‘Ministry Is Where Your Feet Are’: Lecrae Reflects on Guiding a Young Kendrick Lamar

Published: November 20, 2025

By Mallory Mattingly

When you live for Christ in whatever vocation He’s called you to, you never know who you’ll impact. Christian rapper Lecrae knows this firsthand, recently opening up about his relationship with rapper Kendrick Lamar.

“We think that people in ministry are on varsity, and people in secular spaces are JV. That’s not true,” Lecrae said on Rich Wilkerson’s “Mature Me” podcast. “Ministry is where your feet are. If you’re a doctor, a lawyer, an attorney, a pastor, that’s where you serve.

“So at that point in time, I’m like trying to practice how to navigate this world. And I sent a tweet to a rapper, a little-known rapper at the time, because he put out the song called ‘The Faith.’ And I thought, ‘Man, he’s talking about faith.’ I sent him a DM. He wasn’t popular, but I heard that, and I said, ‘Yo, my man, you want to build, because I heard what you said, and maybe we can build and talk about this,'” Lecrae recalled.

He continued: “We established a connection and a relationship, and I started to practice being a human, relating to him behind the scenes, and saw the fruit of that relationship. That rapper’s name now is Kendrick Lamar.”

“…you hear him on his latest battle with Drake, and he says, ‘I wonder what Lecrae would do.’ He says that not because I’m a great rapper but because he knows my character. He knows the consistency of who I am in real life,” Lecrae explained.

He wrote a song in response to Lamar’s call-out.

“I was wrestling, like, should I write a verse? / The culture got enough clout-chasing vultures out here trying to prove they worth / They need attention, they can’t imagine me not trying to make myself look bigger off of this Kendrick mention / I can’t imagine his position,” Lecrae shared in the song.

Lecrae’s latest album, Reconstruction, released on Aug. 22. The album was born from a time in his life where he felt things were “unraveling.”

“When life feels like it’s unraveling, God may be shaking the foundations, not to destroy us, but to rebuild something deeper, truer,” he said on Instagram. “This album is born out of that kind of journey. At midnight, we build on the solid foundation.”

That album and his song “Headphones” have been nominated for a Grammy.

“This album wasn’t made to win awards but to win hearts, minds and souls. But just the fact that they’re highlighted for people to see is a blessing for me,” Lecrae wrote on Instagram. “It’s not about taking home a trophy, it’s about having access to the eyes and ears of many who will hopefully take a listen and be transformed by the message.”