Album of the Week: Kanye West's "Jesus Is King"

By Jamie Weiss

Even by Kanye’s standards, the prolonged release of JESUS IS KING was especially annoying for fans. Its release date kept getting pushed back, Kanye started talking about making a movie, even more wacky interviews, he went to Uganda for a minute… and where the f**k is Yandhi? Oh, it’s hard being a Kanye fan. He might be a musical genius but he’s a completely ludicrous human being. But this is a review of his album, not a review of his headlines.

Going into JESUS IS KING, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be an honest-to-goodness gospel album, like Kanye claimed it was going to be. I mean, he called 2016’s The Life of Pablo a gospel album too, and while its first track ‘Ultralight Beam’ kinda is, the rest of the album sure ain’t. The same thing is true for JESUS IS KING – it’s definitely more of a gospel album than anything he’s ever done, but anyone expecting a church service going into this will be disappointed – or buoyed, like I certainly was. JESUS IS KING is a weird beast: it sees a somewhat more restrained Kanye, who’s more willing to let collaborators, his production and his message talk, rather than just himself.

Let’s start with the good stuff: the top tracks are ‘Water’, where Kanye channels past collaborator Frank Ocean; ‘Selah’, which has Kanye’s hottest bars and the closest JESUS IS KING gets to a normal Kanye song; and ‘Use This Gospel’, which combines sparse, Yeezus-esque production with heavy-hitting bars from Virginia Beach rap duo Clipse and a sax solo from legendary performer Kenny G.

The most important track on the record, ‘Hands On’, is a throwback to the aggressively autotuned pathos of 2008’s 808s and Heartbreak and is easily the most believable, engaging element of JESUS IS KING. Kanye addresses the listener’s incredulity and asks them to believe in his message, and talks about the struggle of convincing the public of his turn towards faith - (“I can feel it when I write, [what’s the] point of livin' in the right / If they only see the wrongs, never listen to the songs… It's so hard to get along if they only see the slight / From the love of religion / What have you been hearin' from the Christians? / They'll be the first one to judge me / Make it seem like nobody love me”).

Finally, Some of the most gospel-y tracks include opening track ‘Every Hour’, ‘God Is’ and ‘Jesus Is Lord’, which are technically fine, but just ain’t my cup of tea.

Now to the not so good stuff: Kanye still demonstrates an uncanny knack in mixing really dumb lyrics with really amazing production, like on the track ‘Closed On Sunday’ (“Closed on Sunday / You my Chick-Fil-A”, referencing an American fast-food chain famous for yes, being closed on Sunday, as well as its history of opposing LGBT civil rights legislation). He’s mostly rapping about someone other than him, great, but he just can’t help bringing us back to more temporal matters, rapping about the IRS and selling Yeezy sneakers on ‘On God’. He can’t help but be self-centered in his bars. Caught up in his religious fervour, it’s hard to tell if we’re talking about Jesus or Yeezus – the man has a song called ‘I Am A God’, for Christ’s sake.

But being corny isn’t my biggest problem with Kanye. We’re all used to that by now. What is harder to swallow is JESUS IS KING’s premise. In short, Kanye’s spiritual message falls flat.

You can’t help but doubt the sincerity of Kanye’s turn towards God, because within his music and outside of it, he continues to do things that contradict his message. Would Jesus be so flagrant in flaunting his wealth? Would he wear a MAGA cap?

I have a similar complaint with another “Christian rap” record that came out this year from a compatriot of West’s, Chance the Rapper’s 4th album The Big Day. Chance had a history of infidelity, but ever since publically embracing God on his previous album Coloring Book, Chance seems to be on a different path. But you feel as if he’s often tempted back to his wild, drug-popping, womanising ways that make his early albums feel so different to his latest two. On The Big Day Chance spends so much of that album rapping about how much he loves his wife that it feels insincere. Someone who was really that secure in their relationship wouldn’t feel the need to so clumsily and repetitively espouse their faithfulness. In the same way, if Kanye was so assured of his faith in God, would he need to be so bombastic in his praise?

At least Chance’s faith in Jesus seems more genuine than Kanye’s. The young artist has obviously been a huge influence on West’s spiritual journey. Of course, it’s unfair of me to judge either artist’s intentions. But the clumsy veracity in which both these Chicago rappers talk about their personal intentions can’t help but feel questionable. At the end of the day, they’re both artists I deeply admire and enjoy, even if I’m critical of their message.

Ultimately, JESUS IS KING leaves me conflicted. Kanye’s talent as a producer is without question brighter than it’s ever been, and he even has some decent vocals on this record. But it feels wasted here. Maybe I’m biased because I’m not religious: I don’t share Kanye’s vision. Maybe I’m sad that three years after The Life Of Pablo, we’re still really waiting for a proper, full-length Kanye project. JESUS IS KING isn’t the Yandhi we’ve been waiting for. It’s disappointing for that reason alone. But it’s at least a step in a different direction for West. There’s no obvious single and the album is unequivocally Kanye’s least commercial to date, which is to be admired. His last two albums, 2018’s ye and his collaboration with Kid Cudi KIDS SEE GHOSTS were experimental, curt, niche offerings, sure, but they still had enough mainstream appeal to materialise convincing hits like ‘Ghost Town’ or ‘4th Dimension’. JESUS IS KING however lacks the same potential for cut-through. It’s not a very long album (only 27min!) but it’s a bit of a slog – I don’t think there’s much here for the average listener but it’ll still appeal to the die-hard Kanye fan or the religiously inclined.