{"id":27104,"date":"2019-11-05T14:43:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T19:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=27104"},"modified":"2019-11-05T14:43:09","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T19:43:09","slug":"kanye-west-jesus-is-king-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2019\/11\/05\/kanye-west-jesus-is-king-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanye West: &#8216;Jesus is King&#8217; Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote style=\"text-align:center\" class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em><strong>\u201cEverybody wanted Yhandi \/ Then Jesus Christ did the laundry.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s never a dull moment being a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kanyewest?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Kanye West (opens in a new tab)\">Kanye West<\/a> fan. Be it out of left field remarks that raise eyebrows across the nation (\u201cGeorge Bush doesn\u2019t care about black people\u201d\/\u201dImma let you finish but\u2026\u201d), changing his music style with every album since 2008\u2019s \u201c808s and Heartbreaks\u201d or running away to the mountains of Wyoming to produce five albums in a three-month span, you can never accuse Yeezy of being boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that\u2019s still true on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kanyewest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" \u201cJesus is King,\u201d  (opens in a new tab)\"> \u201cJesus is King,\u201d <\/a>West\u2019s ninth studio album and his first since proclaiming his status as a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"strictly Christian rapper, (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QuOCvKvrwI8\" target=\"_blank\">strictly Christian rapper,<\/a> leaving secular music behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a move that caused confusion to some but isn\u2019t too surprising considering early cuts like \u201cJesus Walks\u201d and much of 2016\u2019s \u201cThe Life of Pablo\u201d hitting Christian themes while still being great fun to listen to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, at roughly 27 minutes long with only a couple of songs going past the three-minute mark \u201cJesus is King\u201d is too short and shallow to really mean anything in the grand scheme of things and most of the songs are half-baked musically anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Articles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"The 15th Anniversary of \u201cMadvillainy\u201d\u2028 (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/featured\/2019\/10\/07\/the-15th-anniversary-of-madvillainy\/\" target=\"_blank\">The 15th Anniversary of \u201cMadvillainy\u201d<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/06\/11\/review-kids-see-ghosts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Review: KIDS SEE GHOSTS (opens in a new tab)\">Review: KIDS SEE GHOSTS<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27099\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2019\/11\/05\/international-series-azores\/attachment\/sunday-service\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service.png\" data-orig-size=\"1910,1057\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Sunday Service\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;West performing one of his many famous Sunday Services. (YouTube\/LMH)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-1024x567.png\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-1024x567.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27099\" width=\"551\" height=\"305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-1024x567.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-768x425.png 768w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-120x67.png 120w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service.png 1910w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 551px) 100vw, 551px\" \/><figcaption>West performing one of his many famous Sunday Services. (YouTube\/LMH)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">West, known for incredible production skills, underwhelms on that front, as most songs are sparse instrumentally, save for a few highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The album opens with \u201cEvery Hour\u201d which is essentially just a clip from West\u2019s Sunday Service performances thrown in. It doesn\u2019t even lead into the second track \u201cSelah.\u201d It really feels unnecessary and is two minutes that could\u2019ve been used somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6CNPg2IQoC0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"\u201cSelah\u201d (opens in a new tab)\">\u201cSelah\u201d<\/a> is the lead single off the album and I like it. It serves as a true opening, explaining a bit on how the album came to be, with a very powerful and heavy instrumental, and the chorus singing Hallelujah at the midpoint is well done. Kanye has some good bars on this one and has some punch behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Next is \u201cFollow God\u201d and is the only track demonstrating West\u2019s skill at chopping up soul songs and using them as the beat, which is done here to good effect. It\u2019s only one minute and 45 seconds, so it stops right when it gets going, which is a theme on this album. The lyrics are decent, touching on Kanye\u2019s struggle to practice his religion and combat criticism from his peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lp0q1wWe6XI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"\u201cClosed on Sunday\u201d (opens in a new tab)\">\u201cClosed on Sunday\u201d<\/a> is an embarrassment. With a plodding beat driven by an acoustic guitar and possibly the corniest bars in his entire discography, avoid this track at all costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn God\u201d is where the album falls off the rails. The lyrics are braggadocious to a ludicrous degree, with the crux of the song being \u201cI have God on my side now, so now I\u2019m a better man and can justify my every action with this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is most apparent in the line: &#8220;The IRS want they fifty-plus our tithe \/ Man, that&#8217;s over half of the pie \/ I felt dry, that&#8217;s on God \/ That&#8217;s why I charge the prices that I charge \/ I can&#8217;t be out here dancin&#8217; with the stars \/ No, I cannot let my family starve \/ I go hard, that&#8217;s on God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oh no, the man who is embroiled in the Kardashian fortune has to sell sweatshirts and shoes for over $200, or else he might have to go on \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d to feed his children\u2026 that\u2019s on God for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27107\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2019\/11\/05\/kanye-west-jesus-is-king-review\/attachment\/sunday-service-ii\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II.png\" data-orig-size=\"1913,1065\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Sunday Service II\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Footage from a Sunday Service performance. (YouTube\/LMH)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II-1024x570.png\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II-1024x570.