Latest / Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews / Trip Lee on For Your Glory, Brag Worship & Expanding the Sound of Christian Worship

Transcript

Trip Lee on For Your Glory, Brag Worship & Expanding the Sound of Christian Worship · Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life Audio.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Hey, Trip, thanks for joining me.
• 0:06
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me.
• 0:07
  Speaker 4: Trip Lee double Ward and Stellar Award winning hip hop
• 0:11
  Speaker 4: artist who as a new worship EP for Your Glory
• 0:14
  Speaker 4: come out February the thirteenth. I really enjoyed this. It's
• 0:16
  Speaker 4: so good. Trip, I con send you kind of a
• 0:18
  Speaker 4: pioneer in this genre. So I'm just curious. This is
• 0:21
  Speaker 4: your first explicitly worship centered album from my understanding, why
• 0:25
  Speaker 4: is this the right moment to step into this lane?
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I think this has been something that's been on my
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: heart for a long time. And you know, brag worship
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the that's the name of this kind of collective.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: And I am you.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Know, bragging on God has been really central to my
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: music the whole time. You know, people like listening to
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: my old records that ar me talk about bragging on
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the Lord instead of it myself. And hip hop is
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: such a you know, boast for art form. If it
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: was you know, Olympics for bragging rappers, we get the
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: gold medal every time. And so I always was like,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: oh man, if this is gonna be a really in
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: your face for art for him, I want to do
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: what scripture says, which is like in Jereman Mine nine
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: where it says let he who's strolled that boasting his
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: strength and the wise man boasting his wisdom, but instead
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: boasting the Lord. And so that's what I'll try to
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: do with my music and this. And so though I've
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: been doing that with my music this whole time, something
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: that's been on my heart is I just think it's
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: really important the songs that Christians sing together. So when
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I say a worship album, I don't just mean I'm
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: just rapping on the verse and then there's a worship
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: be sound and hook. I mean these are the songs
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: meant for gathered Christians to sing together. And that's such
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: an important thing in a Bible and something that has
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: blessed me. And I'm like, you know, I would love
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: that'll be more of it, and I would even love
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: that it'll be more that comes from all different kinds
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: of cultural expressions. And so I there is something that's
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: been on my heart for a long time, and I'm
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: just grateful all the pieces have come together.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: Now, and it includes collaborations with several other artists, including
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: on Elmi, Rainey Johnson trailer, and others. It's my understanding
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: that chronic illness kind of helps shape this project as well.
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: Tell us about that. For those who don't know about
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: your chronic illness, how did seasons of weakness maybe help
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: influence the lyrics.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Sure, I've had an illness for a very long time
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: and it, you know, crying of fatigue syndrome is kind
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: of the shorthand doctors don't understand it that will's autoimmune
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: things going on in my body. And you know, that's
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the hardest part of every part of my life, and
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: it has been for you know, over fifteen years. And
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I think what that's mainly shaped in me is the
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: way that I see the world and myself and God,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: even as like an artist. You know, there's so many
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: dreams and ambitions and stuff I've wanted to do with
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: my body just has not allowed me to do.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: And so I think another when we think about worshiping.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: God, we think, oh, let me, you know, joy the Lord.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Let me just think about all the happy things going on,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and you know whatever, unhappy things just pretend like they're
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: out there. And I think that's not how we see
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: God worshiping the bid, but we see people bringing their
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: complaints to God saying life is really hard, but you're
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: really good. All my friends have abandoned me, but you're
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: my friend. I don't have any way to stay, but
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: you're my refuse, You're my shelter. And that shapes how
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I write these songs too. So even the first song
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: on the EP, for Your Glory, though it is singing
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: about how everything is for my good and for God's glory.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: The verses of being really honest. The life is hard,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: you know. The first verse starts.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: Why do trials keep coming for me? Why does hope
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: love to ignore me?
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Still?
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I trust you write my story. What illness has done
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: for me is it's kept me from the lie that
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: I'm strong enough to get things done, that all my
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: successes are because of me, that I have everything under control.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: I can't live under that illusion because I have an illness,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: and so I think it's shaped how I see the
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: world and how I've written this music.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: That's powerful.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: That's powerful.
