America's New Hip-Hop King Lecrae Claims: My Music Is Not Christian, But I Am

At the end of September, Lecrae became the first-ever artist to land an album at the top of both the Billboard 200 and the gospel charts simultaneously. Anomaly includes shout-outs to Jesus, gratitude for "the redeemer," and not a single curse word.

It also includes lyrics about slavery, a discussion of adultery, and a song about driving someone he had sex with to get an abortion.

Since Anomaly started its meteoric rise, there has been much discussion of whether Lecrae is a Christian rapper or just someone who "never becomes a bad Christian, lyrically," as Grantland's Rembert Browne put it. The terms of this debate stem from the old, enduring conundrum Christian recording artists often face: They’re either hemmed in by the genre label of “Christian music,” or they reach the mainstream by keeping religion in their private life beyond the occasional, “Jesus Walks”-type statement.

Lecrae wants to transcend that dynamic. "My music is not Christian—Lecrae is," he said. "And you hear evidence of my faith in my music."

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