Hosting things and acting and working on some scripts and working on producing some shows and also the label that I started, Reach Records, is signing artists that are not seen as traditional. Activism, philanthropy, also entertainment, and not even as an artist but as an entertainer. It's being involved in a lot of different things. Lecrae: I think a lot of it is just communicating. McIntyre: What's the plan to continue to open yourself up to a wider audience? I know that I can't do this or I gotta hide my this." It's like, "No, he's not there." So, I think that makes a difference. I think people are more comfortable around me because they're like, "Okay, it doesn't mean I know who you voted for. Lecrae: Of course like I said, my faith is very nuanced. It's been like, "He's the righteous side of us," you know what I mean? Because you have the skills to show and prove when you get on Sway you do the Five Fingers of Death and it's rated as one of the top Five Fingers of Death freestyles in the history of “Sway In The Morning.” When you do the BET Hip-Hop Awards, and Cypher and people see all these things they say, "Wow!" When you have legends who want to do music with you and you befriend the Kendrick Lamars and the Chance the Rappers, that's due to you really being authentically hip-hop and not being contemporary Christian. It hasn't been a "What is this?" I think it's been an embrace. So I think because they know I'm really cut from their cloth, I'm authentic to the hip-hop community. Lecrae: I've always connected with them, and I'm definitely more comfortable around a Sway than a Hillsong. You said you came up in the contemporary Christian scene but things are starting to change. McIntyre: How has the hip-hop community reacted to this. It's more about my personal faith than it is about how the songs are being rolled out. I'm not a country music fan, so if you slide me some music and say, "You gotta check this out, it's country," I'm going to be a little hesitant to listen and I think if someone says, "Hey, you gotta listen to this guy rap, he's Christian," you're like, "I don't identify as Christian so not really sure I want to listen to that."īut it's more about my worldview than about what the songs. I'm more than this category that you've put me in." I think every artist reaches a place where they want to transcend genre. Lecrae: As far as it identifying my genre, absolutely. McIntyre: You've obviously done well for yourself, but do you think that label eventually turned from beneficial to detrimental? If you guys want to take this on tour, we'll go." I think that's what allowed people to be introduced to us, from that vantage point. The only people who initially said "We'll touch them," was the contemporary Christian market who'd already been through the Switchfoot and Relient K type of stuff, so it wasn't a big deal for them. It was like, “What is this?” We are all rapping, hip-hop and just doing it outside of the industry for so long. We were bastardized from every genre of music. because I came independently and did it with my friends. I think that's been the introduction for me. She's a phenomenal country artist." Now your brain is keyed into her being a country artist versus a pop artist. So I tell you, "You gotta listen to, I don't know, Taylor Swift. It's all about how somebody was introduced to you. Lecrae: I think it's all about the introduction. What do you think separated you from that? McIntyre: There are only a few well-known Christian hip-hop artists, and yet it seems like every artist identifies with and sings about that religion. So, it's not new for me but I think, as a single, to the world it's like, "Woah, what is going on here?" But it feels very normal. I've done songs with legends like De La Soul with Pete Rock. For me, it's natural to do a song with Ty Dolla $ign.