Rappers transitioning or making a pit-stop into gospel or Christian-related music isn’t anything new.
Rapper Lecrae has made a career off of being an exclusive Christian-rapper. Even Snoop Dogg put out a gospel album — not a good one, mind you. With that being said, Kanye has always been the outlier throughout his career.
Leading up to “Jesus is King,” Kanye had performed several Sunday Services, even performing one on the lawn at Coachella, causing many to suspect Kanye’s new album was going to be gospel or Christian-related.
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Gospel music isn’t a foreign concept to Kanye.
Kanye has been holding Sunday Services from his own home and more public locations since Jan. 6 of this year, according to an article on The Fader.
Kanye confirmed this by announcing the album in his church following a Sunday Service. Kanye won a BET award from the “Jesus Walks” single off his debut 2004 album “College Dropout.” So, did Kanye prove that “Jesus Walks” wasn’t a fluke or did he all but confirm people’s worries of what a gospel record from the outspoken rapper would be?
The album was released on Oct. 25 after numerous delays, which is nothing new for Kayne.
In short, this album was not worth the wait. Despite the trademark Kanye last-minute tweaks, this album just sounds incomplete and missing something.
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One of the reasons is its runtime. “Jesus is King” clocks in at 27 minutes spread across 11 tracks. After Kanye’s last two albums clocked in at 7 tracks a piece and under 25 minutes each, a lot of fans were expecting a similar run time.
Throughout the album his message never changes. Now, my annoyance isn’t necessarily in those messages. It’s in the monotonous and non-changing ways they are vocalized on the album, without any varying subpoints or alternative perspectives to them. Whenever Kanye does stray away from those messages, he seems unfocused and, to be blunt, corny.
On the track “Closed on Sunday” Kanye writes an ode for his wife Kim Kardashian-West by comparing her to… Chick-Fil-A. No, you did not read me incorrectly. “Closed on Sunday” seems to enlighten a disappointing reality on the album: that each individual track would better without Kanye rapping or singing on it.
As much of a cringe-fest “Closed on Sunday” is, the production is still great and improves in the second half of the track. In fact, the production is the only thing salvaging the track. This is consistent throughout the album because not one track on this album is lacking in regard to beats.
“On God,” “Use This Gospel” and “Follow God” are some of the best beats on a Kanye record in recent memory.
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To wrap-up my final thoughts on this album: is “Jesus is King” a good gospel album? Yes. Is this a good Kanye record, however? No.
This album is polarizing for all of the wrong reasons in a way no Kanye album really has been before. Given all of the delays, the numerous rants, the complete 180 in music and ideologies and the mixed results his last two solo records have had, we’re at a rare point where Kanye releasing a bad record is a realistic possibility. That’s a place rap hasn’t been in since Kanye’s debut in 2004.
This album gets a 5/10.
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]