Two weeks after the Dove Awards, my team thebridge was tasked by Reach Records head of A&R Street Symphony to begin crafting records for the 6th official album coming up from Lecrae, which was a tremendous honor, because on the Dove and Stellar Award winning Rehab: The Overdose, we (JayTel and myself) were blessed to contribute writing/vocal arranging/additional vocals to the song "Strung Out" produced by our big bro John "CheeseBeats" Williams, who introduced us to the Reach movement, but this time, we had the opportunity to contribute to the production of the music as well. We got as much direction as possible as to the sound and feel that Lecrae was going for from both Crae and Street, and then got to work.
We initially started off with a very pop, Bruno Mars/One Republic-ish sound, much more reminiscent of the original Rehab album, and crafted nearly a dozen songs in that vein, but then the monster mixtape known as "Church Clothes" dropped, and gave Crae a huge boost in the mainstream due to the tremendous response to both the single's message (exposing hypocrisy both in and out of the church) and the style and quality of the music and songcraft on the mixtape. This success inadvertently changed the direction of the songs for the new album from a logical progression from Overdose/Rehab to become, as LeCrae has said in several interviews, "Church Clothes on steroids."
LeCrae shared a "wish list" of artists that he would love to have on the album, and he and Street allowed me to help with locking in some of those artists for the project, one of the main ones being the phenomenal Contemporary Christian Music rock band Tenth Avenue North, whose manager Dave Steunebrink (head of Showdown Management) did not hesitate to facilitate lead singer Mike Donehey and I connecting (another one at the top of Crae's list, Gungor, was on tour, finishing their own album, and writing a book, and were unable to get in the lab with us in time to meet the album submission deadline to have the records done; however, a collaboration will, I'm sure, materialize at some point in the near future. Much respect to both Michael and Lisa Gungor, and their manager J.R. Montes, who all fought just as hard as I did to make the record happen in time. J.R., if you read this, thank you sir! You made my job very easy, and good looking out on the Lisa Gungor and Lecrae record!!). Mike and the rest of Tenth already had a great relationship with LeCrae and had discussed doing a collaboration while they were on tour together earlier in the year (on the Rock & Worship Roadshow Tour), so Mike, Jeff Owen (Tenth's bassist) and I immediately began bouncing ideas back and forth by phone, text, and email around the Gravity theme from a lyrical standpoint, and once we'd locked in the hottest 3 or 4 lyrical foundations, my team thebridge (JayTel, Ty Steez, and Aphillyated along with myself) began crafting a sound that we knew Crae's flow would match while supporting the sound and texture of Mike's voice. We knocked out 3 records together that Reach Records loved, but we all KNEW when we knocked out a song we entitled "Lead Me Higher" that God had blessed us to come up something that felt truly special, and I remember when I sent the song over to Street saying, "the Force is strong with this one" (I'm a Star Wars fanboy...sue me lol) and him immediately replying that he agreed and loved the song. This was in the A.M. of June 18, 2012.
Next week will be the album's debut on the Billboard Charts, where we are expected to, as with Overdose last year, top both the Christian and Gospel charts, and judging from the overwhelming response to the album, have a legitimate chance to top both the Billboard Rap Charts (Overdose topped out at #5) and the top 3 of the Billboard 200 (Overdose hit #17) (Update #4: Per an article on Billboard.com and one found on SOHH.com, it appears that we will indeed hit #2 or 3 on the overall Billboard 200, as well as being a lock for the #1 slot on the Billboard Rap Chart, Billboard Christian Chart, and Billboard Gospel Chart. This will be the first time in history that a Christian Hip Hop Artist topped the Billboard Rap Charts, and the first time that a Christian Hip Hop album hit the top 10 of the Billboard 200. See the articles below) (Update #5, 9/11/12 - the album sold 70,490 copies the first week, which is more than his previous three albums' first week sales COMBINED. With these first week #s, we will officially appear on tomorrow's Billboard 200 at #3, and #1 on the Rap, Gospel, and Christian charts, in addition to still being #1 on the iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap Albums chart. See link for first week sales below via Rapzilla.com, and stay tuned for screenshots of Lecrae's album Gravity's first week sales the Billboard charts once Billboard updates their site). I am spending most of today working on locking in some of the next few projects we are slated to work on now that Gravity is out and doing extremely well and our production/writing work on my album Marathon is done, and will keep this post updated with both the movement on the iTunes overall chart and the Billboard charts next week. We will also this week be finalizing the last couple of features on and marketing plan for my Christian debut album, Marathon, set to be released later this year/early 2013.