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27107\" width=\"564\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II-1024x570.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II-768x428.png 768w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II-120x67.png 120w, https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Sunday-Service-II.png 1913w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 564px) 100vw, 564px\" \/><figcaption>Footage from a Sunday Service performance. (YouTube\/LMH)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEverything We Need\u201d is a good song, if it was fleshed out past the surface. Ty Dolla $ign\u2019s chorus is a really nice mix of overlayed vocals, but the song never gets out of first gear, as there are no bars from West on it and it ends at the two-minute mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWater\u201d is next and marks a change in the album\u2019s story. It\u2019s ok, but at this point in the album I zone out every time. The lyrics feature Kanye wholly accepting the gospel and the themes and instrumentation are meant to symbolize a baptism of sorts. It\u2019s kind of boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up next is \u201cGod Is,\u201d a song where West basically proclaims his faith in a very raspy autotuned voice that goes on for too long and isn\u2019t fun to listen to more than once. It\u2019s boring and is the second-longest song on the album. It\u2019s features basic surface-level proclamations such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery time I look up, I see God&#8217;s faithfulness \/ And it shows just how much He is miraculous \/ I can&#8217;t keep it to myself, I can&#8217;t sit here and be still \/ Everybody, I will tell &#8217;til the whole world is healed \/King of Kings, Lord of Lords, all the things He has in store \/ From the rich to the poor, all are welcome through the door \/ You won&#8217;t ever be the same when you call on Jesus&#8217; name \/ Listen to the words I&#8217;m sayin&#8217;, Jesus saved me, now I&#8217;m sane\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next track is \u201cHands On\u201d and focuses on how even the Christian community won\u2019t like West and what he represents. It\u2019s basically just him complaining about how no matter what he does he won\u2019t be accepted because of his choice to leave secular music. It\u2019s a forgettable three-minute affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"\u201cUse This Gospel\u201d (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8yQVcGkbpAc\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cUse This Gospel\u201d<\/a> is the best song on the album. West\u2019s vocal line to start the track will get stuck in your head for days and has the best hook of the project. It feels like a fleshed-out song, with some great guest verses from No Malice and Pusha T, the first time the two have been on a track together since 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kenny G of all people has a saxophone solo at the end that works really well to bookend the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then the true album closer \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d muddles its way in at the end. The track is a 45-second fanfare with a boisterous horn section accompanying West singing praise about Christ until it ends abruptly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I liked this while it was going on, but at 45 seconds it\u2019s worthless and should\u2019ve been shelved for a future project. It also would\u2019ve made a better album opener than \u201cEvery Hour\u201d if it was given proper treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, I could see an extended version of this working as the opener to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vulture.com\/2019\/10\/kanye-west-new-album-jesus-is-born.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"\u201cJesus is Born,\u201d (opens in a new tab)\">\u201cJesus is Born,\u201d<\/a> the confirmed follow up to this album that releases on Christmas Day (or New Years Day, knowing West\u2019s tendency to delay these projects).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet that could possibly just be another half baked rush job that doesn\u2019t say anything new or interesting about West\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2S0N6vRYcTk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption>A full Sunday Service performance at the forum following the release of &#8220;Jesus is King.&#8221; (YouTube\/LMH)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the end of the day, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T58tRXzjC7c&amp;list=PL5Z-QTr_hR1gTIk7T-bPCmRaaXNmiP3aK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"\u201cJesus is King\u201d (opens in a new tab)\">\u201cJesus is King\u201d<\/a> is frustrating because of how good it could\u2019ve been. West\u2019s musical brilliance was shown in flashes (\u201cSelah\u201d and \u201cUse This Gospel\u201d especially) but is bogged down by ho-hum bars and short hollow songs that feel like they were rushed to meet a deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aforementioned songs prove that a Christian Kanye West is not inherently a bad thing. However, his actions need to line up a bit more with his lyrics for me to really believe them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also want some more depth to the words, I want to understand his process of converting and why he did it, some admission of his faults and how he plans to reconcile them through his faith; I want something more besides \u201cGod is good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen to \u201cUse This Gospel,\u201d \u201cSelah,\u201d \u201cFollow God\u201d and \u201cEverything We Need\u201d and you\u2019ll get the gist of this album. Listen to \u201cUltralight Beam\u201d six times in a row and that\u2019ll be a better album than this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Henry Wolski<br><\/strong>Associate Editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cEverybody wanted Yhandi \/ Then Jesus Christ did the laundry.\u201d It\u2019s never a dull moment being a Kanye West fan. Be it out of left field remarks that raise eyebrows across the nation (\u201cGeorge Bush doesn\u2019t care about black people\u201d\/\u201dImma let you finish but\u2026\u201d), changing his music style with every album since 2008\u2019s \u201c808s and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":27093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3613,2104,3523,2144,2109],"tags":[1386,2000,3718,468,73,1384,114,121,109],"class_list":["post-27104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-entertainment","category-media-reviews","category-music-entertainment","category-opinion","tag-entertainment","tag-henry-wolski","tag-jesus-is-king","tag-kanye-west","tag-music","tag-opinion","tag-rap","tag-religion","tag-review"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-73a","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Album-Cover.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27104"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27110,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27104\/revisions\/27110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}