By: James Southworth
Rating: 1.5/5 Stars
I'm really, REALLY, dreading this review. I have always had an immense amount of respect for Christian rapper Lecrae, and still do. He was the first rapper I got into, and he was a gateway for me getting into other Christian rappers, as well as eventually listening to secular rap (even though I'll admit the amount of rap in general I listen to nowadays is low). I have always felt Lecrae created a nice bridge between people who were fans of Christian vs. fans of secular rap. He's tried to tear the stereotypes down surrounding both genres. As he's gotten more well-known, his ability to do so has become more significant. He took a huge step into the mainstream last year with "All Things Work Together", an album which mostly sounded completely different for Lecrae while still keeping his Christ-centered message intact. I've actually grown to appreciate the album a little more, especially in how its lyrics are a bit more challenging in their messages like on "Facts" and "Cry For You". Lecrae's newest album, "Let The Trap Say Amen" is his definitive message saying he wants to remain in the mainstream while still talking about God. This album is a collaboration with well-known producer Zaytoven, and is entirely of the trap style, which Lecrae has never done before. I hate to say it, but this album is almost entirely horrible. Lecrae succumbs to the most generic conventions of the trap style, is seen flexing and giving generic messages about God, and most songs on here are insufferably drowned in auto tune and a sense of overwhelming boredom.
There are only a couple tracks on this album that really work for me, and trust me, I had to really sift through this album to really find ones that were good. "Plugged In" is certainly the best song on this album, having the best usage of Lecrae's foray into trap. I find the beat to be a good amount of fun. In fact, I will say that even on several of the weaker tracks here, Zaytoven proves himself to be a good producer and making some solid beats (it's unfortunately Lecrae that weighs this release down so significantly). I think any fan of trap as well as general Lecrae fans will find something to love in this track. Lyrically it's also pretty solid, as Crae talks honestly about how dangerous the streets are in regards to selling drugs, but that's unfortunately the only way of life some people have known for so long. I like how he relates this to a desire to help your family out, although the life of selling drugs on the street is not ultimately beneficial. Even though "2 Sides of the Game" is a bit repetitive, I do find it to be a fun enough song. Waka Flocka Flame and Lecrae prove to have solid chemistry together, and the backing beat is interesting enough to keep me engaged. The closing track "No Chance" is the only track here that really reminded me of old Lecrae, in regards to his rapping style and the lyrical content. I wish there had been a couple more songs like it, because this album would've been so much better. It's also nice that Verse Simmonds provides the singing on this song, as it's so much better than the "singing" that we get on the rest of this release.
This opening track and lead single "Get Back Right" was the only song I listened to prior to this album's release. It already had me worried for what this album would sound like, and my concerns were justified. Now, I will say, I understand what Lecrae is trying to do with this album. So often, trap is considered to be a style that is associated with negative messages, and just a general sense of empty bragging, and no substance. Lecrae has said his goal with this album was to make trap with valuable Christian insights, trying to show that the negative stereotypes of trap aren't always true. This lead single does not prove that at all. The "chorus" of this song just says the title of the song over and over, in a fashion similar to the annoying rap trio Migos. Lecrae is drowned in obvious auto tune, as he tries to do some singing on this song. After hearing the rest of this album, I can tell you with unwavering confidence that he can't sing at all, and auto tune does not help him in the slightest. The lyrics on this track are all over the place, talking about Lecrae's faith in God in one moment but then confusingly transitioning to talking about how successful he is. "Preach" is obnoxiously cheesy as Lecrae says in the hook "Preacher preach, I got the Jesus piece/I got the God in me, don't need the ice or chain". I guess Lecrae is trying to be relatable to a young audience, but this just comes across as cringe worthy to me more than anything. Maybe this song isn't meant to be taken seriously, but even at that the song isn't funny in the slightest. If I heard this song without knowing it was Lecrae, I probably would have never associated it with him. Crae is far too talented for this dreck, as this is by far one of the weakest songs on the album.
