Kanye West finally released his highly anticipated album Jesus Is King on Friday, October 25th. Reviews from critics and fans alike have been mixed to say the least. Some claim that the message of the album is a metaphoric call to action towards the new wave of hip hop. Other, more extreme comparisons, have been made calling the album a symbol of the Bible and Kanye as Jesus Christ himself.
In a recent interview, before the albums release, Kanye expressed his feelings toward rap culture calling it “modern day slavery”. He elaborates on this thought, explaining how music culture and record labels promote this so called racial movement in their business strategies with other rappers.
West constantly promotes authenticity for new music and has always gone the extra step toward making himself relevant. Even with it’s new release, the album has not received the open arms it was hoping for. Songs such as “Closed on Sunday” inspired by Chick-fil-A’s famous Sunday policy have sent many on a Twitter frenzy expressing their feelings on religion and music.
If you weren’t a fan of Yeezy’s new sound, you better get used to it. West claims that he has no plans to ever play his old songs again. How could one of the most idolized and iconic rappers not sing to his famous tunes, “All of the Lights” and “Power”? Kanye is never one to shy from sharing his true feelings. Personally I think that is why he stays so relevant. He is not scared to voice his emotions, thoughts and ideas to the audience he has. But it begs the question, where do you draw the line between personal artistic expression and giving the fans what they want?
Listen to his new album, Jesus is King below. https://open.spotify.com/album/0FgZKfoU2Br5sHOfvZKTI9?si=NedWLv39RqaKB56oETU6tA
