KANYE TRIES GOSPEL…AGAIN

After more than a year of teasing and several unfulfilled release dates, Kanye West finally delivered his ninth solo studio album, “Jesus Is King” on Oct. 25.

And it is a shame that even after all that extra time, this work is so clearly in need of revision.

West has been long-known to be a perfectionist, repeatedly delaying his projects to make sure they are to his very specific liking. He famously did this with his 2016 album, “The Life of Pablo,” which saw major artistic changes even almost two MONTHS after the work’s initial dropping. 

With this in mind, it can only be assumed that since West clearly took his time with Jesus Is King, it is up to his personal quality standard.  Or, at least the closest thing possible, for now or otherwise. So what gives?

This album is not awful, not by any stretch of the word; but it is not Kanye West at his best by any stretch of the word either; and this is where the confusion lies.

Jesus Is King is a very unique addition to West’s discography. It is a gospel album (arguably loosely), devoid of any of the Kanye-brand rambunctiousness and explosive experience, and it focuses practically entirely on his personal Christian journey and life of worship.

It is often brilliant in its composition, and the sampling present is Grade-A classic Kanye, indeed. His dramatic and entrancingly booming use of choir harmonies and singing styles is incredible, and there is no denying that nothing like this has even been done in the history of this genre so competently and uniquely.

The problem is, Jesus Is King is not the most competent or even particularly interesting representation of this faith, at all.

Kanye is not the greatest lyricist in hip-hop – this is obvious – but he at the very least has always made up for that in spades with his unique poetic style and beyond-masterful production skill. The latter is surely present in this work, that much cannot be denied. While one could argue that every song is certainly not objectively flawless, you cannot deny that every second has clearly been carefully examined and constructed by him, with an iconic attention to detail unparalleled by almost no other artist in the industry.

Unfortunately, this cannot save just how much he insists on leaning further and further toward shallow, mediocre word choice on this album.

Say what you will regarding his past projects, Kanye has, at the very least, evidently and thoroughly understood what he writes. Now, it is not any of my concern or authority to speak on the strength or legitimacy of his Christian faith; this is not the issue, at all. In fact, I would sum up this main problem within Jesus Is King with a word: disappointing.

It is disappointing to realize that there truly is no deeper, spiritual perspective here. If Kanye has a powerful, uniquely own view of his faith as he wants us to understand it, which I personally fully believe he does, it does not come across in the slightest anywhere on this tracklist.

In the most positive light one can describe it, the values and teachings of this religion and its sister religions are admirable and even beautiful. Had the album touched on this potential at all, Jesus Is King could have lived up and even surpassed its hype in the typical Kanye West-fashion, but it did not.

This album is filled only with shallow, empty lines mostly filled with evangelical buzzwords and sometimes, even hypocritical statements. Kanye describes deep, deep love and worship of the Christian God and Jesus Christ himself, but often raps in opposition to their teachings and actions. Of course, both he and these renowned figures are both very much open to interpretation, but frankly he says very little in this work that leaves room for further examination.

Even more unfortunately, this seems to have been purposeful.

Jesus Is King wasn’t made for Kanye fans’ typical tastes in particular, but is certainly something that we could very well dearly appreciate regardless. It is still very much Kanye, still very much his voice, both literally and artistically. But let us not turn a blind eye to what this album lacks. After all, this just-missed opportunity absolutely serves as a valuable lesson to both him and the endless other artists he has inspired and will inspire indefinitely.

(3/5)