Lecrae talks faith, mainstream rap and Dove Awards

He has millions of fans, but more than a few people heard Lecrae's name for the first time last month when the Christian rap artist had the number one album in the country. And it likely won't be the last time they hear it.

"Anomaly" — which became just the fifth album in history to top both the Christian Albums and Billboard 200 charts — comes after a decade's worth of grassroots work from the 34-year-old Atlanta resident. Recently, he's taken his music and message to "The Tonight Show" and mainstream radio, and often has to act as a sort of ambassador for faith-driven hip-hop.

On Tuesday, October 7, Lecrae co-hosts the Gospel Music Association Dove Awards in Nashville with MercyMe's Bart Millard. He talked to the Tennessean about looking forward to that gig, what "Anomaly" has done for his career and how listening to mainstream rap is like watching basketball.

Your album debuted at the top of the charts a few weeks ago. How has your life changed since then?

That's the funny part about it. It's kind of anti-climactic. Life really is still the same. It's how people interact with you that changes. It's not like my kids grew another inch because the album went No. 1 or anything. I was on an airplane talking to guy from a band, Hot Chelle Rae, and it was like, "Oh yeah! Lecrae!" I'm sure there's probably some other things that I haven't had a chance to really understand or process yet, but as long as I know how to steward it all, I'm happy.

I've seen a few interviews you've done recently, including one with "The Breakfast Club" at (hip-hop station) Power 105. That was a very different interview than what normally happens there - you seemed to elevate the conversation quite a bit. But I was struck by how the hosts, people who should know hip-hop inside and out, seemed so perplexed by the concept of a "Christian rapper." What's it like having to continue to answer for that? Maybe it's just what happens when you're the one that takes it to the top of the charts.

Yeah, the sense of marginalization and prejudice — and when I say "prejudice," I don't mean it in the sense of "I hate you," but more so like, "I'm prejudging you" — is very apparent when I talk to a lot of people now. Because they haven't had a lot of interaction with the Christian world. A lot of stuff revolves around, "Do you drink? Do you smoke? Do you curse? Do you watch rated-R movies?" It's almost like I'm an alien. And sometimes it would be great if they talked about the songs or the music, but I guess it's the mantle that I have to carry in a lot of ways.

There's probably a little less confusion when you're at something like the Doves, along with Christian rock bands, gospel singers, bluegrass groups, etc. What's your experience been like there?

Well, I think a lot of the encouragement in terms of mainstream (acceptance), has come from the uphill battle with my brothers and sisters in the faith, and the years it's taken for people to kind of say, "OK, OK, alright. I get it, it's cool," you know what I mean? Now we're at a place where I think we've created enough of a pathway for people to understand. There's a sense of comfortability, and they've just been great people.

Bart (Millard, singer of MercyMe and Doves co-host) has just become a great friend who never for one minute had any questions. It was all about the character and the competency, artistically. So I'm excited. It's almost like coming to a family reunion of sorts. I look forward to it, I think it's going to be fun.

And there are people there who've been in your shoes. You and Amy Grant probably aren't compared often, but about 20 years ago, she had her own No. 1 hit and had to navigate between the Christian and mainstream pop worlds. It's an interesting club to be a part of, I guess.

Yeah, I've definitely studied Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot) and I have had conversations, because it's something that's not new, but it's new to me.

I talked to Bart recently, and he talked about excited he was to host with you, and getting a game plan together. Have you thought about how you want to approach co-hosting, and what kind of show you want to help put on?

I think the chemistry between Bart and I, man, I'm sure we can I have a blast, but it's that level of like, "Wait a minute. Are we making each other laugh or are people laughing with us, as well?" You know what I mean? We just want to make sure we're not up there having a great time without realizing, "Oh yeah, that's right. We're hosting." Because we can get together and just get silly, man, and have a great time. I'm excited about that aspect of it. I don't know. I don't have a plan, so to speak, but I'm excited.

I think a lot people have this experience listening to music, rap or otherwise: you're enjoying a song, and then there's a lyric you're offended by or don't agree with. But you just try to move past it and continue enjoying the music. Is that kind of how you listen to secular hip-hop?

Absolutely. It's almost like watching a sporting event. If I play for the Spurs, and I'm watching the Lakers, you're watching great players, but you just wish they'd play as a team. It's like, "Well, I'm still studying their moves and understanding how they play, but man, if they'd only play as a team, they'd be great." That's kind of how I approach it.

I listen to stuff, and I'm like, "Oh man, listen to how he did that. That's a great delivery, my goodness. Just his perspective, I feel bad for him." But I've always felt like that. I've always wanted to hear great content over commercial hip-hop.

I've gotten the sense that you're into finding a common ground with (commercial hip-hop artists) as opposed to being completely separate from them as a faith-driven rapper.

Right. There's a space and a place for that. There's a space for people who want to create music for the church, but then I think there should be individuals who are making music from the church. We are believers, but our music is made to help encourage, inspire and shape the perspectives of people from all walks of life. I think we need that as well.