My phone’s background has had the words “Jesus is King” for a while now. It has been a good reminder for me since Jesus has become important in my life 3 years ago. And about 6 years ago, Kanye West was the major reason why I got into hip hop and started producing music. So when I heard the announcement for Kanye’s new album, JIK (Jesus Is King), I was seriously excited. Although–and not all too surprisingly–there has been some delays in the album’s release (I’m just happy it didn’t get scrapped), it finally dropped yesterday.

After listening to the album, I pondered about the utility of me writing this post. There seems to be good discussions around the album already, from Christian perspectives, hip hop head perspectives, and from those who participate in both communities. What I’ve decided–which circles back to how Kanye first empowered me to be an artist–is that I should just be true to myself and create. So here is me sharing my reality, my opinions, and my journey, which at the end of the day, is exactly what Kanye has done on the album himself.

Now, the big question that I think many people have is this: Is Kanye a ‘real’ Christian now?

Something I want to address from the start is that there has always been a strong intersectionality between hip hop and Christianity–and more specifically, between African Americans and the church. Many were brought up going to church, as a result of North American culture being built on Christian foundations, and the church being able to provide a form of community for many minority groups.

As for myself, I grew up going to church like many other Korean immigrant families. I actually liked attending church, but in hindsight, what I got out of church was more on ‘god’ than a personal relationship with Jesus, if that makes sense. After high school, as I moved away from home, I stopped going to church. I didn’t outright ditch God but I found church-going to be not as relevant to my life.

Strangely enough, during a season in my life and in a cultural climate where I felt disempowered to engage with Christianity, rappers seemed to use “Christian words” all the time. I always found hip hop fascinating for this reason:

“So here go my single, dawg, radio needs this

They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus

That means guns, sex, lies, videotape

But if I talk about God my record won’t get played, huh?” Kanye West – Jesus Walks (2004)

Now that I think about it, perhaps hip hop played a role in me finding Jesus (again). But I mean, it certainly wasn’t from A to B. In the process however, I started to realize a distinction between Christianity and Christian culture. I don’t think I’m nuanced enough to really tackle this discussion properly, but in a sense, it’s analogous to the distinction between the gospel and gospel music. The gospel means the good news: the news of a reality that the story of humankind is really the story of God making Himself and His love known to humans. Gospel music is a genre of music. It has roots in Christianity (and let’s certainly not forget the culture where the music comes from) but it can also just be a sound characterized by church choirs and certain chord progressions.

As for the analysis of the album, after some thought, I’m simply going to walk you through the album as sort of a play-by-play of my thoughts. I was curious to confirm the validity of Kanye’s faith in my listen, and I wanted to be critical about the boundaries of secular and Christian music.

Album: Jesus Is King

Artist: Kanye West

Release Date: October 25, 2019

Runtime: 27 minutes

01 Every Hour

There isn’t much content to discuss in this song. This is what I mean by the gospel sound. This song is very bare bones, which I can kind of see why Kanye used it as an intro. I think it’s meant to feel like a gospel choir practicing for Sunday.

02 Selah

Again, we have the gospel sound, and this time the sound is fuller with the addition of “church organs”. It’s like it’s Sunday now. To me, this song is mostly just a rap song. What I mean by this is that the lyrics reference and draw allusions to Christian themes and ideas but it’s kind of vague and not necessarily “Jesus”. Although, I have to say that I felt some chills from these lines:

“To whom the son set free is free indeed

He saved a wretch like me”

“Everything old shall now become new

The leaves’ll be green, bearing the fruit

Love God and our neighbor, as written in Luke

The army of God and we are the truth”

03 Follow God

Sonically, this is a classic hip hop track with soul samples. Lyrically, this song reflects a child’s reality of growing up in a Christian household.

“Arguing with my dad, and he said, “It ain’t Christ-like””

So far, the album is still secular from my perspective. Musically, I definitely like the flow on this one.

