Mystery surrounds Kanye’s latest effort
Noted perfectionist Kanye West has a long history of delayed album releases. That legacy continues as the presumed drop date for his ninth studio album, Jesus Is King, came and went.
The notoriously media-averse rapper has confirmed next to nothing about his upcoming career milestone. The following is what we do know.
THE CONCEPT
Religion — Christianity, in particular — has been a benchmark of West’s work since his 2004 debut album The College Dropout. That album famously featured the gospel-tinged Jesus Walks, which reached No. 11 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart; won the 2005 Grammy for best rap song; and briefly landed College Dropout on the ballot for the Stellar Awards, an annual celebration of gospel music — before controversy prompted the nominating committee to remove the album from consideration.
Jesus Is King stands to be West’s most spiritually focused album to date and notably follows the creation of West’s Sunday Service, a mystifying weekly event that has combined gospel music, spoken word, informal sermons and controversial merch that includes $50 socks and $225 sweatshirts emblazoned with the event’s name and phrases such as “Holy Spirit,” which presumably can’t be trademarked.
THE DATES
Fans expected Jesus Is King to drop on Sept. 27, because of a photo his wife Kim Kardashian shared in August. The post contained an image of an apparent track list, handwritten in a notebook in black, with Jesus Is King scrawled across the top, followed by 12 likely song titles and “September 27” at the bottom. On Sept. 27, Kardashian posted another photo with a seemingly updated track list, this time handwritten on a piece of Marriott stationery with no mention of a date. She captioned the photo with a similarly cryptic but on-theme message: “Have faith ...” So, the album could arrive any day. Or not, since we’re still waiting on Yandhi, the long-delayed album West was expected to release last year before apparently abandoning the project.
THE ALBUM
Speaking of Yandhi, we should point out that Complex and other outlets have posited that Jesus Is King is merely a reworked version of West’s previously anticipated album. Several leaked tracks were uploaded as ring tones to Apple Music. The Verge notes that the upload was likely a scam since the ring tones didn’t list any of West’s record labels as the copyright holder.
THE PROMOTIONAL TOUR
West hosted a number of events in connection with the album and an accompanying Imax film of the same name, reportedly set to hit theatres on Oct. 25. Rolling Stone reported that fans heard snippets of the album, characterized as “Christian rap.” These events have been presented in collaboration with Imax and Def Jam, West’s record label. Andrew Barber, founder of hip-hop blog Fake Shore Drive, tweeted that West had “announced that he is no longer making secular music.” The Washington Post