Welcome to the inaugural episode of The 116 Life “Foundations”.

The 116 Life is a new radio show on Holy Culture on Sirius XM Channel 154 broadcasting every Tuesday at 8pm ET. The show, Co-hosted by Reach Records executives, Marcus Hollinger (CMO) and Lasanna “Ace” Harris, (multi-platinum Grammy Award-winning producer and SVP of A&R) covers faith, music, and culture.

This episode; Foundations; features special guests Lecrae and Ben Washer, the founders of Reach Records. This episode dives into success, disappointment and 20 years of legacy. Tune in for new episodes via Holy Culture on Sirius XM Channel 154 every Tuesday at 8pm ET.

The foundation of any business venture is vision. Knowing what you are trying to accomplish. Co-founders Lecrae and Ben Washer, share how they met. Then after getting to know each other, they realized they both had a desire to spread the gospel through Christian Hip Hop. What would follow would be the Cinderella story of CHH.

Lecrae opens up about the early days of is career, including how going to night clubs became a part of their marketing strategy in the early days. He talks about the opposition they faced, even recalling a time when he was spit at because someone in the audience was not ready to receive the message of the gospel. Knowing full well the resistance they would get, the co-founder pushed on, determined to evangelize through music.

Also in this episode, Ben shares his admiration for the work ethic that Lecrae exhibited. He was wearing multiple hats, including promoting, marketing and even recruiting new talent; which prompted Ben to partner with him as opposed to Lecrae just being an artist on the label.

Ben also describes the pressures of the label being a business, the accountability, responsibilities and risks that come with it. “There are two sides to it. There’s like vision fear. There’s like concern that we won’t fulfill the mission vision. We can get side tracked from that. Or as we bring on the new, is it going to be the same thing? What’s it going to look like?”

“We’ve had this thing for so long, does it need to shift a little bit in order to accommodate what’s happening now? Then there’s business stuff. You’re never on the other side of risk. So if you’re trying to grow and you’re trying to push. You’re always going into the next year like what do we need to do to press the pedal down some more. And that means you have to deal with things like budgets, income and revenue and staff all this stuff you have to steward too. And that’s not just a walk in the park you know.”

Lecrae also get honest about music and business. “On my healthiest days I want to see the entire world impacted with like…I want to see the truth of God immersed in their space and culture. On my unhealthiest days, I just want global domination.”

When asked about the newest members of Reach Records and how he feels about the current roster of artists and the trajectory of the label in their hands, Lecrae says, “The future is as bright as they want to shine. They can have it. I will open up everything to allow them to carry this torch forward as far as they want to take it. It just depends on what they want. I’m excited for them. They are so talented.”

As Reach Records celebrate 20 years, they are hopeful in the future and just as motivated as the early days to stay pure in faith and intention in the face of temptation.

Related Radio Show: 116 Life