Revealing the highs and lows of his journey toward faith, Christian rapper
Lecrae reaches a career peak on his ninth full-length,
Restoration. Atop urgent beats and thrilling production, the emcee takes a hard and honest look at religion and his own beliefs, weaving languid bars through tracks that bounce between spiritually uplifting anthems ("Sunday Morning") and angsty trap bangers ("Over the Top" and "Keep Going"). Throughout, he does mainstream-friendly, faith-based rap just as well as
Chance the Rapper and far better than
Kanye West's disingenuous and labored attempts.
Restoration is buffered by an inspired cast of guests that elevates each of their tracks in different ways, whether by trading verses with fellow rappers (
YK Osiris,
Jozzy) or balancing
Lecrae's rhymes with soothing vocals (
John Legend,
DaniLeigh,
Marc E. Bassy). By toning down his aggression, he's delivered one of the best albums in his catalog, one that finds a sweet spot between the worldly and the divine. If this set ends up being his last -- as he hints on "Nothing Left to Hide" --
Lecrae will have gone out at the top of his game.