Even as a born-again Christian artist, Kanye West is still Kanye West: mercurial, contradictory and meta-zeitgeist. After two major delays, the Chi-town perfectionist has yielded a gospel album, Jesus Is King, accompanied by an IMAX concert film. And the miracle is that West's spirited music may yet establish its own narrative beyond the prodigal roll-out.
In 2018, West was omnipresent as a MC/singer, producer, curator, social media personality, mental health advocate and political provocateur. He controversially endorsed President Donald Trump and everything MAGA (bizarrely US intelligence analyst Eric Garland has suggested on Twitter that West is a Russian asset). West also declared that slavery was "a choice". He issued two cathartic (micro) albums as part of the so-called Wyoming Sessions: ye and, with KiD CuDi, Kids See Ghosts, both chronicling his mental health experiences. Later that year, West heralded another LP, Yandhi. However, it never arrived (some material recently leaked). Pundits assumed that West was retreating to reflect – and rebrand.
In January, West began to host his weekly Sunday Service gatherings with choristers, musicians and guest artists – initially invite only. For the setlists, he selects traditional songs plus gospel versions of his and other secular cuts. West staged the first public Sunday Service at Coachella to global curiosity. Some wondered if Sunday Service was really about performative redemption. Could West be launching a celebrity megachurch? Others questioned his commodifying black faith. Regardless, this year he announced Jesus As King (via wife Kim Kardashian) as the culmination of Sunday Service. Ever the problematic contrarian, West hasn't rebuffed his support for Trump but reaffirmed it – despite apparent ideological divergences.
In fact, West has long dipped into gospel – starting with the idiosyncratic, albeit genius, Jesus Walks (off 2004's The College Dropout). Mind, the song that sets the tone for Jesus Is King is Kids See Ghosts' bluesy Reborn, sung by KiD CuDi. West instinctively transforms adversity into art: he did it with his premiere single Through The Wire, tracked following a traffic accident. Back in 2008, West explained to this writer the creative choices he made for 808s & Heartbreak – notably his singing via Auto-Tune. 808s… stands as West's most vulnerable work, written as he grieved the loss of his beloved mother Dr Donda West. Yet West was conscious of universalising his journey. "I talk about pain, real pain, pain that regular people go through – stuff in life that's hard," he said. "I just expressed myself – I [put] the Auto-Tune on, and acted like normal as in a room, and just sang all the melodies I would have sang in the shower, and talked about the things that I would have only talked about while I was by myself." Jesus Is King is redolent of 808s… – only upbeat. West alludes to past struggles, including opioid and pornography addictions. It's less polished sonically. But Jesus Is King is clean – with no explicit language. The project is remarkable in its brevity, with 11 songs clocking in at under 30 minutes. Still, Jesus Is King feels expansive, epic and euphoric. Conspicuously, Jesus Is King doesn't have 'curated' guests – the buzz 'feature' being a reunited Clipse (West's GOOD Music cohort Pusha T and his older brother No Malice, now a Christian rapper). West is clearly repudiating the trend for concept albums. The Jesus Is King artwork is simple with its image of a blue vinyl and yellow text. Unwittingly, West's take on gospel is as much about self-actualisation as it is salvation or steadying.
Urban contemporary gospel isn't new. In the early '90s, choir director Kirk Franklin emerged as a superstar (he actually blessed Ultralight Beam from West's gospel-hop The Life Of Pablo). The sister duo Mary Mary, savoured a hit even in Australia with Shackles (Praise You), helmed by future West cohort Warryn Campbell. And hip-hop artists have morphed into evangelists. In 1999 Mase, signed to Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records, disavowed playa rap to be a minister (he nonetheless popped up on Cruel Summer).
In many ways, West's career parallels that of Prince – likewise chaotically unpredictable. While fans roll their eyes over DJ Booth ranking West's unreleased albums, Prince abandoned so many projects as to generate vaults. In 1987, the Purple One notoriously pulled The Black Album (its unofficial title) at the eleventh hour, ostensibly when, post-epiphany, he decided it was malevolent. Instead, Prince presented Lovesexy – a sanguine, spiritual and carnal album, permeated by rave's PLUR mantra. In the '90s, Prince battled his then label, Warner, for contractual freedom. He changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol – and contentiously appeared with the word 'Slave' on his face. Prince's subsequent activity was defined by a religiosity that conflicted with his once sexually fluid persona. In 2001, Prince became a Jehovah's Witness, having endured profound personal trauma – the loss of a child and divorce. In an 2008 interview with The New Yorker, he shockingly rejected same-sex marriage (Prince briefly estranged himself from Wendy & Lisa, the gay members of his former band The Revolution). Somehow, at the end of his life, Prince found a balance between piety, proselytising and admirably advocating for social equality.
West's Jesus Is King reveals an individual in flux – against a backdrop of political malaise, weaponised conspiracy and apocalyptic anxiety. It's also West's rawest music since 808s… Indeed, the man who proclaimed himself "the greatest human artist of all time" on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show is... humbled.
1. Every Hour
At a New York listening party for Jesus Is King, West stated, "This album has been made to be an expression of the gospel and to share the gospel and the truth of what Jesus has done to me. When I think of the goodness of Jesus, and all that he does for me, my soul cries out." And the LP opens with a worshipful and traditionalist choral number in Every Hour – just under two minutes' long. The Sunday Service Choir, pitched up, rhapsodise over stomping piano. West doesn't add any vocals of his own. Fans have noted the irony of the title given the wait for Jesus Is King.
