Lecrae’s ‘Church Clothes 3’ Debuts on Billboard Charts as No. 1 Rap/Hip-Hop Album

Reach Records hip-hop artist Lecrae pulled a Beyonce and Drake and released his surprise mixtape. Church Clothes 3 released at midnight, January 15th, marking his first new material since 2014’s Anomaly.

His simple Facebook message read, “I heard some requests for #CC3. Now on Apple Music: lecrae.cta.gs/07s

CC3 debuted as the #1 Rap/Hip Hop album on the Billboard charts, and also charted as the #1 Independent album, #3 Digital album, #7 on the Albums chart and #12 on the Top 200 Album Chart.

Church Clothes 3 be digitally purchased through Reach Records and is streaming across all DSPs including iTunes. DTLR stores are exclusively carrying the physical release.

S1 (Kanye West, Jay-Z), was the executive producer of the album. CC3 features guests E-40, N’Dambi, Propaganda, John Givez, JGivens, Jackie Hill Perry and KB.

Church Clothes 3 Track Listing:

1. Freedom ft. N’Dambi (prod. by S1 / Co-prod. by Epikh Pro & VohnBeatz)

2. Gangland ft. Propaganda (prod. by S1 /Co-prod. by Shindo)

3. Deja Vu (prod. by S1)

4. Sidelines (prod. by Mykalife and Ryan Righteous)

5. Cruising (prod. by S1 / Co-prod. by Epikh)

6. It Is What It Is (prod. by S1 / Co-prod. by Epikh)

7. Can’t Do You ft. E-40 (prod. by Black Knight)

8. Forever (prod. by S1)

9. Misconceptions 3 ft. John Givez, JGivens, Jackie Hill Perry (prod. by S1)

10. I Wouldn’t Know ft. KB (prod. by GAWVI)

Lecrae also dropped a long form video to accompany the album, watch below:

The storyline follows the life of a teenage gang member who gets shot. His friend contemplates getting revenge on the assailants. The songs featured include: “It Is What It Is,” “Gangland,” “Deja Vu” and “Misconceptions 3.”

The Church Clothes series has received praise and chart success as Church Clothes 1 made double platinum status on DatPiff.com. It debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Christian Albums and Gospel Albums charts on iTunes as well.

Church Clothes 2 gained over 100,000 downloads on DatPiff.com in two weeks and premiered at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart, No. 1 on the Top Christian and Gospel charts, and No. 3 on the Top Rap chart.

His previously released and Grammy Award winning album Anomaly helped Lecrae achieve a debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart as well as several other Billboard charts including, Digital Album, Rap Album, Christian Album and Gospel Album. The record “was the Grammy winner’s sixth No. 1 on the Gospel Albums chart and his fifth leader on Christian Albums” stated Billboard Magazine. Additionally, this means it was “the first title to crown both Gospel Albums and the Billboard 200, and just the fifth set to lead both Christian Albums and the Billboard 200.”

“Lecrae, known for his music message that is often at odds with his hip-hop peers, speaks of monogamy, contentment, and faith. Lecrae’s message spreads beyond his music, however. He’s a sought out guest speaker for major conferences and many professional sports teams throughout the year,” reads a press release from Stache Media. “On May 3, Lecrae adds author to his list of endeavors in 2016 with the release of his memoir, Unashamed. Fans who pre-order the book are given the choice of exclusive campaign items including a song track by Lecrae, an Unashamed 116 t-shirt, and more. Fans will claim their prize at UnashamedBook.com”.

The Higher Learning Tour was announced this month, and tickets are now on sale. The tour features special guest DJ Promote, and on certain dates, Propaganda, Swoope and Liz Vice. The tour begins February 9, 2016, and is stopping at more than 30 college campuses and in college towns across the country.

Due out on May 3 is his book “Unashamed.” Lecrae offered fans a snippet of the upcoming book by releasing the first chapter online. “Ol-Daddy Issues” can be read here. He appropriately followed that post up with a picture of him and his daughter on a date, “Fathers be good to your daughters.”

The emcee also just spent some time on CNN for an interview about the Ferguson protests and breaking stereotypes.

“I involved myself in the protests after Ferguson here in Atlanta for a multitude of different reasons,” Lecrae said. “There was so much pent-up anger and frustration within the black community. People didn’t know what they were mad at or what they wanted to see happen, so they just lashed out.”

Watch the full segment below:

For ticket information and a complete venue listing, please visit lecrae.com/Tour.

Justin Sarachik
Justin Sarachik
Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Rapzilla.com. He has been a journalist for over a decade and has written or edited for Relevant, Christian Post, BREATHEcast, CCM, Broken Records Magazine, & more. He's written over 10,000 articles, done over 1,000 interviews, and is in post-production for documentaries on Danny "D-Boy" Rodriguez & Mario "Machete" Perez. He's the project manager of the upcoming video game Run the Court and of the media brand Crimefaces. Justin likes to work with indie artists to develop their brands & marketing strategies. Catch him interviewing artists on Survival of the Artist Podcast & creating videos on his social media channels.
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