BY SABRINA EDWARDS ’20
Kanye West released a new album titled “Jesus Is King” on Oct. 25. The album is already making waves for its Christian themes and powerful vocals, provided by a gospel choir and other talented musicians. The 11-track, 27-minute album is full of faith-based imagery and follows West’s recent collection of performances on Sunday mornings — as well as on Friday, Oct. 27 — across the country.
Graphic by Callie Wohlgemuth ’21
The first track of the album, “Every Hour,” doesn’t even feature West’s voice, instead presenting a gospel choir called Sunday Service. West doesn’t obviously appear on the album until the second track, “Selah,” even though his signature production sound comes through in “Every Hour.”
The following songs cover all sorts of themes and many of the lyrics have already gone viral, including the line, “Closed on Sunday, you’re my Chick-fil-A,” from the fourth track, “Closed on Sunday.” Though initially comical, the melancholy tune and lyrics indicate a new focus on a loving, familial, faith-oriented relationship even as West’s “life is no longer [his] own” due to his fame and career. The song does eventually pick up, with electronic beats and sounds accompanying West rapping about his success in the face of adversity and an indiscernible mumbling in the background.
My personal favorite track on the new album is “Water,” which features Ant Clemons, a relatively unknown though incredibly talented singer-songwriter from New Jersey. “Water” was performed by West, Clemons and Sunday Service at Coachella on Easter Sunday this past year.
Despite the apparent departure from West’s previous projects and sound, the new album carries continuities from his other work — particularly in its production, sampling of choirs and focus on vocals.
The powerful opening lyrics from West’s new gospel choir, Sunday Service, as well as their recurring presence in the album, reminded me of the powerful samples from “Blood on the Leaves” and “Roses,” songs which use vocals to express melancholic emotions that are too complicated for other instruments.
West’s admiration for, and use of, vocals is well-documented, going back to his early work — the choruses of “Gold Digger,” “All Of The Lights” and “Bring Me Down” are some famous examples of collaborative, auto-tuned vocals which have become West’s signature.
Even the theme of religion, specifically Christian values and praises, is not new territory for West. In “Life of Pablo,” West begins the first song on the album, “Ultralight Beam,” with samples of a viral video in which a girl yells, “We don’t want no devil in the house — we want the Lord, and that’s it,” accompanied by another voice crying “Yes, Lord,” intermittently. This thematic element parallels the growing impact of faith in West’s life, including his Instagram stories detailing his latest journey with God.
“He will tell you today he wasn’t fully converted. But he could sense God upon him. And God gave him the idea of wanting to do different music,” Jason White, the director of Sunday Service, said to Rolling Stone.
Faith and God are significant themes in this album, an apparently cataclysmic departure from West’s previous work. However, at its core, I found “Jesus Is King” quite similar to his past albums and almost as enjoyable. What makes this album unique is its impending pairing with West’s IMAX movie of the same name. This, combined with another album, “Jesus is Born,” set to release in December, forms a mega-sized project. This seems out of character for West’s musical style, but is perfectly in line with his larger-than-life persona, brand and enterprises.