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Trip Lee is a Christian rapper who has broken into the Billboard Top 200 charts in the past and with his latest project, Rise, receiving rave reviews from music critics and fans, the Reach Records MC looks to establish himself as mainstay in the music industry. With a tour on the way to promote his latest project and a book coming out in January, Trip Lee wants to continue spreading a positive message through his music.

Name: Trip Lee

Age: 26

Hometown: Dallas, TX.

I grew up listening to: Since I grew up in Dallas, I was listening to a lot of Texas stuff like Swisha House, Scarface and more, but I think that the MCs that really made me want to spit and be a great MC was Jay. I think The Blueprint was really the album that changed me in the way that I looked at hip-hop and what you can do with a song. I remember sitting in my room with The Blueprint playing and I think would print out the lyrics and read the lyrics and just vibe to them, and I think made me want to go from I like rapping to I want to do some lyrical stuff and make people think, so Jay is probably the MC that influenced me the most.

Most people don’t know: That I've been doing this for 10 years. The label is about 10 years old and my first album came out about eight years ago, so I think a lot of people are still getting to know me as an artist. This is my fifth record so for a lot of people I may be a new artist, but I've been doing this for a while. It’s one of the reasons that I can put together an album as solid as my latest project.

My style has been compared to: Early in my career my style was compared to Southern dudes who wanted to be lyricists like a T.I. or Lil Wayne, but I don't really think I sound like them at all. I don't think I get a ton of comparisons.

My standout records and moments to date have been: My standout record to me is "Sweet Victory," which is a song off my new album Rise. It’s the very last song on the project and it’s a song where I just talk about the ups and downs in life and having the hope. I think the reason why it connected so much with people is because people can relate to it and it feels fresh sound wise.

A moment I’ll never forget was when I met this dude at a concert and he told me he was suicidal. He hated everything, he hated everybody and he hated God and he said to me, ‘I heard your song “Looking for Love” and it changed my entire life.’ He then pulled up his shirt and he had the lyrics tatted on his side and pulled out a crumbled piece of paper out of his wallet with the lyrics of the song which he said he carried with him daily because the music really changed his life, and those are some of the moments that make me think I want to keep doing my music in the way that I keep talking about the stuff that matters because it actually does impact people.

My goal in hip-hop is: To make incredible music that makes people think deeply about life.

I’m going to be the next: I’m just going to be the next me. I think my path is going to be so unique because there are so many different things about me.

Standout: "Shweet"

Also check out: "Sweet Victory" featuring Dimitri McDowell and Leah Smith

And: "Manolo" featuring Lecrae

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