04 Closed on Sunday

The past 3 songs have been reflective of gospel music or rap music with maybe slightly more overt Christian language. And now Kanye says something rather goofy, but I think it makes for a surprisingly good transition into something more serious and somber:

“Closed on Sunday, you’re my Chick-fil-A”

Now I didn’t know this, but apparently, it’s Chick-fil-A’s company policy to be closed on Sunday as a result of the founder’s faith. I think it highlights something very Christian: doing things that don’t necessarily make sense in the context of its current time and culture but having faith that the group of instructions given from God will lead to society flourishing. And it’s on this track that Kanye mentions the name of Jesus for the first time:

“Follow Jesus, listen and obey

No more livin’ for the culture, we nobody’s slave”

And then Kanye correctly identifies what it means to be a Christian:

“I bow down to the King upon the throne

My life is His, I’m no longer my own”

While I liked the other lines, I generally feel very weary when song lyrics mention God, especially in context of personal power and strength:

“I pray to God that He’ll strengthen my hand

They will think twice steppin’ onto my land”

I mean just listen to this verse:

“I always wanted to stunt so hard

I always wanted to ride that whip

I always wanted to fuck that bitch

Thank you, God, I fucked that bitch” Big Sean – Paradise (2015)

Although I actually like this song, it’s a clear example of how referencing “God” in a song, even when it seems contextually appropriate (giving gratitude towards God), it doesn’t make it Christian. Similarly, using “only God can judge me” as a tool for personal gain demonstrates a shallow understanding of the implication of God’s love.

Sonically, this song has a classic club sound with moog synth basslines. But it’s nicely contrasted with an acoustic guitar sound that reminds me of flamenco music.

05 On God

Sonically, this song is very different from all of the previous tracks. It’s an obviously electronic song with arpeggiated major triads reminiscent of techno music. It certainly brings a bright and open characteristic to the song. Here, Kanye seems to be recontextualizing his life events by giving God the credits.

“‘How you get so much favor on your side?’

‘Accept Him as your Lord and Saviour,’ I replied”

I generally don’t like lyrics like this because it reminds me of the prosperity gospel. Bad things happen to both good and “bad” people as a reality of living in a broken, post-sin world.

There is an air of braggadocio, as rap songs will have. It’s that first-person pronoun, assertive, “this is mine” kind of writer’s voice. On this song, it’s kind of interestingly subverted by explicitly saying that things are “on God”.

“When I thought the Book of Job was a job”

I love Kanye’s humor.

“In ’03, they told me not to drive

I bleached my hair for every time I could’ve died

But I survived, that’s on God”

This resonated with me. I think people really mean it when they talk about near-death experiences. There are times when I remind myself that I’m a survivor of depression and this to me is my personal proof of God.

Overall, it’s kind of a fun and silly song. I might say that it’s a vehicle to switch themes in the overarching narrative of the album.

06 Everything We Need

Here we start with warm sounding chords made by voices (Auto-Tune + Harmony Engine). This to me is the modern gospel choir sound, which I personally quite like.

“Life too short, go spoil yourself

Feel that feel, enjoy yourself ’cause”

Sounds hedonistic if I were to be critical. For some reason, I feel like this could have been a Chance the Rapper song. It’s a rather short song, coming in just under 2 minutes.

“What if Eve made apple juice?

You gon’ do what Adam do?

Or say, “Baby, let’s put this back on the tree” ’cause

We have everything we need”

First of all, this is hilarious. It’s totally something you would expect Kanye to come up with. And yet, it represents something so crucial: we let sin enter into the world primarily on the skepticism that God may not be enough and therefore we need to get what we want with our own hands. It’s essentially a break of trust and faith.

07 Water

Sounds like a videogame soundtrack/BGM. Very light and fluffy sounding. It’s also got a 2-chord progression which gives the track a trance like feeling. Here’s another bare bone sounding, simple track. It talks about purity and water. I was starting to feel that this song was too much of just a new-age-y spirituality, just a ‘feel your feelings’ kind of a song, but then:

“Jesus, flow through us

Jesus, heal the bruises

Jesus, clean the music

Jesus, please use us

Jesus, please help

Jesus, please heal

Jesus, please forgive

Jesus, please reveal

Jesus, give us strength

Jesus, make us well

Jesus, help us live

Jesus, give us wealth

Jesus is our safe

Jesus is our rock

Jesus, give us grace

Jesus, keep us safe”

And now, with this context, there is a holy and righteous meaning behind purity, which is quite fitting after the previous track alluded to the garden of Eden.

08 God Is

We now move into a song sampling gospel music. The chord progression has a very sobering feeling. Kanye starts with:

“Everything that I felt, praise the Lord”

I think starting with this line is quite significant for Kanye. Kanye certainly can be impulsive and moody, he is a person with a great deal of feelings to navigate. It’s a level of entirety.

