by Danita White
It looks like we might be getting another Church Clothes volume from hip-hop artist Lecrae. In a recent Instagram video that is no longer available the Grammy Award-winner revealed he has started working on the forth mixtape in the series.
“So we know now today, January 11, we have decided that we are aiming to finish Church Clothes 4,” Lecrae said in the video. “It’s gonna be a real rap record.” He added that he was working with a “nucleus crew” in which everything will begin from there.
Lecrae’s latest major album, Restoration, was dropped in 2020 and it might have been his last. In an interview last year with Rapzilla, he first mentioned potentially retiring from music. He isn’t retiring because he’s tired of making music or doesn’t have anything left to share. Instead, the reason he’s considering retirement from music is because he wants to make room for the next generation of Christian hip hop artists coming up behind him.
“Restoration, I mean, honestly, everybody says it’s the best album ever made, but this is for real. And this might be it for me,” Lecrae said in the interview at the time. “I mean I’ll probably do some mixtapes, but I don’t know if I’m making another full-featured album.
“It’s a younger generation right now man, so you know, I feel like I may give them another Church Clothes and close a chapter out. There’s some new blood out here and I just want the new blood to come and do their thing. So Restoration feels like, ‘Yo, here it is.’ I don’t know [but] that’s how I’m feeling.”
If Lecrae does decide to never release another album, we can rest assured that he will continue to make fire collaborations and mentor up-and-coming and current artists. Artists like Dallas rapper and Grammy nominated songwriter, Bobby Sessions. The two recently remixed “Made A Way” together.
Reflecting on the tumultuous year that was 2020 in a post on Instagram, Lecrae reminded his fans of Who holds the future.
2020 was a year we will never forget. Full of pain and protest. Perspective and promise. Here’s to the memories and the future. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.