Released: 2019

Genres: Christian Hip-Hop, Gospel, Pop Rap, R&B

The Musiquarium’s JESUS IS KING Review Score: 9 out of 10

On JESUS IS KING, Kanye West makes an album with no profanities (his second such album, following 808s & Heartbreak) on an album that’s all about God, Jesus… and Kanye. Now, this direction wasn’t really a surprise, considering one of Kanye’s earliest hits was Jesus Walks — Kanye has always been vocal about his faith, but would fans be open to such an immersion and change?

While JESUS IS KING can be seen as cheesy (as a lot of religious things come off as), it’s still admirable to see a hip-hop artist of Kanye’s status going all in on cleaning up his act and not backing down from doing what he wanted to do as an artist, even if it was bound to alienate a lot of his audience (which it has).

JESUS IS KING started as a project called Yandhi (named similarly to Yeezus), which was supposed to arrive a year earlier and which most fans claim is superior (based on the leaks), but like Prince, who had shelved The Black Album for Lovesexy in 1987, it seems that Kanye had a change of heart, and went with a more spiritual and holy album. Some tracks morphed and survived, while some have been indefinitely shelved. Like his previous two albums, ye and the Kid Cudi collaboration KIDS SEE GHOSTS, JESUS IS KING is also less than 30 minutes and like those albums, it still manages to pack a lot of sonic colour into such a brief runtime and makes for an album that’s easy to revisit.

Every Hour opens up the album with nothing but gospel vocals and piano — it’s quite bold of an artist with a big ego like Kanye to start his album with a song where he isn’t even present. Selah is intense and feels like you’ve walked into the middle of a sermon; it also addresses the circumstances surrounding the origins and evolution of the album (“Everybody wanted Yandhi, but Jesus Christ did the laundry”).

Follow God has a uniquely clipped beat and soul sample that evokes old Kanye. Closed on Sunday might have some silly lyrics, but its finger-picked sample and choir are still breathtaking all the same. On God has synths going off all over the place like ricocheting bullets. Everything We Need features Ant Clemons and Ty Dolla $ign, the latter of whom has appeared on Kanye’s past three projects.

Water is sublime and soulful, with one of Kanye’s funniest lines on the album (“What if Eve made apple juice?”). God Is provides a glorious song of faith and another track with old school Kanye vibes from its chipmunk vocals. Hands On is experimental, as its practically made up of nothing but vocals. Use This Gospel sees Clipse reunite for the first time in a decade in the most unlikely of contexts, as well as including a solo from saxophonist Kenny G.

To clarify, I’m not a man of God and I am not this album’s target audience, but as a fan of Kanye’s, I was willing to open my mind to something new and enjoy this album for what it is. I know this is nowhere near the level of his greatest works and it can feel short, rushed and unfinished at times, but JESUS IS KING is still a vibrant and colourful album and yet another interesting release in Kanye’s chameleonic career, and one that I keep coming back to.

Trivia: JESUS IS KING won Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Kanye West on Discogs.

Back to the 2019 Album Guide or the Kanye West Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard