Jesus Is King

Jesus Is King is a Christian hip hop record, and features a significant gospel influence.[76][77] Complex journalist Eric Skelton considered that it was not a sonic departure from West's previous work, noting its "healthy doses of bass, pretty chords, hip hop sensibilities, and pop melodies." and claimed that it borrows elements from his past albums such as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Ye, and The Life of Pablo (2016),[78] while Samuel J. Robinson of Rolling Stone highlighted its use of trap drums, ambient flourishes and samples.[77] However, Charles Holmes, also from Rolling Stone, described it as a "far more muted, stripped-down affair than most West albums," with him noting the exception of the track "On God", produced by Pi'erre Bourne, due to its "galactic, fiery, and intense" beat.[76]

Holmes also considered that, despite its gospel influences, "Jesus Is King is a gospel album in the same way a square is a rectangle," only fitting "the most basic criteria," and wrote that its production consists largely of recognizable gospel components such as "pared-back guitars, mournful organs and pianos, and choral arrangements deployed like soul samples."[76] Andrew Legg, Tasmanian musician and director of the ARIA award-nominated Southern Gospel Choir described Jesus is King as "a remarkable gospel album," calling it contemporary in a genuine way and he predicted that the album would "inevitably challenge the traditional concept of African American gospel while influencing it shape for years to come."[79] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick viewed Jesus Is King as where "West has confounded expectations once again with a set of dramatic, evangelical hip hop testimonials."[80] McCormick commented that choir elements of gospel are included on it, while also citing church organs, synths and vocoder harmonies as being present.[80] Torsten Ingvaldsen from Hypebeast noted the influence taken from West's previous albums, describing Jesus Is King as what "can be seen as Kanye's way of reenvisioning his past, updating it within his own hip-hop missionary lens in an attempt to bring something new to these seemingly anachronistic principles."[81]

West references the Thirteenth Amendment on "On God" and "Hands On". In October 2018, West met with then-US president Donald Trump and discussed altering the amendment.[82]

Jesus Is King focuses on the Christian concept of salvation. Keeping with its Christian theme, the album's lyrics do not contain any profanity or sexual references, including those performed by guest vocalists. West spoke at the listening party in New York on September 29, 2019, stating: "This album has been made to be an expression of the gospel and to share the gospel and the truth of what Jesus has done to me. When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he does for me, my soul cries out."[62] Tyson was present in the studio for the recording of Jesus Is King and helped tweak certain lyrics "to articulate the gospel more clearly" despite claiming that the work is all West's and Tyson did not view himself as writing any of the songs.[48] This was claimed by Tyson to be part of the creative process of him and West.[48] The album also focused on sanctification—obeying Jesus, avoiding sin, and growing in one's faith.[83] Indeed, West "asked people working on the album to fast or to avoid premarital sex."[84] In the song "Hands On", West asks fellow Christians to pray for him so "that he may learn and grow in sanctification."[83] Tyson had discussed both justification and sanctification with West in their conversation.[85]

West emphasized that the purpose of Jesus Is King was to preach the gospel and evangelize, leading to nonbelievers' conversion to Christianity.[83] This was made clear in the song "God Is", where West sings "Everybody, I will tell 'til the whole world is healed."[83] Within the album's opening track "Every Hour", the Sunday Service Choir implores people to "sing until the power of the Lord comes down."[91] "Selah", the first full track on Jesus Is King, sees West assert his faith.[73][74] It includes West comparing himself to Noah before the flood.[73] The track also includes a reference to West replacing Yandhi with Jesus Is King due to him having vowed to only put out Christian hip hop after going through a new birth experience.[62][73][92] West references his problematic relationship with both Christianity and his father Ray West on "Follow God".[89] In "Closed on Sunday", Kanye West emphasizes the traditional Christian doctrine of Sunday Sabbatarianism, referencing the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, which he praises for being closed on the Lord's Day in order to allow people to rest.[91][93][94][95] West links the observance of the Christian Sabbath with the "end of imprisonment, slavery, and debt peonage."[94]

