Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae came to the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center on Sunday with hip-hop artist Swoope and DJ Promote as their final stop on the Higher Learning Tour.

Swoope opened the show at 7 p.m. and brought the cheering crowd to their feet.

“I’m loving y’all already,” Swoope told the audience as they sang along to his song “Same Team.”

DJ Promote also performed, encouraging the audience to loosen up and enjoy the night. Swoope and Lecrae both danced across the stage as DJ Promote wrapped up his set.

After the opening acts, an onstage screen showed a clip of Lecrae talking about his partnership with Food for the Hungry, an organization seeking to “end all forms of human poverty and closely walking with the world’s most vulnerable people,” according to its website.

Before Lecrae performed, audience members had the opportunity to donate to the organization and sponsor an impoverished child.

Lecrae opened with “Timepiece,” a song from his album “Anomaly” released in September 2014. He performed other songs from the album including “Welcome to America” and “All I Need is You.”

Lecrae spoke to the audience during song breaks and told them he had spent the day in Bowling Green; he said he was sure was a great city even though everything was closed.

He also told stories about his time in college.

“My ego was writing checks my character couldn’t carry out,” Lecrae said about the student he used to be.

“I’m here to give you a real picture of a broken person who made a lot of mistakes,” Lecrae told the crowd before encouraging them to make a difference in the world. He urged them to do more than just talk about global problems by actually taking initiative to help the people who face them.

Russellville sophomore Adam Wilkins, who has been to several of Lecrae’s shows before, said he enjoyed hearing Lecrae slow down and explain why he does what he does.

“It just really shows how much he cares,” Wilkins said. “Not about making money or a name for himself, but how much he cares for Jesus and for people.”

Lecrae wrapped up his concert by thanking the crew and acknowledging his fellow performers: drummer Nate “The BeatBreaker” Robinson, Swoope on the keyboard and DJ Promote.

After the audience cheered for an encore performance, Lecrae came back out one more time and sang his song “Say I Won’t.”

Richmond freshman Anna McKay said she enjoys Lecrae’s music because of the lyrics’ positive messages.

“His music has a really good beat, but it has a lot of really good things to say as well,” McKay said.

Paula Fuson, a 2012 WKU graduate from Beaver Dam, said Lecrae’s music is something everyone can relate to.

“He has a good way of hitting every target audience,” Fuson said.

Lecrae will begin the Heartland tour this summer with alternative rock band Switchfoot. His first book, “Unashamed,” which he said is a true story, is scheduled to be released May 3.

“Everybody wants to be free, but everybody doesn’t have the key,” Lecrae said. “That’s why I’m showing my scars. Wounded people need to feel scars.”