“Every time I look up, I see God’s faithfulness”

At this point in the song, my cynical side says, ‘well sure but where are you going with this?’ As I’ve mentioned, you can talk about God and giving gratitude but it could just be something you say.

“I can’t keep it to myself, I can’t sit here and be still

Everybody, I will tell ’til the whole world is healed

King of Kings, Lord of Lords, all the things He has in store

From the rich to the poor, all are welcome through the door

You won’t ever be the same when you call on Jesus’ name

Listen to the words I’m sayin’, Jesus saved me, now I’m sane”

And then I recognize this response. This is a natural response of someone who “gets it” and wants to share the joy/treasure that they have found. This is the evangelical zeal. Now, that last line, “now I’m sane”, is something that I could only hope and pray about. For myself, as a Christian and as someone who struggles with depression, I absolutely have to put my hope in Christ.

“This ain’t ’bout a damn religion

Jesus brought a revolution

All the captives are forgiven

Time to break down all the prisons

Every man, every woman

There is freedom from addiction

Jesus, You have my soul”

“Thank you, Jesus, won the fight”

That’s gonna get an amen from me.

09 Hands On

This song goes back to a certain hip hop feel. It’s sobering, introspective, and conversational. It’s an established style of writing lyrics and I feel that it’s what Drake excels in. So what’s Kanye trying to say?

“Told the devil that I’m going on a strike

Told the devil when I see him, on sight

I’ve been working for you my whole life

Told the devil that I’m going on a strike”

I think this is an interesting and yet a definite way of confessing to living a sinful life (as we all do). And then, Kanye had a message specifically for Christians:

“Nothing worse than a hypocrite

Change, he ain’t really different

He ain’t even try to get permission

Ask for advice and they dissed him

Said I’m finna do a gospel album

What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?

They’ll be the first one to judge me

Make it feel like nobody love me

They’ll be the first one to judge me

Feelin’ like nobody love me”

“If they only see the wrongs, never listen to the songs

Just to listen is a fight, but you booked me for the fight

It’s so hard to get along if they only see the slight

From the love of religion

What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?

They’ll be the first one to judge me

Make it seem like nobody love me”

“I’m not tryna lead you to Visas

But if I try to lead you to Jesus

We get called halfway believers

Only halfway read Ephesians

Only if they knew what I knew, uh

I was never new ’til I knew of

True and living God, Yeshua

The true and living God

(Somebody pray for me)”

“I deserve all the criticism you got

If that’s all the love you have, that’s all you got

To sing of change, you think I’m joking

To praise His name, you ask what I’m smoking

Yes, I understand your reluctancy, yeah

But I have a request, you see

Don’t throw me up, lay your hands on me

Please, pray for me

Hold myself on death

Hold it down, all fallen down

Somebody pray for me”

My mouth was kind of hanging open when I heard this song for the first time. Isn’t this what being a Christian is about? Admiting to living flawed lives and depending on Jesus, both as savior and king. We also know that we need help from each other in trying to be more like Jesus. Christians need God’s help and sometimes, even help for our hearts to become willing. Kanye is definitely getting this right.

10 Use This Gospel

Sonically reminiscent of a MBDTF-era (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) track, I feel that it’s mostly a “secular” song to me to be honest, but a few lines stood out:

“Fashionably late, I’m just glad that you made it

The best is yet to come, I’m just glad that you waited

They all say they real ’til it’s time to appraise it

I seen them come and go, you only the latest

But who am I to judge? I’m crooked as Vegas”

“Use this gospel for protection

It’s a hard road to Heaven

We call on your blessings

In the Father, we put our faith

King of the kingdom

Our demons are tremblin’

Holy angels defendin’

In the Father, we put our faith”

“Blindfolded on this road, watch me faith walk

Just hold on to your brother when his faith lost”

I’m not a huge fan of the way someof the words here are phrased, but there is an important concept here: ultimately, our faith is in God and we need to be in community to help us live this way. I think it’s commendable that Kanye, aware of his sinful desires and the potential to fall, asks us to help him when he does (and everyone needs mercy and compassion):

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

11 Jesus Is Lord

The entire song is:

“Every knee shall bow

Every tongue confess

Jesus is Lord

Jesus is Lord”

I love the brass/horns in this song. There are certain connotations in regards to the sound of trumpets in the Bible, one of them being:

“When you arrive in your own land and go to war against your enemies who attack you, sound the alarm with the trumpets. Then the Lord your God will remember you and rescue you from your enemies. Blow the trumpets in times of gladness, too, sounding them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month. And blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. The trumpets will remind the Lord your God of his covenant with you. I am the Lord your God.” Numbers 10:9-10 (NIV)

This album isn’t a masterpiece to me in a sense that it was able to capture the fullness of Christianity. But it’s certainly a masterpiece in a sense that it’s something God will gladly and lovingly accept from Kanye as he comes to Jesus, proclaiming Him as King. I feel that Kanye was genuine and earnest in sharing his truth.