"On God" features West "delivering I've-seen-the-mountaintop style preaching," with West being "prodding and unconvincing in a soundscape where he was a compelling idol." Throughout the song, West makes it clear that he must be richer than the clergy.[95] West references the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that abolished slavery on "On God" and "Hands On".[96] This followed on from West having previously called for the repeal of the amendment in September and October 2018, which he did because of the penal labor exemption that suggests that the enslavement of convicts is legal.[82][97] The imagery used in "Water" is a reference to the Christian sacrament of baptism.[98] On "Everything We Need", West delivers "Kanye-isms" about Eve making apple juice, while Ty Dolla Sign and Clemons deliver rapturous vocals.[95] Tension is built between reunited brothers Pusha T and No Malice on "Use This Gospel" as they rap about different stages of self-reflection.[90] The latter had a previous religious transformation where he gave up glorifying drug dealing in his songs.[99] On the closing track "Jesus Is Lord", West invokes the reaction of men and women towards the Last Judgment when they will come face-to-face with God.[83] In Jesus Is King, West teaches the doctrine of the Social Kingship of Christ through his advocation of "defying worldly authorities" and "seek[ing] liberty from lower powers by submitting to a higher one."[94]

West previewed the album at The Forum in the County of Los Angeles in October 2019.

Originally titled Yandhi, the album was set for release on September 29, 2018, but was postponed to November 23, 2018. West later postponed the album again in the month that it had been first postponed to, though no new release date was set at the time.[33] In January 2019, a representative for West denied a report claiming West was refusing to submit the album to gain leverage in a legal dispute with his record labels GOOD Music and Def Jam.[100] On August 29, 2019, Kardashian announced Jesus Is King with the release date of September 27, of that year, alongside a notebook featuring the track list via Instagram. A representative for West reported to E! News that Jesus Is King would be his "latest album."[101] During a Sunday Service performance on September 16, 2019, West reconfirmed the release date that Kardashian had tweeted out.[102]

On September 27, 2019, following a Sunday Service performance in Detroit, West previewed the album and the accompanying film also entitled Jesus Is King at the Fox Theatre. Kardashian then announced that the former had been pushed back two days to be released on September 29, 2019, stating that mixing had to be finalized and that there'd be two more listening sessions in Chicago and New York.[59][103] The album also missed that date with no explanation provided by either West or Kardashian.[62] On October 12, 2019, West announced a tentative release date of October 25, 2019 at a Washington, D.C. listening party.[104] West ultimately confirmed via Twitter on October 21 that this was the official release date and pre-ordering for Jesus Is King began the following day.[105][106][107] The album and its accompanying film were previewed again at The Forum in the County of Los Angeles on October 23, 2019, for 17,000 attendees, two days before the release of them.[108]

Rendering of the Roden Crater, the shooting location of the Jesus Is King film.

On October 25, 2019, Jesus Is King was released for digital download and streaming by GOOD Music, distributed by Def Jam Recordings.[109] The album's release was simultaneous with that of an accompanying experimental concert short film of the same name, directed by Nick Knight. The film was shot over the summer of 2019 at the Roden Crater in Painted Desert, Arizona, and features the Sunday Service Choir. It was released in IMAX theaters, with numerous tracks from the album being included as part of the soundtrack.[70][110] Prior to the latter's release, West had performed the song "Water" live with the Sunday Service Choir in April 2019.[47] When premiering the song, West announced it as a new track.[47] "Water" was ultimately released as the seventh track on Jesus Is King in October 2019.[72] Various churches across the state of Texas have revealed that they would not play the album, and it has also been predicted by numerous people involved with Christianity to not be played on Christian radio stations across the state.[111] Jesus Is King was released as a CD in the United States on March 27, 2020 through West's record labels.[112]

The cover art for Jesus Is King is a blue vinyl, with the album's title and West's name being written at the top and the bottom, respectively. The art contains text on the left reading "New Songs AR 1331 A," while 33RPMLP is written on the right. After confusion of what "AR 1331 A" meant, Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell explained that the text is the Archer Records (AR) pressing plant code assigned to the 1970 A-Side gospel single by Rubye Shelton that consists of "I Want The World To Know Jesus" and "God's Going To Destroy This Nation".[113] At the time of Jesus Is King being released, West simultaneously launched "a clothing line depicting Christ blessing the people."[114] After its launch, the Jesus Is King clothing line had sold out.[114] The apparel in the Jesus is King clothing line features the album name and "includes a T-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, crewneck and hooded sweatshirts, sweatpants and baseball caps."[115]

