Christian rapper Lecrae channels Jay-Z and Eldridge Cleaver with new collection of personal essays
Rapper Lecrae has spent the past two decades rocking megachurches and arenas by performing Christian rap music with faith-based lyrics, but about five years ago, he was ready for a creative challenge.
He wanted to present another side of his humanity and writing.
Lecrae is releasing “Set Me Free: The Good News of God’s Relentless Pursuit,” the Grammy-winning artist’s first collection of poetry and essays on Dec. 2. “Set Me Free,” which will also be released as an audiobook, includes unreleased original work and drafts that ultimately became songs such as “Church Clothes” and “No Church in a While.”
He breaks down each poem with essays that incorporate personal experiences, journal entries and Bible Scriptures. He explores how he overcame shame, doubt, regret and guilt.
Lecrae said he wanted to give readers insight into his creative process.
“It opens new avenues for other people to appreciate your art. Sometimes there are layers to it that the artist doesn’t even realize, and the people observing it find different meanings,” he said.
In “Set Me Free,” Lecrae digs into family history and how he dealt with critiques of his work and activism from the Christian music community.
Some of the essays mention Black writers Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Lecrae’s love of poetry stems from his mother keeping Black literature in the family’s home in Houston.
“I grew up in a house where it was a requirement. I didn’t appreciate it then, but I appreciate it now, so I wanted to pay homage to an art that should be celebrated,” he said.
Lecrae — who released his 10th album, “Reconstruction,” in August — found inspiration for “Set Me Free” in Jay-Z’s 2010 memoir, “Decoded,” which incorporated lyrics and personal reflections. He also found a muse in activist Eldridge Cleaver’s 1968 collection of essays and letters, “Soul on Ice.”
Though this marks Lecrae’s first foray into published poetry, it’s not his first book.
He published his first memoir, “Unashamed,” in 2016. He began working on “Set Me Free” as he put the finishing touches on his second book, “I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion But Found My Faith,” which came out four years later.
He calls “Set Me Free” experimental art. “My books have been very didactic and a straight-up literary experience. People want a collection of your thoughts but in an artistic way, so this is a coffee table piece,” he said.
Lecrae recorded the audiobook in a studio at Reach Records, the Atlanta-based record label he co-founded.
His goal was to make the audiobook entertaining.
“An audiobook is more work that can take anywhere from six-to-10 hours a day to make, but the fun part about it is I like to add voice inflections when I read,” he said.
Lecrae hopes “Set Me Free” will inspire readers to discover and embrace their identity.
“I didn’t want to have to wear a mask,” he said. “I wanted to be free to love God, be a Black man and multifaceted, and I want others to feel the same type of freedom.”
About the Author
Christopher A. Daniel is a Black Culture reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is an Atlanta-based, award-winning journalist, cultural critic and ethnomusicologist. He previously taught courses at Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Georgia State University.
