"Blessings" is a song by American rapper
Lecrae
Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur.
He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the ind ...
featuring a guest appearance from American singer
Ty Dolla $ign
Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...
, released on January 27, 2017, as the second single from the former's eighth studio album ''
All Things Work Together
''All Things Work Together'' is the eighth studio album by American Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on September 22, 2017, through Reach Records and Columbia Records, also making it his first major label release. The album features appea ...
''. It is a hip hop song that features production from
PLUSS
Asheton Hogan, also known as PLUSS and A+, is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Lil Wayne (" Love Me"), Beyoncé ("Formation"), and Kendrick Lamar (" Humble"), garnering 1 Grammy win from 5 nominations.
G ...
, an in-house producer for
Mike WiLL Made It's production company, EarDrummers Entertainment. The song was originally uploaded as a lyric video on January 27, 2017.
The song is written in
C Major
C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...
with a tempo of 140 BPM.
Track listing
Background
On January 27, 2017, Lecrae released "Blessings," the second single that the Reach Records frontman and founder released after signing with Columbia Records, which features a guest appearance from Los Angeles Native Ty Dolla $ign and production from PLUSS.
Although he is signed to his own label,
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, ...
, Lecrae announced a joint deal with
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in early 2016 while he was in the middle of working on his eighth studio album. The collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign was something that had burgeoned out of a connection at SXSW back in 2011 while Lecrae was creating his mixtape, ''
Church Clothes
''Church Clothes'' is the first mixtape by Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released for free on May 10, 2012, and hosted by DJ Don Cannon. It featured No Malice of Clipse on the song "Darkest Hour", and included production work by 9th Wonder, B ...
''. In an interview with Victoria Hernandez from HipHopDX, Lecrae revealed that before the Columbia/Reach partnership was announced, Lecrae had already created "Blessings," but was at first hesitant with the title after
Chance The Rapper
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' in 2012. He ...
released his ''
Coloring Book
A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media ...
'' mixtape. "We already had the song in the can... and then Chance's project came out and I was like, 'Dang...' We could have called it 'Count It Up,' or something like that, but I felt like it took away from that whole moment, so it was kinda like, man, it's all love."
With the feature from Ty Dolla $ign, and a chorus written by
Verse Simmonds
Maurice "Verse" Simmonds is a Puerto Rican/Virgin Islander rapper, singer, composer, record producer, and record executive. Based in Los Angeles, California but raised in the Virgin Islands, he moved to the United States after high school and he ...
and
Swoope
Lawrence Allen Swoope II, mononymously-known as Swoope, (born April 2, 1986) is an American hip hop Christian singer-songwriter and producer born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He was a member of the rap collective W.L.A.K. and High Society with ...
, the production was something else that Lecrae believes fulfills the vision he has every time he creates music. "
lessingsknocks. It's perfect for radio. If you never knew my music, it's
heperfect... introduction 'cause... it's the balance of who I am. Everybody can enjoy it from a music standpoint, but it still has... meaning
nd substanceto it, which matters to me."
Even though his debut project,
''Real Talk'', dropped in 2004, Lecrae was performing as a "Who's Next?" artist for Power 106's event in Hollywood at the time when "Blessings" was released. However, Lecrae said he thinks nothing of it. "I think that's what keeps
emoving is humility... Every day... every time I put out music, I look at myself as a new artist, because there's always a lane that you aren't known in or a place
ou haven't been as a musician..
or instance, on the radioI am a new artist...
ost of my listenersknow me from the underground... but not radio."
Music video
The official music video for "Blessings" was released on March 22, 2017.
The meaning behind this track is quite obvious: count your blessings big or small. He is encouraging listeners to be grateful for what they have and consider what really matters most in life. Food, shelter and quality time with family being chief among the blessings in his/our life. The music video for ''"''Blessings''"'' attempts to embody that message.
The video opens with a look at some family photos clearly communicating what the artist values most. As the action continues the viewer is treated to a heart warming depiction of a family gathering complete with good food and plenty of laughter. Multiple generations are present all enjoying ones company and celebrating life together. In an industry where high priced cars and scantily clad models take center stage Lecrae breaks the mold in the video. "Man it's a blessin' 'cause we ain't ever had a lot
But all we need is all we got."
The song has reached over 40.8 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
as of November 28, 2022 (31.1 million from the official music video,
and 9.7 million from the lyric video
).
Chart performance
''Blessings'' reached number two on the
Hot Christian Songs
Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...
chart. It has also reached the
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
chart at number 25.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{authority control
2017 singles
Lecrae songs
2017 songs
Songs written by Ty Dolla Sign
Songs written by Verse Simmonds
Songs written by Asheton Hogan
Trap music songs
Christian hip hop songs