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: This album, of course, comes out of the new umbrella
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: of brag worship, which you referenced earlier.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: I want to read this news release.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: It says brag worship exists to broaden what worship can
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: sound like while remaining centered on the Greatness of God brag.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: Worship is not intended to stand apart from modern worship
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: to but to stand alongside it. Why do you think
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: it's important right now for worship music to kind of
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: expand what it sounds like? What does that look like
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: to you? I agree with you, but I'm just curious
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: what your thoughts are.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I don't think when we think of
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: what you know, I remember playing one of these songs
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: for a friend of mine alone time ago, and he's like, oh,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: this is good, but it's.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Not worship music. And I'm like, well, what makes you
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: say that. It's like, oh, it doesn't have the sound.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: And I while they're like, there are reasons why a
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: lot of worship music has this particular sound in ways
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: that they've thought about to serve people.
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm just saying there are more ways that it
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: could sound.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: I think if Jesus is a savior for all peoples
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: and all nations, then there should be as many expressions
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: of worship as there are cultures. You know, it can
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: sound lots of different ways, and so I think it
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: helps us to think about, Okay, what we're talking about.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: We're talking about worhiping God with music is making much
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: of him, letting the word of Christ dwell in us,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: making melody in our heart to the Lord, and singing
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: songs to encourage each other.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: And that can sound different ways as long as it
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: serves that purpose.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: And so you know, I know friends who like, Oh,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: I like worshiping God, but the worship music I'm aware
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: of doesn't really with me in the same way. And
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: so you know, I'm like, well, yeah, let's continue to
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: make more kinds of worship music that can connect with
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: with all kinds of people.
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: Amen to that, you know, I think it's just building
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: on that trip. If we were to name a book
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: of the Bible that is filled with worship, we probably
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: list song and I bet psalms. I bet the songs
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: sounded a lot different than what we oh my Goodness
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: and then what we call worship music today. So I
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: think that's probably one of the best arguments.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: For what you're talking about.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: You're working on a new ra albout rap album as
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: well or a new hip hop albums.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you want to tell.
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: Us anything about that, but this is this is You've
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: got this project coming out February thirteenth for your Glory,
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: but you have something else coming out later this year?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Can you tell us anything about that for fans.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: For your fans, I do not want to promise that
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: it's coming out later this year, Okay, I think I say, well,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: I will say. You know, as I've been finishing this,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: this worship project, I've been trying to keep myself from
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: working too much on an album because I really wanted
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: to get this project done and it's so important to me.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: But yeah, this I'm not doing this project because I
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: don't have more rep songs in me or I'm disinterested
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: in it. But this is just something really important to
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: me that I wanted to do too that I think
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: both of these as my career continues, both of these
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: will be the kinds of music that people will hear
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: from me, and going forward, it'll always be a little
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: bit of both.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: So this worship album, though, it just have a little
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: bit of a hip hop sound too.
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: It I was having trouble describing it actually, so I
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: was listening to it, and that's a good thing as
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: an artist, I think, to make something that hasn't been
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: made before.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: How would you describe the sound of this worship album.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's kind of.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Hard to do because it's so shaped by all of
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: my different influences, and that was part of I wanted
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: to approach it.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: I didn't want to approach it like it has to
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: sound just this one way.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: The only thing I was thinking was if it sounds
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: like this, so this verse is written like this, will
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: it keep people from being able to sing to God?
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: You know?
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes we think the songs we sing or
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Sunday morning is like, oh, let me listen to people
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: sing good. But what I want to do is I
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: wanted to be the kind of songs that are calling
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: everyone to an engauge because the Bible commands us to
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: sing songs together. It's not something we came up with.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: That's part of how God has called us the worship and.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: When we come together.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: So that's been the main thing I'm thinking. But yeah,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: it is hard to describe. I mean, some of it
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: might feel kind of hip hop influence to pop influence,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: the soul influenced. I think maybe one of the main
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: things about the sound is it.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: Is not too restricted by anyone influence.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: I think that's right.
