JesusfreakHideout.com: Highlighting 2017 Part One -- Looking Ahead To New Music In The First Half of 2017

For our 11th annual Highlighting feature, we split the year into TWO pieces -- January to June and July to December. Each list contains 10 artists/releases for a total of 20 in total for 2017. So, without further ado, we give you Highlighting Second-Half 2017! (For our January to June list, click here!)

5 of 10

#5. Lecrae
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Release Date: Sometime 2017

Solidified as the face of CHH, Lecrae is dropping a new album which has many fans fiending to see what 2017 has in store for arguably the best in the business.
- Kevin Hoskins

Decidedly one of the very best artists offered by Christian hip-hop, Lecrae has garnered quite the following of fans over the past decade. Having recently made a few controversial waves, it will be interesting to see if he continues with the politicizing of his music, and if so, how his fans will respond.
- David Craft

Lecrae is arguably the man on the top of the CHH heap, but here’s hoping he allows the pack nipping at his heels to continue to push him to greater heights. I have high expectations that this yet unnamed 2017 release will not only be a fantastic hip hop album, but that Lecrae will continue to make inroads into the mainstream music industry as salt and light. If his collaboration with Tori Kelly on song “I’ll Find You” is any indication, his best work may still be yet to come. - Josh Balogh

God has given Lecrae some amazing opportunities in the past few years. From working with notable secular rappers to appearing on Jimmy Fallon’s late night shows on more than one occasion to cutting a deal with a major label for more exposure, he’s in a great place to spread the Gospel. And you can bet that he’s putting everything he has into this new endeavor. I can’t wait to hear it.
- Scott Fryberger

I’m curious to see what a mainstream Lecrea will do. He has a great deal more exposure at this point, and my hope is for a hard-hitting album of cultural commentary from a Biblical perspective (a la’ Propaganda’s new album, Crooked), and not a toned-down party album.
- Alex Caldwell

Believe it or not, it’s been nearly three years since the release of Anomaly. While the wait was satiated a bit by relatively-brief Church Clothes Vol. 3 (granted, which felt more like a real album than a mixtape), that pales in comparison to arguably the single most influential Christian musician of the past decade in full creative control of a full-length album, particularly when that artists is as thoughtful and fearless as Lecrae.
- Mark Rice

Visit our Lecrae page for more information about him...