”Hip-Hop’s Latest Anomaly” by Francisco Castro

Hip-Hop’s Latest Anomaly

My case for a dude who just has some things to get off of his chest (by Francisco Castro)

Can a hip-hop album reach a number one billboard top spot without talking about money, bitches, and drugs? Meet Lecrae, a Houston born 34-year old artist who did just that. Anomaly is the seventh studio album released by Reach Records just a little over a month ago and has gotten much attention since. Featured in Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, Rolling Stone, and top Billboard standings, Lecrae is making a lot of noise not simply in the Christian mainstream music community, but slowly creeping everywhere else including Sway In the Morning referring to him as one of the most unique up-and-coming rappers of the year. (He also killed the notorious fIve fIngers of death freestyle)

All the attention still begs the question, is the media just hyping a taboo Christian artist with another “divine message” or is Lecrae really making a statement? Feel how you may towards “gospel” music, Anomaly is actually pretty damn good and not as preachy as you may think. In fact, not preachy at all.

In every other interview, Lecrae makes the strong point that he is not a Christian rapper, but rather a rapper that just happens to be a Christian and this shows throughout the entire album. As opposed to much of cocky mainstream hip-hop blasted through radios, Lecrae portrays himself as a vulnerable bystander, shamelessly talking about his insecurities and struggles to ft in as a nonconforming artist in 21st century America. With a Lupe Fiasco type of political awareness and Andre 3000 delivery, Lecrae makes several “public service announcements” throughout the album.

It is refreshing to see a hip-hop artist diss the game in such graceful ways. Given Ferguson’s events, Lecrae tweeted: “Dear Hip Hop, we can’t scream ‘murder, misogyny, lawlessness’ in our music & then turn around and ask for equality & justice.” Anomaly questions why mainstream media feels the need to glorify money and glory, referring to them as “gold chains being just pretty shackles, wearing them around your neck cause we still enslaved” Songs like “Nuthin” and “Outsiders” echo this sentiment by directing subtle yet direct disses towards hip hop in general and Lecrae’s frustrations with many of its inconsistencies today.

Another point worth mentioning is Lecrae’s diss of churches themselves. “Dirty Water,” at least through my interpretation, calls out many of the Christians who fy thousands of miles to Africa (or whatever other nation it might be) and build water wells, but won’t turn around and help their neighbor across the street. Lecrae goes so far as to say that “the most segregated time of day is Sunday/ what does that say about the God your worship?”

In terms of technicalities, the album is extremely well produced. You can definitely feel subtle Houston infLuences of old school R&B and some chopped and screwed styles. Admittedly, there are some songs that are definitely turn-up-able (it’s a word, I promise) in the sense that you can bump to them at a party and not even think about the fact that it was made by a Christian. Lecrae can definitely deliver and tell stories from interesting points of view. It feels like he was trying to make a lot of diverse points throughout the album so it did not feel as cohesive as I’d like, but the theme of “anomaly” within the hip hop scene and different areas of life is felt for sure.

In general, I think Lecrae is giving hip-hop a breather and a refreshing voice that is often not heard. Trust me, I enjoy hearing Biggie brag about all the dope he sells and Kanye’s empowering ego as much anybody else, but I have to admit that it simply gets old. Christian rapper or rapper that happens to be a Christian, the guy is worth checking out.