Popular hip-hop artist and Reach Records founder Lecrae sat down with CNN after his passionate plea for social justice at the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards, to discuss faith and politics in relation to being a successful black man in America.
“Christian is a noun; Christian is a person. I function, I live life as a Christian and me living life as a Christian does not mean I’m a sanitized person. It means that I readily admit that I’m a jacked up person and I need a savior,” Lecrae said on a CNN Politics segment.
“Issues are homogenized and so to be a Christian, I’m either this staunch conservative Republican or I’m this tree hugging liberal,” Lecrae continued, speaking of his faith. “I think I have to embody it, employ it and live it and hopefully they’ll get what I’m saying.”
Over the weekend, Lecrae performed live at the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards and did not hold back when he made a jab at Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump’s slogan to “Make America Great Again.”
“They telling us, ‘Make America great again’
I’m like, ‘Hold up, when was America great again?’
Was it when they took us from our native land?
Or maybe it was when they took the Natives’ land,” he passionately rapped.
The Grammy award winner further explained to CNN why he feels the call to use his platform to stand up and say something about what’s currently happening in America.
“I involved myself in the protest after Ferguson, in Atlanta for multitude of different reasons. There was so much pent up anger and frustration within the black community. People didn’t know what they were mad at or what they wanted to see happen so they just lashed out,” he explained. “So I wanted to be out there to direct the passion of a lot of these young folks in a healthy way. By the end of the time, a lot of these college students were looking at me and saying, ‘Hey what should we be doing?’”
The “All I Need Is You” emcee went on to share an incident that took place while he was out protesting, in which he saw a cab driver sitting with his car who’s windshield had been destroyed by angry protesters. Lecrae explained that he offered to pay for the broken window because he didn’t want anyone to think that destruction is what the black community is about.
“Part of it for me was to be there to educate, to be there to help them to say, ‘What is the strategy you want to employ here,’ versus just getting out here burning trash cans,” he explained.
Lecrae has now become an advocate for racial reconciliation and says he will continue to use his voice and gifts to spread awareness.
“I’ve been look upon as, ‘Oh that’s a criminal.’ That’s how I was typecast, or thrown away as, or looked upon but in hindsight 20/20, ‘No that’s a college educated, Grammy award winning artist on the completely opposite side,’” Lecrae concluded. “I think it helps for my music to have a lot more color and a lot more perspective.”
Following his passionate BET performance, Lecrae took to Facebook to thank fans that supported his performance and pointed out that justice isn’t just a political issue ? it’s also a religious issue.
“Thank you all for the support and love. Justice is not limited to a political agenda. Justice is a kingdom agenda. Unity. Love. Peace. Justice.”
Lecrae has made it his mission to speak out about racial tension in the nation, including the shooting deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling by police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana, respectively.
The popular emcee pioneered his way into the mainstream music industry by sharing the message of Jesus Christ, and he is now charging other believers to speak out against injustice.
“True faith stands up for the oppressed and the broken,” Lecrae said.