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: I think that's right.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: Your social media bio says rapper, author, preacher, tell us
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: about the preaching aspect of this and for those who
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: don't know, you can go to Tripley's social media account
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: and see clips of him preaching. And it's really good
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: to tell us about the tell us about the preaching
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: aspect of your life.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: Well, I.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Have always been even in my music, I thought, Oh,
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: what's this big truth about God that I'm starting to
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: see and how can I help other people see? And
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: preaching has been a part of that for a really
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: long time. I've pasted it. I was passoring for about
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: ten years and in different places, and preaching God's word
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: I think is I don't know, it brings me joy
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: in a way that nothing else does. I mean, God
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: has told us what He's like, and if I get
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: to open the Bible and help people see that that
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: I love to do it. And I actually think me
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: and a rapper helped me to be a better preacher
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: because for years and years I was trying to say,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: really be a complex truth about God and really memorable,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: simple catchy ways.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: And that's how I approach preaching God's word too.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: I don't want to lose any depth, but I want
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: it to be very approachable. I want them to be
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: word pictures. I want them to be things that help
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: you to understand what God is saying to it. So
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: it feels like it. It's always going hand in hand
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: with what I've done musically too.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: How didn't you get into hip hop in the first place?
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I loved I loved music since I was a
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: little kid. My dad loved music. He's always playing his
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: favorite music for me. And then I fell in love
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: with hip hop when I was a teenager and I
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: started rapping me and my friends with freestyle ballist school,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and I was rapping about how great I was, how
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: many girls I could get, I meet Jesus. And then
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh wait, maybe the universe doesn't revolve around me.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Maybe it revolves around him. My music should reflect that,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: and so yeah, so I started to rethink how I
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: was rapping. And I met Lacree and Todays to some
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: other guys when I was fifteen sixteen years old, and
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: I signed a record that when I was in high school,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: they were just getting started making Christian hip hop, and
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: we thought, hey, we love Jesus, we love rap, let's
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: let's do this together. And the lords just giving us
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: amazing opportunities. How did you come to faith in Christ.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: There was a church that my family went to in Dallas,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: a church that I eventually went back and pasted that
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: for a few years, Conquered Church, and I, you know,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: I was going with my family when I was a
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: little kid. When I was you know, a teenager, I
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: started going to youth groups just for social reasons.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: I was trying to talk to girls.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: And we had a great youth pastor who you know,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: we had fun stuff, but he opened the Bible and
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: preached the Gospel of Jesus, and the Lord grabbed a
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: hold of my heart. And then he also used that
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: youth pastor to help me to begin to study God's
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: word and to get serious about what it meant to
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: follow Jesus. So it was really just faithful followers of
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Jesus doing what Jesus tells us to do, which is
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: tell others about him and walk with each other.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: One final question for you.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: I love to talk to hip hop stars and asking
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: this question because hip hop often is thought of as
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: something that I guess glorifies things that are not of
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: this not of the Bible, and you're doing just the opposite.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: So how is important. How important is it to.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: You to make excellent art for the sixteen year old
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: trip Please out there who are looking for something that
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: they like that aligns with their beliefs.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: It's incredibly important to me.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: I always say, you know, if you to people who
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: are making Christian art, if you just want to say
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: true things, then just talk to somebody. But if you
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: want to if you want to make music, you want
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: to make art to make it excellent. And it was
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: really important to me, especially someone who loved hip hop
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: so much. It actually was transformative to me to see
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: people who loved Jesus, knew their Bible and loved hip
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: hop and were good at it. The Lord actually used
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: that to open my mind to who he could be
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: making me into. It was transformative. I went to Bible
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: College because of a rapper I saw who knew the
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: Bible so well.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: I said, I want to know the Bible like that.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: He was also the coolest person I've ever saved my life,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: to be clear, but I was like, man, how do
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: I know the Bible like that? So it's very important
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: to me because I think music has more impact on
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: people's souls than we realize in the amount that It
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: shapes people's values, especially while we're young, and so I
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: feel very grateful to gud. Lets me try to make
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: great music. You gave a shout out to an artist
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: there who is an artist ambassador from Lacrosse Moved.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I know what you're talking about. Yeah, absolutely excellent.
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: If you were talking to Trip Lee as a new
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: album though in February to thirty four your glory.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Hey, Trip, thanks so much, Thank you so much for
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: having me.
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: If you enjoy today's interview, please make sure to subscribe
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: and share the episode with a friend. A big thanks
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: to the team at Life Audio for their partnership with
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: us on the podcast.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: If you go to lifeaudio dot.
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: Com, you will find dozens of other faith centered podcasts
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: in their network.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: See you next time.