The relationship between Lecrae and The Cross Movement is a complex and ultimately redemptive story in Christian hip-hop history. For years, rumors of distance and tension between the two parties existed. But on a recent episode of his podcast The Deep End, Lecrae pulled back the curtain, addressing the history, the hurt, and the differences that once separated them.

Beginnings

When Lecrae was asked the question, “Why does it always feel like you want to distance yourself from Cross Movement?”

“Dang! I’ll be honest, I don’t have beef with anybody. Now, some people have beef with me. Now, with Cross Movement… yeah. All right. Let’s go there,” Lecrae said. “If you don’t know who Cross Movement is, Cross Movement is a hip-hop group that was pretty prominent in the nineties. They were kind of the prototype for 116 when we came out. They were our big brothers. The people that we looked to. ‘Man, how do we do this Christian rap thing?'”

When an indie 25-year-old rapper named Lecrae dropped his debut album Real Talk in 2004 alongside Ben Washer, it was Cross Movement Records (CMR) that stepped in the following year to officially re-release it. The partnership catapulted the album onto the Billboard Gospel charts, solidifying a bridge between CM’s gritty East Coast systematic theology and Reach’s emerging Southern bounce. They even took Lecrae on his very first national tour.

“I had great admiration and respect for them because they embodied hip-hop and Christianity very well,” Lecrae admitted. “They took me on my first tour.”

Lecrae would also co-release After the Music Stops on the label too.

The Roots of Bitterness

As Reach began to explode into its own entity, internal friction and thelogical differences created a deep rift. Lecrae admitted that the parting of ways was something he carried for years.

“There was a season in my life where there was some bitterness, just being honest, because of a lot of internal disagreements,” Lecrae confessed. “There was some bitterness there. I felt like I should have been taken care of better than I was. I felt like there should have been more clarity on things than there was. And so I was like, ‘Man, I’m not highlighting y’all ’cause didn’t treat me right. So I’m not giving y’all no credit, no love.'”

Looking back with the perspective of a wiser person, Lecrae took ownership of how he handled that season.

“I’d say that I was wrong ’cause that’s not what love does. Love doesn’t keep record of wrongs and harbor bitterness toward people. So I was wrong for that. But more recently, I mean, I pay homage to them because of the way that they paved. Man, they are game changers. They changed my life in so many ways. I have nothing but love and respect for them.”

Theologians vs. Missionaries

Beyond the business disputes, a massive ideological shift began to happen around 2012. As Lecrae transitioned into the Church Clothes era, collaborating with secular artists and changing his approach. The gap between Reach and Cross Movement widened.

Cross Movement were the “hip-hop seminarians,” explicitly mapping out doctrine. Lecrae was evolving into a cultural storyteller tracking his own faith and testimony.

“I’m just gonna say it. I think that they had a lot of struggles with me once I started to work with secular artists. Once I stopped rapping so explicitly scriptural. Right? Because I was never wired that way. I was always a storyteller. I was a missionary in a culture.”

He broke down the core difference in their artistry.

“They were theologians, and they were biblical scholars who rapped Ephesians from front to back. I was just never that. I tried, but it just wasn’t authentically me. What was authentically me was songs like ‘Praying for You’ or ‘Take Me as I Am,’ where it’s like a testimonial, and it connects culturally.”

Lecrae recalled feeling a sense of “shame, shame, shame” coming from the pioneers, which drove him further away. “It made me feel like, ‘Well, forget it then, I’m not gonna do nothing.'”

Reconciliation

CHH is a small community, and its history is too heavy to leave broken. Decades after Real Talk, the maturity of both camps has allowed the old wounds to heal.

“That’s years ago,” Lecrae concluded. “I think we’ve reconciled and we have connected over the years, and it’s all love. I think they’re all amazing in their own right.”

What do you think of Lecrae’s reflections on Cross Movement? Let us know in the comments if you want us to dive deeper into the history of early Cross Movement Records releases!

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