2. Selah
Among Jesus Is King's biggest moments, Selah is a song of praise that slaps. West raps, accompanied by his choir, organ and trap dramatics. He elliptically mentions Yandhi, possibly his counterpart to Prince's Black Album: "Everybody wanted Yandhi/Then Jesus Christ did the laundry." West collaborated on the live-sounding cut with Denzel Curry associate Ronny J – and the uber-pop Benny Blanco. Selah also has writing credits from both Clipse members.
3. Follow God
Follow God loosely connects to Father Stretch My Hands from The Life Of Pablo. The track itself is vintage West, sampling Whole Truth's obscure Can You Lose By Following God. The MC is candid about his relationship with his dad. Follow God ends abruptly with a yelp. It was one of the three songs that held up Jesus Is King as West scrambled to tweak the final mixes, together with Everything We Need and Water.
4. Closed On Sunday
Closed On Sunday is already the most problematic – and preaching – track on Jesus Is King. West, a father of four, extols observing the Sabbath as a rest day: "Hold the selfies, put the 'Gram away/Get your family, y'all hold hands and pray," he raps. "No more livin' for the culture, we nobody's slave." He specifically references the American fast food chain Chick-fil-A, which doesn't trade on Sundays. Alas, the company has donated to anti-LGBTQIA+ organisations, prompting boycotts. This correlation is dismaying as West was among the first hip-hop artists to challenge homophobia in the urban scene. Closed… has a 'family values' vibe with some uncharacteristic anti-materialism. The sedate track, a Timbaland co-production, is distinguished by its acoustic guitar.
5. On God
West digs house music – liaising with E-Smoove early in his vocation. Later, he sampled Daft Punk for Stronger. And Chicago house is indebted to gospel. (Its godfather, Frankie Knuckles formally introduced gospel house with his 2000s Motivation mix comps.) For the Coachella Sunday Service, West adapted the Chicago house classic Brighter Days, originally recorded by Curtis "Cajmere" Jones (known to techno kids as Green Velvet) and Dajae. The declaratory On God could be West doing gospel house, at least aesthetically. At points, the song recalls Discovery-era Daft Punk with its synth crescendos. But producer Pi'erre Bourne (ye) brings trap drops. Lyrically? Last year West caused furore for positing that slavery was "a choice". Here, progressively, he criticises the US constitution's 13th Amendment, which, while abolishing slavery, exempts penal labour (elsewhere on the album West champions prison reform).
6. Everything We Need
Some of the tracks on Jesus Is King were evidently salvaged from Yandhi. Everything We Need – co-produced by Ronny J – previously leaked as The Storm with vocals from the late, and controversial, Floridian rapper XXXTentacion. West has retooled it. Everything… is gospel 'n' B with Ty Dolla $ign and Sunday Service's Ant Clemons. West raps eccentrically, "What if Eve made apple juice?".
7. Water
West has performed the electro-gospel Water for Sunday Service – notably at Coachella. It again features Clemons and the Sunday Service Choir (plus Timbaland's production). Water allegorises baptism – and thematises purification. It borrows from Yoko Ono's 1972 We're All Water. It's comparable to Prince's figurative gospel songs, such as The Ladder and The Cross.
8. God Is
The emotional pinnacle of Jesus Is King is… God Is. West sings – and without Auto-Tune. The melodic paean especially harks back to 808s & Heartbreak – but West conveys a new directness, accentuated by his raspy, yet soulful, vocal delivery. There is an inherent tension on Jesus Is King: rappers like West aspire to be GOATs, flexing their egos – but gospel engenders humility, preachers aside. But here West's testimonial transcends that, as he sincerely surrenders to himself. Ironically, it's the only song to have a cuss word of sorts ("This ain't about a damn religion"). God Is is significant for another reason. West reunited with Warryn Campbell, who contributed to his Late Registration and Graduation albums. And it's their first gospel collab. Also credited is the UK's Labrinth.
9. Hands On
For the spare Hands On, West recruited the gospel vocalist/musician Fred Hammond. West snaps (a bit), accusing those Christians doubting his motives of hypocrisy: "Told people God was my mission/What have you been hearin' from the Christians?/They'll be the first one to judge me/Make it feel like nobody love me."
10. Use This Gospel
Use This Gospel, again from Yandhi, was always the Jesus Is King song destined for virility. West, singing, is joined by a restored Clipse. But Use This Gospel also has an kitsch-cool sax solo from the easy listening star Kenny G, whom West booked to play for Kardashian on St Valentine's Day. West ain't no purist. Musically, Use This Gospel might belong to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with its opulent layers. The track was produced with Pi'erre Bourne and samples Two Door Cinema Club's forgotten bonus cut Costume Party. The weirdest aspect? Pusha being Pusha raps about drug busts ("In my bed, under covers when undercovers had raided." Jesus is still walking, yo.
11. Jesus Is Lord
The triumphal finale of Jesus Is King is over in 50 seconds – and essentially bookends the album with Every Hour. Timbaland is on hand. Ultimately, West pulls off, not a reinvention, but a reformulation. In coming years, Jesus Is King will surely be a touchstone.
Comments