Written by Jessica Shelburne
There are few individuals among the vast population of celebrities that are quite like Kanye West. Sure, plenty have dropped out of college and continued to become accomplished in their artistic discipline, but Kanye’s life story is complete with many uniquely entertaining attributes.
The most recent of which is his decision to now only produce gospel music, accompanied by his new(ish) album titled “Jesus is King.”
When Kanye began recording this album in August of last year, it was originally announced as “Yandhi” (a possible play on words to Gandhi, much like his album “Yeezus” sounds like Jesus). The album missed two release dates in September and November of 2018, followed by an indefinite delay. In late September of this year, the album was reintroduced as “Jesus is King” and set to release on the 29, but to no avail, and with no announcement of yet another future release date.
Kanye’s public declaration of his Christian faith does not come as a surprise, as his former albums have included religious references and implications, as seen in “The Life of Pablo.” Since the beginning of 2019, Kanye has held Sunday Services – private gospel praise and worship events, where Kanye and other members of the Sunday Services music group perform gospel-rap versions of his songs.
In New York City, Detroit, and Chicago, Kanye premiered the album alongside a documentary, titling the event “Jesus is King: A Kanye West Experience.” Here, songs from the album were blasted as fans listened to what NBC called, “a unique sound that we’ve never quite heard from Kanye before [but] we still get the same energy and wittiness that Kanye always delivers.”
Several songs from the album have been leaked on YouTube, but neither align exactly with the song list that Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian-West, posted on Twitter back in August. Nonetheless, there is much to be excited for whenever the album is officially released, as it is complete with features, regeneration in sound and production, and well-deserved praise to Jesus, the King.