(Update #6, 9/13/12)
Billboard.com updated the charts today around 10 AM, at which point we learned that Gravity topped 4 charts (instead of the expected 3), the Christian, Gospel, Rap, and Independent Album Charts, and hit #3 on both the Billboard 200 and the Digital Albums Charts (see screenshot below). This is historic for two reasons: 1) No Christian Hip Hop album has ever topped the Billboard Rap Album Chart, and 2) No Christian Hip Hop album has ever debuted inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200. The team at Reach was aware from the beginning of creating Gravity of the potential of this album to change the culture and have an impact beyond just the Christian Hip Hop community, but I wonder if even they knew it would be this big. I think I can speak for my team in saying that we are beyond blessed just to be a part of the Reach family and to have been able to play a part in the creation of this album. In two weeks, on Sept 28, 2012, there will be a huge album release party here in Houston with Lecrae, Street, and the entire Reach team, celebrating what God has done and is doing thru this album. Will Gravity be the first Christian Hip Hop album to go Gold, selling more than 500,000 copies (most likely, at the current rate of sales)? Will it reach the vaunted plateau of Platinum sales, crossing the million sold threshold (provided that one or more of the future singles, possibly even including our song "Higher", can reach a broader audience via radio, video, etc, it is certainly possible)? Regardless of those worldly indicators of "success", the impact that this album has had on the culture, and on the scores of those who would not normally listen to the Word but have been devouring the Word via this album, is immeasurable. My prayer is that Gravity brings about a paradigm shift, both from those who are a part of the Christian Hip Hop community to step up their craft and to learn how to better engage the culture, and from the outside, broader musical community, to understand and accept that being a "Christian rapper" does not mean that the quality of our music is inferior or that our message is any less viable; Only time will tell if this album's success is an anomaly or a new norm for CHH. Either way, to God be all the glory!!!
Update #7, 9/24/12
As Gravity enters its second week on the Billboard Charts, we retain the #1 spot on both the Gospel and Christian Album Charts, are now at #2 on the Billboard Rap Chart (second only to 2 Chainz), and we fall to #14 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 25,225 in the second week. That puts the album at just shy of 100,000 records sold in two weeks, which is also unprecedented for a Christian Hip Hop album within that same time frame, and is solid even compared to many mainstream releases.
Our song, "Higher" f/Tenth Avenue North is going to CCM radio this week, and I expect that we'll see this song and the others Reach plans to release at radio for the album drive sales for the long haul. While it is amazing that the album has done as well as it has with no radio or video airplay, having these elements in place will only add to what has already been a phenomenally successful album for the genre. Upon checking the newest Billboard Magazine (Sept 22 issue with Jason Aldean on the cover) last night during a meeting with my agent and brother, Jesse Cooper, I saw that "Higher" is currently the #2 Gospel Song in the country, which is awesome. I'm curious and excited to see what happens once that song becomes the mainstream CCM success God promised me it would be when He gave me the vision to create it with Tenth and my team thebridge. I claim scores of souls saved, hearts changed, and that this song will become an anthem for the Unashamed; every bit of earthly success the song achieves is just the icing on the cake. See the screenshots below for the current week's Billboard rankings of Gravity, the current week's sales of Gravity, and the #2 Billboard Gospel Songs debut of our song, "Higher" f/Tenth Ave North.
Update #8, 10/4/12 (one month after release)
The new Billboard charts for the week were just uploaded on the site, and we are going into our fifth week at #1 on the Gospel Album chart, while remaining at #3 on the Christian Album chart, #5 on the Rap Album chart, and #9 on the Independent Album chart. At this point, Gravity is outpacing the original Rehab album in sales and chart position, which is amazing considering that Rehab was Grammy nominated and stayed on the charts for nearly a year 2 years ago. Lecrae is in the new XXL Magazine that was released today talking about the phenomenal success of the album, and the Unashamed Tour just began in Nashville this past Monday to support the album, so sales will likely remain constant or increase for the next three months while the team is on the road. I expect to see sales top 200,000 by the end of 2012, if not 250-300K with the holiday season approaching, and am trusting God for a Grammy nomination for the album as well. God is truly doing something amazing with this project, and I am more than grateful that my team and I were blessed to be a part of its success. See screenshots below of the album at #1 on the Gospel chart and the overall chart rankings on Billboard of Gravity in its 4th week since release.