On October 27, 2019, West and his choir performed the first Sunday Service since the album's release at The Forum, with songs from it being performed.[116] Songs from The Life of Pablo were performed as well, which Kardashian referenced on Twitter, while she also tweeted out in excitement over the event.[116] West performed songs from Jesus Is King with his choir in front of inmates at two jails in Houston, Texas, on November 15.[117] On November 16, 2019, it was announced that West would be performing at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church the next day to promote the album.[118] Simultaneously, tickets were made available for free through Ticketmaster, and were gone within seven minutes.[118] Scalpers immediately began selling them on Twitter and Craig's List at up to $250 each.[118] The event was called the "Sunday Service Experience", with it including West and the Sunday Service Choir performing, though the event was open to fans of all faiths despite being centered around Christianity.[119] Tracks from Jesus Is King were performed alongside material that West released earlier in his career, including "Jesus Walks" (2004).[118] As well as this, gospel remixes were performed of R&B ballads, notably SMV's "Weak" (1993) and Destiny Child's "Say My Name" (1999).[118]

Promotion for Yandhi and leaks

The recording of Nicki Minaj's verse on "New Body" was prominently showcased on American television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

West performed the single "I Love It" with Lil Pump and "We Got Love", a duet with Taylor featuring a pre-recorded voice memo by Lauryn Hill, on the season 44 premiere of SNL that coincided with the original release date for Yandhi. West closed the show by performing "Ghost Town" from Ye with Kid Cudi and 070 Shake and giving a speech in support of then-US president Donald Trump.[120] After the SNL performance, full-size costumes from the "I Love It" music video were put up for sale online.[121] West recorded a music video for "We Got Love" with Taylor on October 1, 2018, in the TMZ parking lot,[28] though the music video was never released. West then revealed to TMZ that he had a song about body shaming featuring Minaj and Ty Dolla Sign on Yandhi.[122] The recording of Minaj's verse on the song, entitled "New Body", was prominently showcased in an April 2019 episode of American television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.[14] Following the airing of the episode, Kardashian discussed the writing of the song on Twitter.[24] "I Love It", "We Got Love", and "New Body" were all initially intended for Yandhi.[14] "We Got Love" was later released as a single by Taylor on December 6, 2019.[22]

In July 2019, tracks dated from a late-December 2018 session of Yandhi began leaking online, including "New Body" featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla Sign, "The Storm" featuring XXXTentacion, Ty Dolla Sign, and Clemons, a solo track entitled "Spread Your Wings", and demos of "Alien / SpaceX" and "Law of Attraction", with both demos featuring Clemons.[60][123] The leaks were precipitated by "group buys", which are online money-pooling efforts organized by fans in order to purchase the tracks from a well-known leaker. Producers who worked on "Law of Attraction" denounced the leak of their track as an "invasion of privacy,"[124][125] while the track was ultimately scrapped and re-recorded as "Use This Gospel" for release on Jesus Is King.[126] Of the Yandhi leaks, Pusha T wrote on Twitter that "it ruins all that we have in store for [you] guys."[127] Paul Thompson, writing for The Fader, noted that the leaks did not receive mainstream attention and were a "minor story" compared to West songs that had leaked previously. Thompson cited factors such as the lukewarm reception of Ye and that songs do not typically enter "popular canon" nowadays unless they're released on streaming services.[128] "Everything We Need" was recorded as a new version of the track "The Storm", with the former being released on Jesus Is King.[74] "New Body" was previewed at Jesus Is King listening parties, but was removed from the final track listing for the album a day before release due to the creative differences between West and Nicki Minaj.[67][129] In December 2019, the track "Bye Bye Baby" leaked online, featuring opening vocals by American rapper Mykki Blanco.[130]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	4.9/10[138]
Metacritic	53/100[139]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[72]
Chicago Tribune	[140]
The Daily Telegraph	[80]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[95]
Exclaim!	6/10[141]
The Guardian	[74]
The Independent	[73]
NME	[91]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[90]
Rolling Stone	[142]

According to review aggregator Metacritic, which sampled 25 reviews and calculated an average score of 53 out of 100, Jesus Is King was met with "mixed or average" reviews.[139] AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 4.9 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[138]

