Lecrae has released the music video for “I’m Turnt,” a song from his recently released mixtape, Church Clothes 2.
The title borrows the language of parties and excess, but Lecrae is working with a different definition. Instead of centering the song on intoxication or escape, he describes a celebration that does not require losing control.
The video opens with the statement, “We were made to pursue pleasure, but there is no pleasure under the sun that brings ultimate satisfaction.”
From there, Lecrae takes the familiar images of a loud house party and removes the usual ingredients.
There is still a crowded room, plenty of movement and a beat that makes standing perfectly still an impractical choice. What is missing is the idea that getting drunk, getting high or waking up with regrets proves everyone had a good time.
That contrast drives “I’m Turnt.” Lecrae is not arguing against pleasure. Instead, he questions why culture so often treats self-destruction as proof of a good time.
Turning the Party Phrase Around
“I’m Turnt” appears on Church Clothes 2, the second installment in Lecrae’s mixtape series with DJ Don Cannon. Reach Records released the 17-track project on Nov. 8, 2013.
The project continued Lecrae’s effort to make music that could operate comfortably within contemporary hip-hop. He did so without translating every idea for a church audience first.
“I’m Turnt” may be one of the project’s most immediate tracks. Still, its concept is more deliberate than its hook initially suggests.
Lecrae takes a phrase associated with abandoning restraint and turns it into something else. Here, being “turnt” means refusing to let substances, expectations or somebody else’s definition of a good night take control.
RiTE Media Group Handles the Visuals
RiTE Media Group produced the video. Steven C. Pitts directed it, and Kyle Dettman edited it.