Shares

@fnf883fm

The Lecrae Timeline 2004-2013

Reach Records artist Lecrae Moore has become the poster boy of Christian Hip-Hop. For many devout Christians that decide to use Hip-Hop as an avenue to communicate their worldview he is considered a legend in his genre. He has shattered records and continues to become a better emcee every year. At this point in time Crae is mainstream Hip-Hop’s most visual representation of a faith based rapper. He has charted on Billboard, won prestigious awards (Grammy (1), Dove (2), Stellar (3) and more), sold a significant amount of records, toured consistently and collaborated with well-known artists like Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D, 9th Wonder, Boi-1da, S1, Street Symphony, No Malice of Clipse, Saigon, DJ Don Cannon, Statik Selektah, Big K.R.I.T., Chaka Khan and much more. This month the rising star took home his first Grammy for his album ‘Gravity’. In honor of the great work he has already done and will continue to build upon, here is a timeline of his achievements over his career.

2004 –

Lecrae releases his first project ‘Real Talk’. “Take Me As I Am” and “Represent Feat Tedashii” were two of the notable singles.

20080530103542_0_Real_Talk-415x300

2005 –

Cross Movement Records re-released ‘Real Talk’ and it charted No.29 on the Billboard Gospel Albums category. At the time Cross Movement Records was the top faith based Hip-Hop label and had a roster that consisted of heavy hitters like Da T.R.U.T.H., The Ambassador, Cross Movement, Flame, Everyday Process and more. Lecrae and Cross Movement Record’s partnership is a lot more significant then people may think. CMR brought his music to a bigger audience.

Artist-99114609-12114211.87183639_std

 2006 –

Reach Records and Cross Movement Records release ‘After The Music Stops’. It received a Dove Award nomination “Hip-Hop CD of the Year”. The project was fueled by Christian Hip-Hop classics like “Jesus Muzik” Feat Trip Lee and “Prayin For You”.

lecrae_after_the_music_stops_album_cover

 2008 –

Before his 2008 project ‘Rebel’ Lecrae was putting in a lot of work with his crew the 116 clique (Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, Sho Baraka, J’Son, and Thi’sl). Projects like ’13 Letters’ and ‘Amped EP’ had come out. The other artist on Reach Records were grinding hard as well. When ‘Rebel came out he made history by releasing the first Hip-Hop project to top the BillBoard Gospel Album for two weeks. He also surprised a lot of people by charting #3 on iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap Albums for ‘Rebel’ behind TI’s ‘Paper Trial’. It also charted Number 8 on Billboard’s top Rap Albums. ‘Rebel’ became the highest debuting Christian Rap album ever at the time. He also did awesome work for the ‘Don’t Waste Your Life’ campaign with Desiring God Ministries. Lecrae’s feature on Flames “Joyful Noise” from his Grammy nominated ‘Our World Redeemed’ was a big hit in 2008 as well.

38210-l

 2010 –

Lecrae releases a charity single entitled “Far Away”, the proceeds went to the victims of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake.

Lecrae dropped his fourth album ‘Rehab’ and it debuted No.17 on the BillBoard Top 200. It also sold an impressive 25, 864 the first week. ‘Rebel’ sold 10,000 in the first week so it was a major first week improvement. ‘Rehab’ was #3 overall on iTunes. The album was a major success and even garnered a Grammy Nomination, a first for Lecrae. By 2011 ‘Rehab’ had sold hundreds of thousands of units.

1Lecrae

 2011-

 Lecrae doesn’t waist any time and drops ‘Rehab: The Overdose’ on January 11, 2011. The project did not disappoint and debuted No.1 on iTunes Hip-Hop #2 Overall and at #4 on Billboard Rap right below Eminem, Nicki Minaj, and Kanye West. Reports say that ‘Rehab: The Overdose’ sold 21,000 copies in the first week. He won a Dove Award and Stellar Award for the project (Both Best Hip-Hop Album). Lecrae also announces ‘Man Up’ compilation. Lecrae infiltrates the mainstream by rapping in the BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher. He trended nationwide on twitter and major media outlets were discovering his music. We also saw Lecrae collaborate with Statik Selektah on “Live and Let Live”, a record that appeared on Statik’s ‘Population Control’ project.

crae

 2012 –

Church Clothes Vol.1 hosted by DJ Don Cannon comes out and he premiers the music video for the “Church Clothes” single on XXL (Mainstream publication). The Church Clothes Music video had cameos by Kendrick Lamar and DJ Primier. It generated quite a buzz. “Church Clothes” went platinum for mixtapes on DatPiff.com. CC was download over 100,000 times in less than 48 hours. Eventually it got to the platinum status of 250,000 downloads. Currently it has 459,804 downloads and 961,752 listens. Church Clothes included production by heavy hitters like 9th Wonder, S1, Bo1-DA and a lot more. No Malice of the Clipse also spit a verse on the mixtape. Lecrae’s approach changed compared to his other material and people within Christian Hip-Hop were having various debates on whether he was going in the right direction. Later in 2012 ‘Gravity’ comes out and sells 100,000 copies in three weeks. ‘Gravity’ was #3 overall on Billboard and #1 on Billboard Rap albums. Big K.R.I.T was a feature that made ‘Gravity’ just a little more intriguing. Their video for “MayDay’ Feat Ashthon Jones premiered on MTV. Another noteworthy moment was when Lecrae and Saigon did a song called “Best Thing That I Found”. ‘Gravity’ was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Gospel Album”.

grammy

 2013-

Lecrae appears on BET 106 & Park’s The Backroom.

Lecrae “Fakin” Feat Thi’sl premiers on MTV.

Lecrae shoots music video with Hip-Hop artist Saigon

Lecrae wins Grammy Award for “Best Gospel Album”

Lecrae collaborates with Chaka Khan

Church Clothes Vol.2 is coming . Rumor has it that a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar and Hopsin is possible.

For more on Lecrae check here