My team thebridge and I are in the lab over the next few days (10/4-10/5) to finish an extended version of our #2 Billboard Gospel charting song "Higher" f/ additional vocals by #1 selling Christian rock band Tenth Ave North, which we anticipate will be used for the video/radio version of the song. I believe it is easier to go back to something you've created that has already been successful, because you know what you wish you COULD have done the first time around, and are being handed an opportunity to make those changes/improvements the second go round. Ty Steez of thebridge and I had a great conversation about his idea to revisit the song and the possible impact, and so we are making the completion of this remix our highest priority. I'm excited about the song impacting at CCM radio around the world in the coming weeks, and the video that will surely accompany such a successful song. Feels good to know that when you follow God's plan, the end result is victory. Stay tuned.
Final Update #9, 11/23/12 (nearly 3 months after release)
Gravity ultimately spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Gospel Album Chart during its run (as of 1/21/13), and even now, nearly 3 months after release, is still #2 on the same chart (behind Tamela Mann's Best Days album). We're now working on records for Tedashii and Andy Mineo's upcoming albums, and are looking forward to the next wave of releases from Reach Records. The album garnered so much success upon its release that Lecrae and Gravity were featured in Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines, and we recently learned that we have (at least) 6 first ballot Grammy nominations, which is beyond amazing, but hardly surprising considering the success God has blessed the album to have. We're now waiting for the official Grammy nominee show on Dec 5, which will confirm for us which nominations God has blessed us to have for Gravity, and are already planning to attend the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in Feb 2013. JayTel and I have won every other award we've been nominated for to this point (Dove & Stellar Awards, which we won earlier this year for Lecrae's previous album Rehab: The Overdose), and so I have no reason to doubt that God is able to bless us with this most prestigious honor of becoming Grammy Award winning producers and songwriters, along with our brothers and thebridge teammates Phil and Ty Steez. We'll see His perfect Will in action on Dec 5th. Stay tuned!
(Update #6, 9/13/12)
Billboard.com updated the charts today around 10 AM, at which point we learned that Gravity topped 4 charts (instead of the expected 3), the Christian, Gospel, Rap, and Independent Album Charts, and hit #3 on both the Billboard 200 and the Digital Albums Charts (see screenshot below). This is historic for two reasons: 1) No Christian Hip Hop album has ever topped the Billboard Rap Album Chart, and 2) No Christian Hip Hop album has ever debuted inside the top 10 on the Billboard 200. The team at Reach was aware from the beginning of creating Gravity of the potential of this album to change the culture and have an impact beyond just the Christian Hip Hop community, but I wonder if even they knew it would be this big. I think I can speak for my team in saying that we are beyond blessed just to be a part of the Reach family and to have been able to play a part in the creation of this album. In two weeks, on Sept 28, 2012, there will be a huge album release party here in Houston with Lecrae, Street, and the entire Reach team, celebrating what God has done and is doing thru this album. Will Gravity be the first Christian Hip Hop album to go Gold, selling more than 500,000 copies (most likely, at the current rate of sales)? Will it reach the vaunted plateau of Platinum sales, crossing the million sold threshold (provided that one or more of the future singles, possibly even including our song "Higher", can reach a broader audience via radio, video, etc, it is certainly possible)? Regardless of those worldly indicators of "success", the impact that this album has had on the culture, and on the scores of those who would not normally listen to the Word but have been devouring the Word via this album, is immeasurable. My prayer is that Gravity brings about a paradigm shift, both from those who are a part of the Christian Hip Hop community to step up their craft and to learn how to better engage the culture, and from the outside, broader musical community, to understand and accept that being a "Christian rapper" does not mean that the quality of our music is inferior or that our message is any less viable; Only time will tell if this album's success is an anomaly or a new norm for CHH. Either way, to God be all the glory!!!
Update #7, 9/24/12
As Gravity enters its second week on the Billboard Charts, we retain the #1 spot on both the Gospel and Christian Album Charts, are now at #2 on the Billboard Rap Chart (second only to 2 Chainz), and we fall to #14 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 25,225 in the second week. That puts the album at just shy of 100,000 records sold in two weeks, which is also unprecedented for a Christian Hip Hop album within that same time frame, and is solid even compared to many mainstream releases.
