"Welcome to America," a single from Lecrae's chart-topping Anomaly album, offers a profound critical look at the state of America and its ability to live up to its promise. The track is given a more than worthy visual companion in the Isaac Deitz-directed video. The video gives life to the three primary perspectives on the song, that of those involved in America's drug culture, our returned military troops and undocumented workers. It essentially over delivers by providing visuals that not only align with the the lyrics in the song but also the broader realities of American society that underscore the song's theme. Gritty, raw and intentionally hard to watch at times, Deitz does an amazing job of presenting contrasting images that speak to one of the underlying messages of the song: America is in a constant state of contradiction.
However, for all of its rugged authenticity, he does intersperse images of hope, speaking to the fact that the song is not an empty critique of America, but an implied challenge to invest in what makes the country beautiful, simultaneously addressing the negative aspects that must be changed. Playing more like a artistic documentary than the average hip-hop video, Lecrae's "Welcome to America" raises the visual bar for Christian hip-hop in particular.
