Anomaly
Like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, Atlanta rapper Lecrae is a highly skilled, fast-talking, diary-spilling, self-proclaimed iconoclast. There's nothing about his music that should have kept him from the mainstream spotlight – except, as Kanye West once asked, ''If I talk about God, my record won’t get played?'' Released on his own Reach, a label that spreads a Christian message, Lecrae's chart-topping seventh LP is a complex, personal record that's at once political (he's anti-sweatshop, pro-monogamy) and emotionally charged (''Good, Bad, Ugly'' speaks frankly about his experiences with abuse). He may not swear, but Anomaly is as hard-hitting as any rap record out right now.