Genre wise, this is not a “Christian” album, much less a worship album. As always with Kanye, as an artist, he simply creates albums reflective of his journey through life, which I am, for one, glad for the stage that he is in now.

“Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” Matthew 7:16 (NIV)

To go back to the original question of whether Kanye is a Christian or not, I would almost suggest that it doesn’t matter because God can and will redeem Kanye’s work regardless. I’ll be curious to see how much fruit his actions and–ultimately–his life will bear, although we may never get to fully know on this side of heaven. For Christians, if you’re feeling skeptical, why not be prayerful instead, just as he is requesting? It’s not about “us” or Kanye, it’s about Jesus–God’s one and only son. Lord have mercy and God help us.

What does it mean to be a Christian? Does Kanye get it all? Probably not, but do any of us? I certainly don’t. And yet, this is the Christian reality:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

JESUS IS KING.

Sunday update:

[2019-10-27]

I wanted to say a few more things after listening to the album on day 3. After the usual Sunday activities (church, brunch, groceries), I came home and played the album for my wife, who hadn’t heard it yet. With my lens of criticism lens out of the way, I found myself being less skeptical towards the album’s message.

Basically, it was clear to me that Kanye was a believer of Jesus. The album is still a hip hop album: it still contains elements of braggadocio, social justice, and rhymes that rhyme more than they mean. Taking a step back, however, I’ve realized that I can actually understand Kanye’s lyrics because I myself had become a believer not too long ago. I learned, and am continuing to learn, what it means to be a Christian as a follower of Jesus. The theology of JIK’s lyrics won’t be perfect but that’s more than okay, as long as the focus is on Jesus.

I now want to address the disappointments in the album as it has changed from “Yandhi”, and whether Jesus is just another spiritual figure that Kanye has decided to focus on.

There was this one night a couple years ago when I listened to TLOP (The Life Of Pablo) with my roommates. It was during a rather manic episode, and I proceeded to talked about Kanye continuously until daybreak (again, sorry guys). I felt like I “got” Kanye. I felt like I could hear, beneath all the noise, Kanye’s desperation in trying to express himself, find freedom, and connect to and represent something higher (“Ultralight Beam”).

I remember feeling deeply for Kanye because, although I wasn’t attending church at the time, I felt like the love of God that I knew was what he needed. Not religion, but a personal relationship with Him. I remember thinking to myself, “What if I prayed for Kanye. Is anyone praying for him?”.

There’s something very captivating about Kanye’s music, and this is something I am reminded time and time again. I don’t think it’s a mistake that Kanye’s music has been influential for nearly two decades, and there’s something so true in the way he puts his emotions in music. Throughout the years, however, I stopped following Kanye religiously, and then I stopped following him at all. I’ve always appreciated his artistry but I felt like he was becoming less of himself (in his music) and more distilled versions of his feelings.

“I know God is the force that picked me up” Kanye West – God Is (2019)

And this is what brings me back. I myself feel a lot of strong emotions and I’ve chased different feelings to meet different needs. But now, I have come to realize that God has been the force of goodness I’ve felt throughout my life and He’s what I’ve been searching for. It has been a paradigm shift to see God as all love I’ve experienced in my life. And somewhere in his journey, sober, manic, or high, I believe that Kanye too has encountered the Spirit of the living God.

In many ways, I still can’t believe this happened. It truly weirds me out, but in a good way. To hear Kanye’s music glorifying God is an answered prayer. Do I believe that Kanye has become a Christian? Well, I believe in and know a God who can redeem me and who can redeem Kanye. And even if Kanye were only “trying” this Christian thing, well… I myself and many other Christians have all started out that way–by making an initial decision to put our life and trust in Jesus…

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. …” John 14:6 (NIV)

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