"Holy Water" is a little better than most of the bad songs on here, but that's mainly because of the beat, and there's a hook that I think could get stuck in your head. But still, the hook mostly feels lifeless. Lecrae is, again, just repeating the title of the song without any interesting variations to it. The message of this song makes sense, that Lecrae doesn't need a fancy church or anything to do God's work. But didn't he already nail that message much better in "Church Clothes"? I just can't help but wonder what the point of this track was when this message has been done to death. "Blue Strips" has a bit of a confusing message where it seems like Lecrae is bragging about the club life, and how he could get all the girls and alcohol. But then there's a verse where Lecrae is talking about this prostitute, and how he doesn't want to judge her, but he also wants to show her that there are other ways of living. It's a weird message when the song goes back to the chorus where Lecrae is talking again about enjoying the night club type of life. It doesn't help that musically this song gets grating very quickly, with even Zaytoven's production values sounding like garbage. We get an annoying duo of songs after this with "Only God Can Judge Me" and "Yet". I think the reason the pairing of these two songs makes me so angry is how much they contradict each other. On the former, Lecrae talks about how he only looks to God to judge him and doesn't care about criticism (yeah sure you don't, you made a whole song about it). He also claims that he "could" flex on people but he doesn't. Wow, what a humble brag. And then, on "Yet", what does Lecrae do? He flexes. I'm not even kidding, the whole song is him bragging about how he still has plenty of success along the way, and how he doesn't make his songs with the intent to win a Grammy (which is a weird thing to boast about). These two songs are some of the only songs where I've legitimately hated Crae's personality. It comes across as arrogant and insincere, like he's just putting on a fake persona.
The ending of this album is overall a bit more forgettable, but that doesn't mean there's still some bad stuff here. Lecrae continues to brag, although it comes across mostly just tiresome rather than angering in these last moments. "I Can't Lose" is a pretty typical pump-up song, where Lecrae talks about how nothing will stop him in continuing to pursue what he's looking for. I'm not sure what's stopping him, but okay. "Switch" has Lecrae talking about how he's switched so many things about himself for the better, including his lifestyle, his wife, his bigger house, etc. So, it looks like Lecrae is flexing again, even though he said in "Only God Can Judge Me" that he doesn't flex on people. It was at this point that I realized that song was my least favorite, as every other song following it contradicts its main sentiment. It's almost definitely my least favorite Lecrae song ever. Also, have you noticed yet how I've barely been able to point out many Christ centered messages in this album? That's because they're very few and far between. It wouldn't matter to me so much, but Lecrae said the purpose of this album was for Christian-centered trap music. He does talk about God on this album. However, it only seems like he talks about him in vaguely drawn-out sentiments, rather than the hard-hitting messages he's done so well in the past. "Can't Block It" has a cliched message of not letting critics and naysayers getting to your head, and "Fly Away" has a very forgettable feature from nobigdyl. Apparently that rapper is supposed to be a big deal in the Christian music scene. After hearing this song, I wouldn't complain if I never heard from him again.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, I dreaded writing it. But I had to be harsh for a reason. Lecrae has made so much quality on pretty much every album of his. I would even say for the problems I have with Lecrae's last album, there were still plenty of good tracks to make up for the weaker ones. I just can't say the same for "Let The Trap Say Amen". From its cheesy title to its shallow lyrics to Lecrae's incredibly weak, auto tune drowned vocal performance, there is just no way this album can compare at all to any of his previous work. I'm really hoping that this release was more just an experiment by Lecrae to see how it was received. I hope there's something better from him in the next couple years. This album is straight up disappointing, and sometimes made me angry because I know Lecrae's potential. Besides the couple of good tracks I mentioned, you should probably skip out on this album unless you're an avid Lecrae fan.
Favorite Songs: "Plugged In", "No Chance", "2 Sides of the Game"
Least Favorite Songs: "Only God Can Judge Me", "Preacher, "Switch", "Yet", "Blue Strips", "Fly Away"
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