Gravity is the sixth studio album by American Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on September 4, 2012. The album features appearances from Big K.R.I.T., Mathai, Ashthon Jones, Sho Baraka and Mali Music, along with labelmates Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, Derek Minor, who was formerly known as PRo, and Tedashii. Producers on the album include DJ Khalil, Street Symphony's Heat Academy, and The Watchmen. The first single off the album, "I Know", was released on July 24, 2012, and was followed by "Tell the World" featuring Mali Music on August 15, 2012, and "Mayday" featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Ashthon Jones on August 30, 2012. Reach Records released five music videos for the album: "Lord Have Mercy", featuring Tedashii along with No Malice of Clipse, on August 1, 2012, "Tell the World", featuring Mali Music, on October 19, 2012, "Mayday", featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Ashthon Jones, on December 13, 2012, "Fakin'", featuring Thi'sl, on February 1, 2013, and "Confe$$ions", featuring David Banner, on April 30, 2013.
The first week of sales for the album set a new record for Lecrae, with Gravity debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 72,000 units sold, and was the biggest sales week ever for a Christian hip hop album. The bonus track "Fuego" featuring KB and Suzy Rock from the iTunes deluxe edition of the album peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Songs, No. 13 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital charts, and No. 64 on the Hot Digital Songs charts. Critically, Gravity was very well received, and is considered Lecrae's strongest, most mainstream work to date. It won Best Gospel Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards and Best Rap/Hip Hop Album at the 2013 Dove Awards.
Background
Gravity is a follow-up to the mixtape Church Clothes, which was released earlier in 2012, and Lecrae's two previous studio albums, Rehab, which was released in September 2010, and Rehab: The Overdose, which followed five months later. The Church Clothes mixtape was released for free on May 10, 2012, and was hosted by DJ Don Cannon. It was considered Lecrae's step into the mainstream due to his collaboration with artists such as No Malice of Clipse and the producers 9th Wonder, Boi-1da, S1 and Street Symphony. The featuring of mainstream artists, particularly Don Cannon, was controversial within Christian circles. The mixtape was downloaded on DatPiff.com almost 100,000 times within 48 hours and in less than a month reached 250,000 downloads, a platinum rating on DatPiff.com.
Lecrae said in a statement to AllHipHop: "With the release of Gravity, I really wanted to expand on my previous work while still making sure to keep it all very authentic to who I am as an artist as well as a person[.] When I released Church Clothes earlier this year, it was the precursor of what's come with this album. It introduced my music to new audiences, allowing me to impact others."
Recording and production
Lecrae stated in an exclusive video with AllHipHop that after recording Church Clothes in March, he was on the road before beginning recording for Gravity in May. In an article by SOHH, Lecrae revealed that he had started work on the album in February, then wrapped up recording during the mid-year. The album was recorded over the next couple months at Music House Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. On July 10, 2012, Christian hip hop website Rapzilla reported that Lecrae had shot a music video with No Malice of Clipse and with his labelmate Tedashii. The report included photographs from the video set.
Much of the production on the album was handled by producers with whom Lecrae has worked with in the past, chiefly The Watchmen and Heat Academy. The Watchmen consists of the producers J.R., Alex Medina, and Wit while Heat Academy is led by Street Symphony. DJ Khalil, whose past production work includes Recovery by Eminem, produced the track "Mayday", which features Big K.R.I.T. and American Idol season 10 finalist Ashthon Jones. Tyshane, who previously contributed to a track from Church Clothes, co-produced the song "Violence" with ThaInnaCircle. Other producers include Dirty Rice, DJ Official, Dru Castro, and Joseph Prielozny.
Besides Big K.R.I.T. and Ashthon Jones, the album also features appearances by The Voice finalist Mathai, Mali Music, and Reach Records artists Trip Lee and Tedashii. On working with Big K.R.I.T., Lecrae stated to Billboard that K.R.I.T. had already reached out to him before the collaboration to show his appreciation for Lecrae's honesty. In an interview with AllHipHop, Lecrae mentioned that both he and Big K.R.I.T. have similar backgrounds, having both grown up in the Southern United States and struggled with religion under the influence of a religious grandmother.