Although some cringe-inducing lyrics and hints of Kanye West’s egotism almost ruin his message, his ninth studio album “JESUS IS KING” is a surprisingly tasteful and straight-forward gospel album.
Hip-hop superstar Kanye West has flirted with gospel music on and off for his entire career, starting with “Jesus Walks,” a heavily religious single from his 2004 debut album “The College Dropout.”
However, over the past few years, spiritual themes have become much more prominent in West’s music, from the solemn gospel opener of his 2016’s “The Life Of Pablo,” “Ultralight Beam,” to his cries of “Lord, shine your light on me, save me please,” at the end of 2018’s “KIDS SEE GHOSTS.”
In promotion of the new album, West started a concert series he called “Sunday Service,” which focused on performing gospel music.
The interest and controversy around West’s supposedly “born again” status reached a fever pitch when he revealed that his next album would be made up entirely of gospel music.
West announced that he would release his new album, “JESUS IS KING,” on Sept. 25, only for the release date to come and go with no album drop.
West made frantic tweets hours after the album’s expected release. He explained that his team needed to tweak mixing on several of the album’s tracks, so fans expected the final product to be a jumbled mess.
Finally, at 9 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Oct. 25, 12 hours after its new expected release date at midnight Eastern Daylight Time, West let his fans hear “JESUS IS KING.”
Thankfully, “JESUS IS KING” was worth the wait.
Although his use of gospel aesthetics in albums like “The Life Of Pablo,” which had plenty of tracks dedicated to sex and celebrity drama to balance out its heartfelt moments, often felt halfhearted, West’s latest album is dedicated to sharing the Gospel through music with clarity and focus.
“JESUS IS KING” is a refreshingly brief album, with only three out of its 11 tracks lasting longer than three minutes.
Opening track “Every Hour” sets the album’s tone perfectly, with the Sunday Service Choir belting out praises over church organs and bright keys.
On some tracks West does slip back into his old ways however, ruining fantastic instrumentals with inappropriate flexing.
West’s cringe-factory of a brain is running at full capacity on “Closed On Sunday,” where he sings about his love for either God or his wife, Kim Kardashian, by comparing them to Chick-fil-A.
West’s self-indulgent stupidity is especially frustrating when compared to the beautiful autotuned chorus and the beat’s lovely acoustic guitars, growling bass and choral vocals.
“On God” starts as one of the album’s best tracks, with West giving God credit for his success with confident bars over a beat featuring bright synths that would fit right into his classic “Graduation” album.
However, West’s lyrics fall short at the track’s close, where he attempts to justify charging entrance fees for church services by calling himself “the greatest artist restin’ or alive” and saying, “I cannot let my family starve.”
With a net worth of $240 million according to Forbes, West does not have to worry about feeding his family and even if he did, that situation would not justify hypocritically commercializing Christianity.
Despite these glaring flaws in “JESUS IS KING,” some songs are so infectiously emotional and exciting that they make it easy to forget the album’s blemishes.
On “Follow God,” West flips a sample from the Whole Truth’s soul hymn “Can You Lose By Following God,” into one of the best beats of his career, slicing up the gruff vocals and twangy electric guitars and pairing them with thumping drums and pulsing bass to capture a gritty aesthetic similar to his beats for Pusha T’s “DAYTONA.”
Somehow, West’s lyrics about searching for God and trying to live a righteous life fit perfectly over this cold-blooded beat, delivered through an addictively simple flow.
On “God Is,” West transforms a soulful sample from Rev. James Cleveland’s track of the same name into a modern gospel anthem, complementing glorious choir vocals with his strained singing.
The track’s outro builds from repetitive vocal samples and 808 bass, where West preaches about God’s power to free from addiction and his thankfulness to Him.
Despite the album’s inconsistent track list, “JESUS IS KING” sticks the landing with its powerful final tracks.
“Use This Gospel” builds from West’s simple humming and worship chorus into two strong features from rappers Pusha T and No Malice in a reunion for the long-disbanded hip-hop duo Clipse.
Pusha and No Malice’s hard-hitting lyrics about repentance and regret transition into a beautiful saxophone solo before a hard hitting beat closes the track along with the autotuned harmonies.
“JESUS IS KING” ends with “Jesus Is Lord,” 49 seconds of West’s easy-going singing over glorious layers of horns, trumpets and synth bass, with West quoting scripture and asking his audience to accept his statement in the track’s title.
West has obviously come a long way from the man who released a track called “I Am A God” in 2013.
If you are a die-hard Kanye fan or if you grew up around Christian music, “JESUS IS KING” might touch your heart, even if its confused theology can’t save your soul.
An earlier version of this story misstated the time at which the album was expected to be released, and what time it was actually released. The Spartan Daily regrets these errors.
