No sex, please – I’m a born again rap god

decade in which Dylan struggled to recover artistic focus and momentum.

Whether West’s conversion will have a similar effect on his fan base remains to be seen. It does not exactly arrive out of the blue. West’s 2004 single Jesus Walks (from debut album The College Dropout) brilliantly illuminated the tensions between secular temptation and spiritual exaltation.

A rapper and producer of extraordinary ambition, West rose to superstardom by juxtaposing adventurous musical beats to witty, provocative wordplay.

He regularly rapped about his fondness for pornography and started public disputes with such figures as Taylor Swift and George W Bush.

Married in 2013 to reality TV and social media star Kim Kardashian, West has found it impossible to keep contrite tone on Hands On, he admits: “I deserve all the criticism I get”, but pleads: “Don’t throw me up, lay your hands on me / Please, pray for me.”

Beginning in January this year, West has been holding weekly prayer gatherings billed as Sunday Service, featuring a gospel choir singing interpretations of his songs purged of sex, drugs and obscenity. The choir feature prominently on Jesus Is King.

West admitted asking musical collaborators “not to have premarital sex” while working on the album. His abstemiousness, unfortunately, is reflected in the least interesting lyrics of his career.

Much like

Dylan at his