Beyond music, Lecrae also used his platform to give back to the community. In March 2020, Lecrae teamed up with the nonprofit organization Love Beyond Walls to help protect homeless individuals from contracting COVID-19 by assembling portable handwashing stations across Atlanta.
However, Lecrae recently caught backlash after he appeared in a taped conversation with Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy and Atlanta megachurch pastor Louie Giglio that was released on June 16. During the discussion about race in America after the death of George Floyd, Giglio claimed that slavery was a “blessing.”
“We understand the curse that was slavery, White people do, and we say ‘that was bad,’ but we miss the blessing of slavery, that it actually built up the framework for the world that White people live in and lived in,” Giglio said.
Lecrae was criticized on social media for not being more aggressive in his response to Giglio’s inane statement. He became the latest notable figure to feel the wrath of cancel culture.
“It was shocking,” Lecrae shared about Giglio’s comment. “[There were] so many things said, that I was trying to steer the conversation. I was being gracious and diplomatic, and that’s probably where I dropped the ball. That was not the time to be gracious, but I should have shut it down because it wasn’t going well. I was shocked, and my head was moving because I was attempting to process what was being said [by Giglio]. … After the conversation, we had a talk. My conversation with Giglio was that it looks bad and that he can’t take it as a moment where he feels that he’s doing a good job because he spoke with a Black person. I told him that he would need to do more than apologize. He would need to be consistent, and the work has to be done.”
Lecrae became a trending topic on social media and responded to the controversial interview via national outlets such as The Washington Post.
It was a learning lesson for Lecrae, who will continue to produce music and give aid to his community. He recently released his new single, “Set Me Free,” and his latest album, Restoration, is scheduled to be available this summer. The album, which will feature the likes of John Legend and Kirk Franklin, will serve as a return to his days as an independent artist after his departure from Columbia Records.
So, even with a slight mishap that became fodder for social media, Lecrae will continue to be a voice for the voiceless while also doing the work that coincides with his powerful words.
“For me, you can’t cancel my work,” he said. “The work still has to be done, I’m still going to be here in the streets, and I will still put on for my people. But I’ve learned that I won’t be in spaces where I have to break stuff down to people. They’ll have to get a book or find a sociology professor from a university who can really break it down. I’m going to continue to make music and stay in the streets.”
Story by A.R. Shaw
Images by Alex Harper
