Jesus is King by Kanye West
Before we begin, I can say that I've waited for this project to drop for a very long time. Kanye has been saying that this would drop for a while. What was originally titled Yandhi - which I still find to be a horrible name - has now become an album titled JESUS IS KING. A gospel album from someone who said "I made 'Jesus Walks', I'm never going to hell". This is going to be interesting.
As I do with all of my project analysis, I always take the time to look at the exterior of the project to get a better sense of it. The cover is a continuation of the minimalist cover that has become synonymous with Kanye West since Yeezus in 2013. It's a blue disc with 'JESUS IS KING' written on it. It isn't hard; seems like something I could do on Microsoft Paint in ten minutes or less. With that being said, the album is only 27 minutes and produced by a plethora of major names that include Francis Starlight, Timbaland, Benny Blanco and himself. While the cover doesn't tempt me to listen to this at all, a deeper analysis in the time, theme and producers peaked my interest.
The album begins with the very classic gospel "Every Hour"; while it sounds bombastic and truly like something you'd get in a baptist church on Sunday morning, it took two listens to get the point over the screaming. It begins a longer narrative in this album; this was never made to be listened to with headphones, but for a live audience. It is followed by "Selah", a track that has rapping that remains subpar for anyone else, but decent for Ye. It is, however, sonically impressive. I was impressed with "Follow God", which felt like a good cut from Life of Pablo, with the proper sampling use of 'Can You Lose by Following GOD' by Whole Truth and an impressive lyrical output. That's followed by a sense of loathing seeping out of my pores due to the cheesiness and lack of effort put on "Closed on Sunday". It gets slightly better with "Everything We Need", which featured Ty Dolla $ign and Ant Clemons. It's not too bad, gaving me a vague feeling of Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book, but with too much autotune for its own good. "Water" is next and stands alone as the most smooth and coherent track with solid production and powerful lyricism, a gift from Ant Clemons.
A wave of longer tracks begins - all of the previous tracks in this album didn't pass the three minute benchmark - with 'God Is' which is a powerful and soulful praise outing. "Hands On" is a very political track featuring Fred Hammond, with religious leanings, talking about the Thirteenth Amendment, Police brutality and even the hate that he has received from Christians during the making of this album. The final major track is "Use This Gospel" that is supported by Clipse and Kenny G. While it starts off slow, it is a standout with a good use of sampling and proper featuring verses from Pusha T and No Malice. We finish our quick overview with "Jesus is Lord" which is a short and booming ending to an otherwise relaxed album.
My own personal opinion is that I have mixed feelings about it. As someone who believes in the Gospel and all that the Bible has to say, it isn't that bad. It also isn't what I would expect to be played at my church, but not every church plays Hip-Hop, so pardon me on that front. The perspective of a rapper is that it has sparks of brilliance on a lyrical level, but the bad truly is bad. The production and instrumentation is, however, a Kanye level album - this is inherently some very good stuff. It sounds pleasing to the ear. Most, if not all, of the album is sound with gospel. However, the fact that I stay unsure of my own opinion is proof that it is an unstable album; I'm not the only one to think so. The Guardian said "Undercooked tracks on this gospel album don't delve deep enough into West's spiritual enlightenment" while NME said "An iconoclast sounds peaceful and fulfilled on this jubilant gospel collection". The reviews are mixed, to say the least.
In conclusion, I have to give the entire project a solid rating of a 4.5 out of 10 - it has a few sore spots and is a good project to listen to during both ups and downs. It is short, which is good for a quick listen through, but feels under developed, especially with the final track which can stand as being my favorite from the project. While I personally like doing classic album reviews, I should get a good sense of its staying power, but I don't. I have no idea how this album will stand the test of time; but if Jesus can stay in public discourse for 2000 plus years, maybe this will last three weeks?