Jordan Bassett from NME wrote of the album: "Where last year's truncated, seven-track 'ye' largely felt sterile and unfinished, a collection of messy, half-realised conceits, here is an album with absolute clarity and confidence."[91] Bassett continued, calling it "concise by" the standards of Kanye West but not one of his "masterworks" like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and The Life of Pablo, though asserted that "there's density and focus throughout."[91] McCormick expressed similar feelings, stating that "with gospel choirs, church organs and soulful ululations condensed into a typically bravura tableaux of obscure samples, warped synths and spooky slabs of vocoder harmonies, Jesus Is King sounds as scintillating as anything" from West's discography.[80] Writing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica said of the album: "A more engaged and vivid album than 'Ye' from last year, though nowhere as robust as 'The Life of Pablo' from 2016, it is bare-bones and curiously effective," praising the emotion but being less enthusiastic towards the album's structure.[143] Rawiya Kameir from Pitchfork called it "a markedly more cohesive and enjoyable album than I believed him capable of creating at this juncture" but criticized Jesus Is King for being "largely focused on the ways in which religion has served Kanye himself."[90] Sam C. Mac of Slant Magazine was positive towards the production, though panned West's lack of capability to "translate his spiritual awakening to his music as confidently as he has nearly every other experience in his life on previous albums," despite noting that it "isn't the work of a has-been" and "there are flashes of genius throughout."[144]

In a mixed review, Rolling Stone's Brendan Klinkenberg looked at the album as where West is "no longer poking at contradictions, but reveling in a newfound zeal," though concluded by writing that "it will likely be placed alongside ye" in West's discography "as a distinctly lightweight entry" despite being "filled with moments of undeniable brilliance."[142] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune stated that West's "element of surprise, conflict and musical tension is largely missing" from Jesus Is King and labeled it as "a pedestrian effort from an artist who was anything but for the first decade of his career," despite pointing to certain gospel moments as "musical sparks" due to "West allowing message to trump musicality."[140] For The Guardian, Dean Van Nguyen called the album "too slight a record, too lacking in substance, to offer any sense of purification or real insights into West's mind" and branded it as "perfunctory religious discussion that tell us little of God's place in the life of this one believer and almost nothing" about the former's place in the modern world.[74] In another negative review, Wren Graves from Consequence of Sound gave the album an "F" rating, viewing it as "27 minutes of cliches, half-finished thoughts, and vaguely religious gesturing," while claiming that the album "feels surprisingly long" and writing: "Ideas develop and fizzle, but nothing sticks."[89] Veteran critic Robert Christgau found the album "grandiose, self-involved, uninspired, plus there are the underlying politics, which far as I'm concerned verge on evil," while saying of West, "Spiritually he's an egomaniacal shell, and the music is nothing. May he be born again for real, but I'm not holding my breath."[145]

On the US Billboard 200, Jesus Is King opened at number one with 264,000 album-equivalent units, of which 109,000 were pure album sales, ranking as the second-largest sales week of 2019 for an R&B/hip-hop album.[154] This gave West his ninth consecutive album to debut atop the chart, tying him with a record held by fellow rapper Eminem.[154] The chart-topping position stood as the sixth time that West did so with an album in the 2010s, tying him for second place with fellow rapper Future and Canadian singer Justin Bieber for most number one albums of the decade.[154] The album simultaneously entered atop the US Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums charts.[155] By doing so, Jesus Is King gave West his first appearance on the respective charts and the sales stood as the biggest unit week on both charts.[155] On the US charts, the album became the first to ever top the Billboard 200, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Top Rap Albums, Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums at the same time.[156] In its second week on the Billboard 200, Jesus Is King did not remain atop the chart, falling to number two with 72,000 album-equivalent units, experiencing a 73% decline in sales.[157] The album was replaced at the top position by rapper Post Malone's third studio album Hollywood's Bleeding, which was number two on the Billboard 200 the previous week, and this marked its fifth week atop the chart.[157]

Jesus Is King topped the Canadian Albums Chart with 16,000 total consumption units and 17.9 million on-demand streams that the units were mainly generated through.[158] The album stood as West's seventh number one album in Canada and his second consecutive chart topper.[158] Jesus Is King debuted atop the ARIA Albums chart, giving West his third number one album in Australia and becoming his second consecutive chart topper, while standing as the first time that an album with the word "King" in its title reached the summit.[159] This stood as the 498th time that an album debuted atop the chart, though became the sixth for Def Jam and the 20th to do so in 2019.[159] The reign of the album at the top position continued into its second week on the ARIA Albums chart, giving West his first album to remain at number one for over a week in Australia and also leading to him ranking as 139th on the list of "Accumulated Weeks at No.1: 1965 to 2019", while placing West at number 16 for accumulated weeks at the chart's summit within the 2010s decade.[160] Jesus Is King gave West his second chart-topping solo album in Norway by debuting at number one on the Norwegian Albums Chart.[161] A chart-topping debut was also attained by the album on the Danish Albums chart, standing as West's second chart topper in Denmark.[162] Jesus Is King debuted atop the Estonia Tipp-40, ending the seven-week reign of Hollywood's Bleeding.[163] The album also reached number one in Iceland, Latvia and New Zealand.[159][164][165]

