Kanye Album Review
Andrew Degrasse / Editor / USD Radio
Kanye West
Album: Jesus Is King
Release Date: October 25th, 2019
Label: Good Music
Kanye West has never been one for conformity. His newest release, Jesus Is King, is unable to capture the creative brilliance of his previous albums. It is difficult to discuss Kanye West’s music without first giving background context regarding his personal life. When his mother died in 2008, he responded by creating the dark and auto-tune laden album 808’s and Heartbreak, a far cry from his first three albums, which were full of high pitched soul samples and traditional rapping. When Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech a decade ago and became white America’s favorite villain, he was only able to redeem himself by creating one of the most imaginative albums of the 2010s: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Now, after announcing over Twitter that he dedicated his life to God, the rapper was ready to deliver his next album to the world, only after delaying it for months at a time. (in typical Kanye fashion).
The album sets the stage of what’s to come with Kanye’s Sunday Service Choir belting out a declaration of love to the Lord. This track, which Kanye is noticeably absent from, serves its main purpose as the introduction to letting the listeners know that what they are about to hear is no longer “rapper” Kanye, but rather a “preacher” Kanye. “Follow God” features a classic Kanye instrumental and is the only song on the album in which the listener experiences only rapping from the rapper and producer. Kanye uses this song to both connect one with God while also touching on his relationship with his father. This track is a personal favorite of mine. “Closed on Sunday” exemplifies the disparity in quality between the instrumentals and lyrics on Jesus Is King. Kanye’s vocal melody accompanies the minimal guitar instrumental to create a haunting atmosphere, which he promptly ruins with the lyric “Closed on Sunday, you’re my Chic-Fil-A.” Much to the listeners dismay, the lyric may have a double meaning which stems from Kanye’s questionable political views. The issue within this song and lyric are infinite, considering this album is supposed to be about Kanye’s journey to find Christianity, his lyrics are laughably disappointing. The Pierre Bourne-produced “On God” sounds like a beat that Carter 3 era Lil Wayne would’ve torn to shreds, but instead, Kanye chooses to rap about ending the 13th amendment, yet another controversial and negative idea . “God Is” curates a welcome change of pace, with Kanye singing over a choir filled instrumental, providing a relief from the previously terrible songs above. When picturing a Kanye gospel album, this is the song old Kanye fans would hope for. On “Hands On,” Kanye attempts to rebut his critics, especially Christians, who he believes were the first ones to turn their backs on him. Kanye’s addressing of Christians, as if they are a monolith, is silly and makes it painfully obvious that he still has a pariah complex. “Use This Gospel” is one of the album’s biggest standouts, and also sounds the least like a gospel song of any of the tracks. On this song, Kanye’s autotuned hums become a part of the instrumental, which undoubtedly, provide Pusha T a platform to rap the best verses of the entire album.
The album ends similarly to how it starts, only this time Kanye is the one singing about his love for God, instead of his choir. And still … somehow it feels even less authentic. Leaving us wondering if the album was more about his love for God or his obsession with self.
Tracklist:
Every Hour (Ft. Sunday Service Choir)
Selah
Follow God
Closed on Sunday
On God
Everything We Need (Ft. Ant C lemons & Ty Dolla $ign
Water (Ft. Ant Clemons)
God Is
Hands On (Ft. Fred Hammond
Use This Gospel (Ft. Clipse & Kenny G)
Jesus Is Lord