Hip-Hop Artist Urges Young People to 'Rise Up'

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Popular culture often suggests young people have fun, be happy, sow their wild oats, and wait until they get older to get serious.

But those messages can be dangerous. One Christian musician is sounding an alarm to young people, even in the face of serious personal illness. Hip-hop artist Trip Lee wants his generation to "wake up!"

Lee is also known as Pastor William Lee Barefield, III. He uses his stage name and rap platform to reach his young fans with the gospel message in his new book and album, both titled Rise.

CBN News spoke with Lee in Lynchburg, Virginia, on his stop at Liberty University for his Rise concert tour.

Rise is the fifth album for the young artist, who has been in the rap game for 10 years. He signed with superstar Christian rapper LeCrae's Reach Records label while he was still in high school. The two became fast friends after meeting backstage at a concert in their hometown of Dallas.

Come a Long Way

Comparing his latest album to his first, Lee said they portray "very different stages of life."

"I started that record when I was 17 years old and in high school, that first album. And now I am 27 with two kids and a wife, a lot more mature," he said.

His latest music pokes fun at those humble beginnings and that very first concert tour with LaCrae and other Reach Records label mates.

"We've gone from boot-legged tours to high quality shows," he said. "On that tour, it was like, people booked us, we had a D.J. play some music, and we rapped on it."

"The sound could have been terrible," he continued. "The production would not have been that great. We didn't think through our sets that well."

Still, Lee is quick to point out those simple shows did not glorify God any less than the more elaborate tours he makes today.

"God has called us to be faithful with what he has entrusted us with," Lee said. "And I think, if we start to believe that God is glorified more when things are bigger, I think we get in a bad situation, based on whatever I can do to make me bigger."

"And I think we get in compromised decisions and we start to make decision based on fame, instead of making decision based on how to save people's souls, and make[ing] decisions based on fame instead of faithfulness. And we really want to be very careful about that," Lee explained.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Trip Lee is also trusting his audience and sharing a painful struggle in his music. For more than seven years, he's has battled chronic fatigue syndrome, an illness that robs him of the ability to even get out bed, let alone take the stage.

"Doctors don't understand it very well," Lee said, recalling the diagnosis that came while he was in college. "But basically what it means for me in my life is I am always tired. I can't remember when I woke up feeling rested."

"And my body just doesn't recharge, like normal bodies do," he added. "And it really has impacted my life in major ways. It has ruined lots of my plans. It's never got in the way of the Lord's plans. But it's ruined lots of mine."

Fatigue forced Trip to drop out of college. He later walked away from a full-time job as a pastoral assistant at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.

"The Lord has taught me a lot through it," he said, talking about his illness. "Everything I do, from an album to a book, to anything, I never cruise to the finish line. I just kind of drag myself across barely limping."

"That makes it so clear to me that anytime God uses something I do, anytime there is fruit from it, that it is not because of my strength, it is because of his," he said.

Going Deeper with 'Rise'

That supernatural strength has allowed the husband, father, preacher, and rapper to complete his second book, also called Rise.

"A three-minute song can have significant impact in your life, but I am thinking, how can I take people even deeper? And writing is one of the ways I want to do that," he explained.

"In this particular book, I just wanted to address the crazy idea in our culture that while you are young, your life and decision-making is not that important yet. Or that we can't make big impact for God. Or that God doesn't expect that much from us," he said. "That could not be more false."

Trip uses all platforms to deliver his "rise up" message, and he hasn't given up on the pulpit.

The New Church

He is joining forces with two other ministers to start Cornerstone, a new church in a struggling area of Atlanta.

In addition to the new church, Lee also has a personal ministry called Built to Brag, which is designed to "communicate solid biblical truth to a young, multicultural audience in engaging and powerful ways."

The artist admits there is bit of tug-of-war inside of him when it comes to choosing to pastor full time or choosing to continue rapping.

"Of course, that's been a battle for me over the past few years. One of the battles is hindered by my health. So there have been times where I was like I am just going to leave music in the past and I am going to pastor," he explained.

"And I have not found a way to pastor full time with my health issues. I just haven't figured out a way to do it yet," he said.

Following God's Lead

Still, these days, Trip Lee spends less time trying to make his own plans work and more time following God's lead on stages he never really imagined for himself.

"In the midst of dreams deferred, and in the midst of obstacles in the way of what I want to do, I could get really frustrated at God if I believe that God promised me that everything I want will always be right in front of me," he said.

"But instead, if I see in the scripture is a God who walks with us in the midst of suffering, who has promised us himself and who has promised to make all things new one day, if I trust in that God, then I know he is with me in the midst of the suffering and that I can be content with him in that and I can trust his plan more than mine," he said.

"God has never said I am going stamp all your plans," he added. "The scripture actually says he is going to change our plans sometimes, and that is what he has done. And in many ways I think he has increased my dependence on him."