Kanye West released his ninth album Jesus is King on Friday, Oct. 25.
After months of delays and teasing of the album’s intended release from both West and his wife, Kim Kardashian, the album was finally released to the public nearly a month from its original scheduled release date on Sept. 27.
Fans of West were very displeased when another promised release date, Oct. 25 at 12 a.m., came and went without an album being released. He tweeted about the delay early that morning, thanking his fans for their patience and explaining the reasoning behind the newest delay. However, the album eventually dropped later in the day and Kanye West fans around the world rejoiced, but was the wait worth it?
Departing from his usual style, West has chosen to make Jesus is King more of a gospel themed album that still keeps his core elements of hip-hop included throughout the tracks. The album has various features with artists such as Ty Dolla $ign and Ant Clemens.
The album opens with a straight gospel track with vocals from West’s personally created group, “The Sunday Service Choir.”
Arguably the most prominent tracks on this album are “Selah” and “Follow God.” The track “Selah” is made with epic vocals by West but also has traditional rap verses mixed in. “Follow God” is more of a traditional rap track as a whole but still has samples of gospel featured over it.
As is expected with the gospel theme, West’s lyrics throughout the album directly reference the Christian Bible and have spiritual meaning as well as encouraging Christian values.
Lyrics from the track, “Closed on Sunday,” reference the restaurant chain Chic-fil-A’s closing on Sunday policy. Normally, referencing a fried chicken fast food chain in a track included on a gospel themed album would be offsetting, but fans of West should not be too disengaged with these “Kanye-isms” based on his past song writing.
Overall, fans of West should be pleased with Jesus is King. However, it is understandable how many would be displeased with the album due to its relatively short run time of 27 minutes with 11 tracks, especially after the countless delays and promises of release dates that never came to be.
