“I’m hearing screams and they saying we sold out, but I’m hearing screams from the stands ‘cause we souled out.”- Lecrae, “It Is What It Is”
Even in the insular world of Christian music, you’re nobody until you’ve attracted a congregation of haters. Lecrae sold out a 5,800-capacity arena in his most recent appearance in the Kansas City area. He addresses his unusual status as an explicitly Christian artist who keeps one foot planted on secular turf on “It Is What It Is,” one of many impressive tracks on his new mixtape Church Clothes 3.
While much of his early work is corny, Lecrae has become one of hip-hop’s most vital artists during an implausible era in which the world’s most acclaimed rapper explicitly examines his Christian faith in his songs. Like Kendrick Lamar, Lecrae is troubled by the contradictions that confront him. A 16-minute promotional video for Church Clothes 3 includes a few of the mixtape's most conflicted moments.
When American churches scuff they Toms on our brother's dead bodies as they march to stop gay marriage... We had issues with Planned Parenthood too, we just cared about black lives outside the wombs just as much as in. -Propaganda, on Lecrae’s “Gangland”
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I reviewed Bach Aria Soloists’ The Adventures of Don Quixote concert for The Kansas City Star.
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I reviewed a concert by Lamb of God, Anthrax, Deafheaven and Power Trip for The Kansas City Star.
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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.
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I featured Organized Crimes’ excellent “Bel Ray Flats” on KCUR’s Local Listen last week.
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I reviewed a Bukeka Shoals concert at Plastic Sax.
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The Kansas City rapper James Christos has altered his approach. He recently released Conception as James D. Conqueror. RIYL: Mos Def, makeovers, A Tribe Called Quest.
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My Rockfest headliner prediction was wrong. I had expected Five Finger Death Punch, Megadeth or Volbeat to top the bill. Instead, Disturbed is returning as the headliner.
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Earth, Wind & Fire was second only to Stevie Wonder in sparking my interest in soul when I was a kid. The brilliant Maurice White has died.
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Dan Hicks has died.
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While King’s creamy We Are King goes down easy, I’d rather listen to my old SWV, DeBarge and TLC albums. Here’s ”The Greatest”.
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I like Aoife O’Donovan’s In the Magic Hour when it evokes Astral Weeks and Bryter Layter. Too much of the album, however, resembles safe coffeehouse fare.
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I suspect that my affection for Savages’ Adore Life is rooted in nostalgia. RIYL: Gang of Four, college rock radio circa 1987, Sonic Youth.
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Tord Gustavsen freaks me out. The EPK for the latest album by the vampire-like pianist is spooky.
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Susan Tedeschi has surpassed her hero. I’ve heard almost every Bonnie Raitt album. None is better than the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Let Me Get By. The two TTB concerts I’ve attended have also impressed me more than any of four or five (post-1980) Raitt shows I’ve seen.
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Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Evolution is shockingly vital. RIYL: Jack McDuff, monster grooves, Shirley Scott.
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“I’m Nick Saban in Alabama!” Oh, Boosie.
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The tracks on Regina Belle’s The Day Life Began sound as if they belong on separate albums. I adore the gospel song (“He’s Alright”) and the sophisticated uptown jazz number (“A Night of Love”).
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I recently discovered the late vocalist Victoria de los Ángeles. What is this sorcery?
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Black Tusk’s Pillars of Ash is every bit as solid as headbangers say it is. RIYL: pre-rap Beastie Boys, metallic sludge, Mastodon.
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The first half of Rihanna’s Anti is embarrassingly awful. The last several tracks are keepers.
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I didn’t know that Winston Jarrett was still among us. A new in-studio session for KEXP is impressive.
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Technical death metal may be the most awful genre in music. And I can't stop listening. Obscura's Akróasis sounds like Lucifer fronting Return to Forever. Here’s the title track.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