Jesus Is King debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, being blocked from the top spot by Welsh rock band Stereophonics' eleventh studio album Kind.[166] However, this gave West his sixth top ten album on the chart.[166] The album also entered at number two on the Irish Albums Chart, with it being prevented from becoming a chart topper by Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy's debut studio album Without Fear.[167] Despite this, Jesus Is King stood as the highest new entry of the week on the chart and West's sixth top ten album in Ireland.[167] On the Sverigetopplistan albums chart, the album reached number two, tying with The Life of Pablo for West's highest charting album in Sweden, while reaching the same position on the Lithuanian Albums chart.[168][169] In the Netherlands, Jesus Is King peaked at number three on the Dutch Album Top 100.[170] Similarly, the album charted at number four and five on the Finnish Albums and Czech Albums charts, respectively.[171][172]

All eleven tracks from Jesus Is King charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, with "Follow God" debuting the highest at number seven.[133] This made West the artist with the fifth-most songs in the history of the chart, with his total number of Hot 100 entries amounting to 107, while also leading to him ranking at number one on the US Billboard Artist 100.[133][156] With the album, West simultaneously became the first artist to monopolize all top ten spots on the US Christian Songs and Gospel Songs charts, respectively.[173]

Jesus Is King Part II
Remix album by Kanye West
Label	GOOD Def Jam
Kanye West chronology
Jesus Is Born (2019) Jesus Is King Part II (TBA)
Dr. Dre chronology
Compton (2015) Jesus Is King Part II (TBD)

Jesus Is King Part II is an upcoming remix album by West and American rapper and record producer Dr. Dre.

In a pre-recorded promotional interview with Zane Lowe released a day before Jesus Is King, West announced that an album by the Sunday Service Choir entitled Jesus Is Born would be released on December 25, 2019, to coincide with Christmas.[187] During a special Christmas Eve performance by the Sunday Service Choir, the director Jason White addressed the audience and reconfirmed the album's release date.[188] Jesus Is Born was ultimately released on streaming services for Christmas afternoon on December 25, 2019. Klinkenberg viewed the album as the "companion to Jesus Is King."[189] In May 2020, American cinematographer Arthur Jafa revealed that West's upcoming album would be titled God's Country, which was later renamed to Donda in July 2020.[185][190]

Track listing and credits adapted from Tidal and the BMI Repertoire.[lower-alpha 5][191]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer

Sample credits[88]

• ^{^[c]} "Selah" contains samples of "Revelations 19:1" from Jesus Is Born, originally performed by the New Jerusalem Baptism Choir under the direction of Curtis Hayes and Jeffrey LaValley.[75]
• ^{^[d]} "Follow God" contains samples of "Can You Lose By Following God", written by Johnny Frieson, Curtis Eubanks, and Calvin Eubanks, and performed by Whole Truth.
• ^{^[e]} "Closed on Sunday" contains samples of "Martín Fierro", written by Chango Farías Gómez and performed by Grupo Vocal Argentino.
• "On God" contains samples of "Lambo", written and performed by YB; and "Oh My God", written by Jonathan Davis, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Trevor Smith, and Malik Taylor, and performed by A Tribe Called Quest featuring Busta Rhymes.
• ^{^[f]} "Water" contains samples of "Blow Job", written and performed by Bruce Haack.
• ^{^[g]} "God Is" contains samples of "God Is", written by Robert Fryson and performed by James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir.
• "Use This Gospel" contains samples of "Costume Party", written and performed by Two Door Cinema Club.
• ^{^[h]} "Jesus Is Lord" contains samples of "Un Homme Dans La Nuit", written by Claude Léveillée.

Credits adapted from Tidal.[191]

Musicians

Engineers

• Jesus Is King at Discogs (list of releases)
• Official website