It’s here. After a spell spent oscillating between relentless self-aggrandizing, performative piousness, and cynical capitalism, Kanye West has dropped Jesus Is King, an album he first announced back in August and subsequently delayed a handful of times. It was supposed to drop at midnight, but, per a tweet, there were mixing issues on “Everything We Need,” “Follow God,” and “Water.” Anyways, it’s here.
He’ll probably yank it for revisions or something, but, for now at least, it’s streaming and it’s...pretty good. Opening track, “Every Hour,” featuring his Sunday Service Choir, is a hotshot of exuberant gospel, and follow-up “Selah” uses stomps, thundering percussion, and some swelling harmonies that can’t help but stir the soul.
It’s as reverent as he’s been promising, too. “Now that I’m in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me,” West said in an interview yesterday. There’s a song about Chick-fil-A where he encourages us all to “put the ‘Gram away” and “hold hands and pray.” Yeah, that song is less good.
Stream the album via Apple Music or Spotify below.
Kanye has promised another album, Jesus Is Born, on Christmas. As for Yandhi, who the hell knows.