Loose Canon Vol. 2 would sound different if Canon hadn’t been Lecrae’s long-time shadow. Before Canon released his latest EP, was featured on ESPN and even rapped full-time for Reflection Music Group—he was Lecrae’s hype man. And his janitor. And his student. “I was like a literal shadow of Lecrae,” Canon told Rapzilla. “Wherever he went, I went.”
Eleven years ago, 14-year-old Aaron McCain met Lecrae at The House, a
hip-hop church in Chicago led by Pastor Phil Jackson. McCain, who later
adopted the stage name Canon, showed potential as a rapper and a man of
God early in life. “Aaron was a sponge in both trying to grow in the Lord and his craft,” Jackson said. Canon had the desire to grow. But when he moved to Memphis, Tennessee to
attend Crichton College at 18, his potential was far from fulfilled.
“When you come out of high school, you really don’t have any life skills,” Canon said. “You really don’t know who you are.”
He spoke from personal experience. His first year at Crichton, the Director of Student Life introduced him
to campus pastor Adam Thomason, knowing they had similar
interests—Thomason having a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in fashion
design and connection to Reach Records. “He came in wearing 10 chains and nine earrings,” said Thomason, now the
CEO of Collision Records. “I’m thinking, ‘Who is this kid who has
identity issues?’”
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| Lecrae |
Also in Memphis, where Reach headquartered at the time, was Lecrae. He
reached out to Canon and plugged him into church and community, which
included Thomason and B.J. Thompson. They became mentors to Canon and
emphasized the need for consistency in his life.
“From Day 1, we were just trying to get him to understand that being a
great artist doesn’t mean that you have matured into manhood,” Thomason
said. “You may be able to produce X and spit these bars, but it’s the
life skills that really are going to matter when you’re talking about
getting married, which he said he wanted to do … Can you show up on
time? Can you be excellent in your [class] work? You’re talking about
the excellency of Christ over beats, but yet you’re getting Ds and Cs.”
Thomason, Thompson and Lecrae reciprocated the discipleship that they
received in school to Canon. Eventually, Lecrae invited him to travel as
his part-time hype man. “I knew ‘Crae was a good artist, a good man, a good brother, a good
father, but I really didn’t know what to expect on the road,” Canon
said. “From that point on, ‘Crae showed me what it looked like to be an
artist and really to sustain himself as a family man.”
When Lecrae and Reach left for Atlanta approximately three years later,
he extended another offer—to let Canon move in with him and his family,
and Canon did. And he continued to be a sponge. As Canon rapped part-time, having recently released his mixtape The Great Investment,
Lecrae encouraged him to start his own business. Canon Cleaning Company
was born. Lecrae lent his car to Canon, who cleaned Reach’s offices and
other businesses to make a small living.
Lecrae ultimately offered Canon a promotion—to be his hype-man full-time. From there, Canon shadowed Lecrae nearly everywhere.
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