''Rise'' is the fifth studio album from Christian rap artist

Trip Lee William Lee Barefield III (born December 17, 1987), better known by his stage name Trip Lee, is an American Christian rapper, singer, songwriter, and poet. Signed to Reach Records, he has recorded both as a solo artist and as a founding member ...

. The album was released in 2014, through

Reach Records Reach Records is an American independent record label specializing in Christian hip hop. The label was founded in 2004 by Ben Washer and the hip-hop artist Lecrae. In addition to Lecrae, the Reach Records roster contains artists like Tedashii, ...

. The album includes features from

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979) is an American Christian rapper, singer-songwriter, actor, and Record producer, recording producer and Music executive, executive. Since having begun his career in 2004, he has released ten studio alb ...

, Andy Mineo, and This'l among others. Four singles were released for the album; "Shweet", "Sweet Victory", "Manolo" and "Beautiful Life 2 (Mine)".

Concept

Trip Lee explained the concept of the album saying that; "It's a call-to-action to rise from the dead and actually live. We're born spiritually dead, and I'm calling for everyone to become spiritually alive. Secondly, don't wait until later to live the way you were created. God created you to honor Him, find joy, and serve others. Don't sleep on that. Lastly, rise above the low expectations people have."

Promotion

In promotion of the album Reach Records held two listening sessions in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Tickets went on sale and were held on September 23 and October 3 respectively. In late December 2014, Gawvi, who produced the album, released two remixes of songs from the ''Rise'' album, one of "Lazarus" and another of "Sweet Victory" for free on SoundCloud. In January 2015, Trip Lee announced the ''Rise Tour'' which he'll be embarking on until August 2015 in support of the album.

Book

Trip Lee wrote a book titled ''Rise: Get Up and Live in God's Great Story'' to accompany the album. It was released on January 27, 2015.

Critical reception

Signaling in a four star out of five review by ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is an online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music and media, published by Logan and Amanda Sekulow. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has been owned by Salem since 1999. O ...

'', Andy Argyrakis recognizes, "Rapper Trip Lee comes out swinging for the fences on his fifth long player and, in the process, is even more apt to have his influence rub off on the world at large." Michael Weaver, agrees it is a four star album for Jesus Freak Hideout, responding, "Musically more diverse than any of his previous works, ''Rise'' is just another example of Trip Lee growing and challenging himself as an artist." Adding a half star to his rating compared to the aforementioned, New Release Tuesday's Mark Ryan, realizing, "This album is brilliant. From top to bottom, each track keeps you on the edge of your seat, and on each listen you will hear something new" Anthony Peronto, indicating it is a five star project from Indie Vision Music, replies, "In what could be his last album, Trip Lee’s artistry and perseverance are present in every Gawvi-produced song."

Commercial performance

''Rise'' debuted at No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of approximately 23,000 units, making it the fifth-highest charting Christian Hip Hop Album of all-time, as well as Trip Lee's highest charting album of his career.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2014 albums Trip Lee albums Reach Records albums Albums produced by Gawvi