Review Summary: Lecrae finds new confidence, tries a few new flows, and it sounds good. Production is excellent on this cohesive, relevant, and thought-provoking album.
While this is technically only a mixtape, this is Lecrae's best album of all time for me. The level of intentionality, production, vision, relevance, and pure art that went into this album is incredible and honestly blows everything else he;s done out of the water. Part of this is probably due to the fact that S1 (Producer of Kanye, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Eminem..the list goes on) was the mastermind behind the production, but he definitely can't take all the credit. Lecrae has always sort of operated on his own terms. He identifies as a christian, and so makes hip hop out of that part of his life (along with the rest), and as a result has been pigeonholed as "only a christian rapper" in the past by some. With his previous release, Anomaly, Lecrae essentially made history by being the first gospel musician to chart #1 on the mainstream Billboard, and as a result has landed as sort of an "anomaly" (pun intended) within the hip hop community.
With Anomaly, I felt as if he were CLOSE. For probably half the album, I felt as if the level of production, lyricism, and subject matter put him in the same league as any A-league rapper today (see "Fear," "The Good, Bad, Ugly," Timepiece, All I Need Is You, Welcome To America). Simultaneously, the other half of the material felt like the same Lecrae I've come to know since listening to "Praying For You" as a 12 year-old. In other words, while the entire album could be sold in any venue (christian or not), half the album still felt like it was geared specifically for a christian audience (see "Messengers, & especially Broken ft. Kari Jobe). I don't mind these songs, but they seemed to subtly sabotage Lecrae's efforts to demonstrate that he truly is an Anomaly. As a result, I ended up totally loving half the album, and totally dismissing the other half.
Church Clothes 3 on the other hand is the exact opposite. In essentially every song I heard the exact same level of quality, lyricism, and intentionality as any other A-league hip hop artist today. Specifically "Freedom," "Gangalang," and "Deja Vu" stand out to me. Freedom and Gangland because of their lyrical content (child pornography/the lie of the american dream and the tragedy of american urban gang culture, respectively), and Deja Vu because of the flow and production used. I honestly felt as if I were listening to a Kendrick song with Deja Vu; not necessarily because of the content but because of the beats and Lecrae's flow. Which brings me to my final point: Lecrae has improved GREATLY himself as an artist and rapper in essentially every area since the release of Anomaly. I don't know what it is, but he SOUNDS more believable here (See "Freedom). He seems to have found a new confidence and raps, speaks, and sings with a new found energy and flair. Lecrae has always stuck to a similar formula, as far as rapping flow goes. But in CC3 we see him trying out a few different styles of flow and it really pays off. Overall, an excellent album.
