stuff like that in my music, but I think that know, well, I would say what happened to me then was that I didn't realize that people would be in an uproar about it. So I wasn't trying to speak out. I was just speaking my natural reaction to it. I thought everyone might just feel the way I did. I didn't realize there were so many different perspectives or that there were that many people opposed to my perspective. So, it was a powerful thing for me.
Do you still talk to Carl Ellis Jr.?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a great mentor of mine. He gives me a lot of great advice and has always been in my corner.
It’s been about a year since you came out of a kind of dark and emotional place. You've discussed that, and even some of the suicidal thoughts. How much of the tough time, that pain and suffering, do you try to hang on to — does it help drive you in your day-to-day? Like a lot of times you can flip the pain that makes you want to kill yourself into, like, motivation to leave. I don't know, kind of like the ying and the yang, the ultimate balance of things. Do you hang on to that stuff, or was it so dark that it's something that you want to forget?
Um, it's a mix. I think. I'm healthy, but it's like, if you go to war and end up with your leg amputated, then you may come back and learn how to function in a wheelchair or with new legs, but you're never gonna be the same. So even though I'm healthier or have a new perspective, functioning, not in a dark place, I'm still never gonna be the same. That trauma of everything, I'll never be the same person again. I was just reading to the intro to "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria," and it just triggered me because she was mentioning some of the things that had happened over the last few years. You know, Freddie Gray, and I, I hadn't forgotten, but I had forgotten all the gruesome details of it. You know what I'm saying? And the details alone just triggered me. Put me in an emotional state. I don't think that's ever going to go anywhere. That's always going to be a part of me. Like when you lose a family member or something. You move on, but you'll never be the same after you lose them.
Sure. And to kind of lighten it up a little bit. I think you ended up with about 14 tracks stuck from about 70 that you had for All Things. Are you working on new music now? When do you think you’ll be at a place to start on a follow up?
Yeah, I've been in the studio around the clock. There's music that's already done. Like you said, like you mentioned, some of it came from a darker space, and I'm not in that headspace now so I am just creating some new stuff built around the mindset I've been in as of late. It sounds real good, so we'll see what happens. Not sure how we'll release it.
What producers are you working with. Anyone different from the last set of songs? Anyone you are particularly excited about?
Uh, rocking with different people really heavy. Working with a lot of different folks. Without saying too much, I've been choose a couple producers and just locking those down.
Yeah, I was gonna see if you'd drop any names, but that's OK, I get it.
Haha.
You’ve mentioned being “over” the industry, saying its work, clocking in, clocking out, a strange loyalty, weird social system — how many more albums do you have on your deal? How do you wanna do it when you’re a free agent again?
The type of relationship that I have with Columbia is very free and unique in itself. It's not a typical deal, or structured typically, just because, me being an independent artist and me having a label and everything, so I have a lot of freedom. But I'm not really sure. I'm really just getting into being behind the scenes, executive producing stuff, becoming more on the executive side. Helping other people get their stuff off the ground — their records and videos. I like being at the helm because it helps me control what happens top to bottom. There are a lot of roles in the music industry that are controlled by people, you know gatekeepers that you don't want to deal with, so if you don't have to deal with them and do it yourself, then more power.
And I like that you talked about that freedom you have. Taking it to some material goods. I think you have a Tampa connection, a local company, RIVALS, worked on some merch design for you. Is that still going on?
Yeah. Good people. We've been working together for years.
And I like talking about people from my city who have connected with some big names. How does that connection come about on your end? Like how does RIVALS get in front of you and how do you decide to end up working with them?
They understand my brand. They understand my fans. They understand how I connect with people on a regular basis. Because I'm not, like, couture level type of stuff. It's everyday people who are fashion-forward. So we've always had that good, mutual relationship. Tampa, man I have a lot of roots with Tampa in general. Coming out there for a festival called [indecipherable] way back in the day…
What festival?
Flavor Fest, back in the day. That was a good launching pad for a lot of things that I had. You know, Orlando broke the "I'll Find You" record. In Tampa, that was the first radio station to ever play "I'll Find You," so, yeah. That was big. Tampa has always shown me a lot of love. My man KB, on my indie label Reach Records is from Tampa as well. So there's always been a lot of love in Tampa.
That's awesome, and last question since I'm running out of time here. I saw that you were Tweeting pretty early today. You’ve mentioned that you are flawed, like we all are. When you wake up in the morning, what kinds of goals, like personal ones do you have, like building yourself up, improving your mental state. Like, today, what’s your goal, like what do you want to improve as far as who Lecrae the human is?
Everyday is spiritual, emotional and physical. So you have to stimulate all of those muscles. The spiritual muscles, whether it's podcasts, reading things, I do that every morning. The mental muscle, reading again, and listening to podcasts. Someone who will challenge your way of thinking. The emotional musical for me, the emotional and physical is tied together, so I go to the gym in the morning because it helps me accomplish something. Gets my endorphins going, so I feel good and makes me ready to tackle whatever is in front of me, you know. That's stuff they don't teach you when you're young.
Uh huh.
You're out here running around until 5 o'clock in the morning.
Yeah, and now the girls are obsessed with your shoulders. So you have to keep that up.
Haha. Nah, it's all for health.
Well, thanks for your time, and congrats on everything. I look forward to the short tour, and I'm really stoked that you get to do some shows in Africa, congrats on all of it.
Yeah, that's love, man, I appreciate it.
Awesome, have a great day.
Alright, man.
See ya.
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This article appears in Mar 15-22, 2018.