These words from Lecrae's "After the Music Stops" signify an underground movement that in the last several years may finally be coming into its own. And if that is the case, the artist behind those words is one of the reasons why, or so his record sales say.

 

In just shy of five years, Lecrae Moore (better known as “Lecrae”), has seen two out three of his albums chart in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart. With multiple sales chart appearances, his third CD, Rebel—released in September of 2008—soared to the top of the Billboard charts, becoming the highest debuting album in the Christian rap industry.

 

Weighing in at No. 3 on iTunes's Top Rap/Hip Hop Album chart, just below mainstream rapper T.I.'s Paper Trail, Rebel also claimed CMTA's No. 1 position on the Top Hip Hop/R&B Album chart and the No. 2 spot on Billboard's Top Christian & Gospel Albums chart.

 

But the 29-year old rapper is not the kind to take credit.

 

“There’s nothing special about me,” Lecrae states. “It’s God honoring that which is faithful and exalts Him —deciding to use the music being made to His own glory and purpose. That’s all I do in my music. I want to give authentic, true and Biblical real life messages.”

 

Those messages started get the attention of a steadily growing “Holy Hip Hop” following in 2006 when Lecrae first charted with his sophomore CD, After The Music Stops, which debuted at No. 5 on the charts and included the hit singles, “Jesus Muzik” and “Prayin’ For You.”

 

The payoff for the three-time Dove Award nominee, who is co-owner of Reach Records and also has a licensing deal with Cross Movement Records, is altruistic for the most part. “Artists are the modern day philosophers, whether R&B, Hip Hop or Christian,” observes Lecrae, a graduate of North Texas University, who became a Christian at age 19. “For me, it’s being able to use that influence to help transform the world.”

 

He’s already started the process with his local Reach Life Ministries, the humanitarian arm of his Memphis-based label, which partners with organizations to equip local leaders with culturally relevant tools and projects designed to strengthen communities with the word of God. “The church can either retreat or engage,” Lecrae says of his ministry, “and that’s what we’re doing, we’re engaging the culture.”