Update #8, 10/4/12 (one month after release)
The new Billboard charts for the week were just uploaded on the site, and we are going into our fifth week at #1 on the Gospel Album chart, while remaining at #3 on the Christian Album chart, #5 on the Rap Album chart, and #9 on the Independent Album chart. At this point, Gravity is outpacing the original Rehab album in sales and chart position, which is amazing considering that Rehab was Grammy nominated and stayed on the charts for nearly a year 2 years ago. Lecrae is in the new XXL Magazine that was released today talking about the phenomenal success of the album, and the Unashamed Tour just began in Nashville this past Monday to support the album, so sales will likely remain constant or increase for the next three months while the team is on the road. I expect to see sales top 200,000 by the end of 2012, if not 250-300K with the holiday season approaching, and am trusting God for a Grammy nomination for the album as well. God is truly doing something amazing with this project, and I am more than grateful that my team and I were blessed to be a part of its success. See screenshots below of the album at #1 on the Gospel chart and the overall chart rankings on Billboard of Gravity in its 4th week since release.
My team thebridge and I are in the lab over the next few days (10/4-10/5) to finish an extended version of our #2 Billboard Gospel charting song "Higher" f/ additional vocals by #1 selling Christian rock band Tenth Ave North, which we anticipate will be used for the video/radio version of the song. I believe it is easier to go back to something you've created that has already been successful, because you know what you wish you COULD have done the first time around, and are being handed an opportunity to make those changes/improvements the second go round. Ty Steez of thebridge and I had a great conversation about his idea to revisit the song and the possible impact, and so we are making the completion of this remix our highest priority. I'm excited about the song impacting at CCM radio around the world in the coming weeks, and the video that will surely accompany such a successful song. Feels good to know that when you follow God's plan, the end result is victory. Stay tuned.
Final Update #9, 11/23/12 (nearly 3 months after release)
Gravity ultimately spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Gospel Album Chart during its run (as of 1/21/13), and even now, nearly 3 months after release, is still #2 on the same chart (behind Tamela Mann's Best Days album). We're now working on records for Tedashii and Andy Mineo's upcoming albums, and are looking forward to the next wave of releases from Reach Records. The album garnered so much success upon its release that Lecrae and Gravity were featured in Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines, and we recently learned that we have (at least) 6 first ballot Grammy nominations, which is beyond amazing, but hardly surprising considering the success God has blessed the album to have. We're now waiting for the official Grammy nominee show on Dec 5, which will confirm for us which nominations God has blessed us to have for Gravity, and are already planning to attend the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in Feb 2013. JayTel and I have won every other award we've been nominated for to this point (Dove & Stellar Awards, which we won earlier this year for Lecrae's previous album Rehab: The Overdose), and so I have no reason to doubt that God is able to bless us with this most prestigious honor of becoming Grammy Award winning producers and songwriters, along with our brothers and thebridge teammates Phil and Ty Steez. We'll see His perfect Will in action on Dec 5th. Stay tuned!
I read a great article the morning of 9/4/12 that I wanted to attach to this post, because people who don't know the movement and the meaning behind what thebridge means and what Lecrae is all about, just see success, #1s, and awards, but none of this is about us, and none of it is bragging. It's a testimony of what God is able to do when you "seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all His Righteousness....all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). This album is ALL about bringing souls to Christ, and not for any of our individual glory, not even Lecrae's. The article talks about the importance of making sure that in all of our successes and Crae's, that we continue to point all eyes to Christ and refrain from allowing pride to creep in and poison what God is so powerfully using for the good of the Kingdom. Enjoy, and keep us lifted up in prayer as we move forward and the album does what it looks like it is going to do for the Glory of the Most High God.
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| Gravity holding down the #1 (Deluxe Edition) and #2 (Standard Edition) spots on the iTunes Hip Hop/Rap Album chart |
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| The Gravity album song credits for our song "Higher" f/Tenth Avenue North |
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| Gravity (Deluxe Edition) at #1 on the Overall Top Albums chart, while the Standard Edition sits at #14 |
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Our song "Higher" f/Tenth Ave North at #20 on the Top Hip-Hop/Rap Songs Chart; "Fuego" f/KB & Suzy Rock holds at #5. First time in history a Christian rapper hit the top 10 on this chart.
SOHH article about Gravity's first week sales and poss chart placement next week on Billboard Billboard article regarding the projected top 10 of Billboard 200 for sales week beginning Sept 4 Gravity's first week sales numbers |
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