Lecrae has been a big name in Christian music for years, but in a brand new YouTube series released today, he shares that fame and fortune are not his priorities. Rather, God and his family are.

He releases his new album, The Road to Restoration in one week. 

Under the first video of his "behind the scenes" making of the album, Lecrae says, "Restoration is ongoing... an endless pursuit towards accepting what God has for you and trusting Him to lead you to what’s ahead. It is the key essential for life."

From the age of 14, the rapper had big dreams. All of those dreams came true, as he is a well-known rapper who's performed for thousands, he is a husband and father, and he's respected as a man of colour.

But even that wasn't enough to keep Lecrae from experiencing a crippling depression in 2018. 

"November 1, 2018, I woke up and felt like a cloud was on top of me. Like a shroud of darkness was covering me. The next day was even worse."

At that time he had many issues but he says, "Childhood traumas were coming up" as well.

Lecrae mentions in the second video that his dad left when he was just two years old. His father struggled with addiction and ended up in prison.

Up until 2019, Lecrae had never sat down with his dad or had a conversation.

"My whole life I wanted him to come rescue me, be a superhero, be 'daddy', tell me how to be a man, teach me to tie a tie. My whole I wanted it but never got it. I could be angry. But I decided I just want to see this man before he passes and let him know, "Hey, you failed but it's okay." If God is big enough to forgive him, then I can do the same."

The conversations Lecrae and his sister have for the first time with their dad are on Part 2 of the YouTube series. 

Family is a main focus for the rapper. Lecrae and his wife have three children, two sons and a daughter. 

"When I was battling extreme anxiety, there was no place I felt comfortable in, outside of my house."

Lecrae is married to Dara and he gushes over the inspiration she's been in his life. 

"I didn't have my dad. I never had a consistent man who cared about my life." That was until he got married.

"Her father was like a father to me. He always wanted a son and he took me right under his wing."

Previously, as Lecrae was on the rise in popularity, while he says he wanted to make his family a priority, it was hard while touring. 

"Now I'm a family man fighting to stay creative," says Lecrae.

As a professing Christian, faith in God is what brought him to today.

During his depression, Lecrae says, "God was walking with me, every step of the way, restoring me."

He wrote as a way of healing, and these writings became songs on the new album, which drops in one week, August 21, 2020.

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