On October 25th, 2019, rapper, Kanye West, released his 9th studio album Jesus is King. This album was released after countless delays on his original 9th coming studio album, Yandhi which has since been canceled. It is a gospel album that explores the ideas of Christianity through the eyes of Ye. His discography closely follows his life as a bachelor, to celebrity, to husband, to father. He explores these lifestyles across multiple albums and Jesus is King is his latest installment after his transitionary album, The Life of Pablo, and mental health exploration in Ye.
The long wait for Jesus is King is nothing new for Mr. West, as many of his albums have been delayed and post-release edits come out months later. Yandhi was first announced to be released in September of 2018 but was indefinitely postponed in November of the same year. Ye addresses this fact in the song Selah, which is also seeming to be the most popular song on the album. Ye states:
“Everybody wanted Yandhi
Then Jesus Christ did the laundry”
Kanye has always been very contrarian in his nature as seen heavily in the MAGA debacle of 2018 when Mr. West openly announced his support of the current president of the United States, Donald Trump. On the song, Hands On, He states:
“Said I’m finna do a gospel album
What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?
They’ll be the first one to judge me
Make it feel like nobody love me”
A weird controvery surrounded the release of this album that did not include its released date; Kanye asked all who collaborated on the project with him to not have premarital intercourse during the making of the album. Overall the album was a great listen and a welcome to the Kanye discography, but is not for everyone as it’s very much a gospel album.