Kanye, ever the Christian, is now charging $225 for sweatshirts that say "holy spirit"

Kanye West kicked off 2019 by declaring himself a Christian, which, after a few years of listening to the rapper play the victim, defend sex offenders, decry the “liberal” media, and obsess over pornography, wasn’t all that surprising. Christianity’s always been part of Ye’s DNA, sure—his breakout single, lest we forget, asserted his “need” for Jesus—but, lately, the spirit that once stirred his soul has been refashioned into his Sunday Services, a celebratory, arguably cynical aesthetic that resonates as both a calculated redemption narrative and rebrand. Can you blame him, though? There’s always been cash in the cross. Publicity, too.
The gospel-flavored Sunday Services are lovely to listen to—who wouldn’t perk at gospel renditions of the rapper’s best songs?—but, like the Hillsong tribe, it’s megachurch culture repackaged for millennials, with a whole lot of pretty masking a marked dearth of substance. Are gospel’s hallmarks still effective when divorced from a spiritual context? Most certainly, but there’s nevertheless something hollow about Kanye’s vague, secular, feel-good “sermons.” You may as well be listening to a prosperity preacher and, in a way, you kinda are.