“On God”

They say we should separate church and state, but nobody ever said we couldn’t unite church and the Supreme store. With “On God,” the fifth track from Kanye West’s gospel-infused album Jesus Is King, the Chicago rapper sets out to make an anthem for pastors with a pair of Off-White VaporMaxes in the closet of their multimillion-dollar homes. Kanye wants us to think he’s a new man—no more cursing or Grammy worship—though a close look at this song’s lyrics prove that he hasn’t changed much. “Thirteenth Amendment, gotta end it, that’s on me,” he says, wading back into the controversy about slavery that he ignited last year without really clarifying anything. Elsewhere, he blames the exorbitantly high prices of his sneakers on the IRS and because he “can’t be out here dancin’ with the stars.” It’s self-sacrifice at its most self-absorbed.

Aside from the sloppy rapping, Kanye’s capabilities as a studio curator and beatmaker haven’t completely waned. Together, a production team of Ye, Pi’erre Bourne, and others use bright, Graduation-sized synths, head-knocking drums, and a manipulated vocal sample to make Kanye’s fumbled message bearable. His conversion story doesn’t really make sense here, but he’s right that church would slap way harder if every song was produced by Pi’erre Bourne.