Millionaire multi-platinum rapper Kanye West released a brand new album this past weekend. It is aptly named, “JESUS IS KING”, and features artists such as Ty Dolla Sign, his Sunday Service Choir, and Ant Clemons. 

Before I go into my review of this album, I wanted to give my history and opinion on Kanye himself. I was introduced to Kanye when I was in elementary school. My older brother was the one who introduced me to him when he played the song, “Stronger”. I was never really a huge Kanye fan, as I could never buy into his whole “I’m the greatest ever” persona. I did enjoy his more recent “ye” album from 2018, as he seemed to be less cocky and showed off some sides of himself that he doesn’t usually portray. Kanye’s tendency to reveal the boisterous, pompous, self-centered depiction of himself is one I really don’t agree with. 

Kanye’s pride runs strong; with that, he is not afraid to voice his opinions on topics. From supporting MAGA to now preaching the gospel in his new album, Kanye is willing to share his ideas to anyone who will listen. Just scrolling through his twitter will give people an example of what he stands for. 

JESUS IS KING shows a completely new Kanye. The album is 100% clean, which can’t be said about any other album in his catalogue. The album does not show a cocky Kanye, but doesn’t show a quiet one either. Kanye seems to portray himself as a prophet throughout this album. And with titles, “Follow God”, “Use This Gospel”, and “Jesus Is Lord”, he certainly isn’t quiet about his opinion on the Christian religion. This album mentions God in every single one of it’s songs, and is one of his only albums that follows a continuous theme throughout. 

Kanye’s producing certainly does not fall short in this album. Overall it sounds beautiful, with great mixing and amazing harmonies in “Every Hour” and “Everything We Need”. However, to me this album seems incomplete and rushed. Some songs such as “Water” are mixed great and sound amazing, while others such as “Follow God” and “On God” sound as though they were recorded on a cell phone. Kanye teased the release of “JESUS IS KING” for several months leading up to the actual drop date, and ran into several production issues that may have caused not only a delay in release, but a lack of quality for some songs. 

Ok- my issue with this album is not the sound quality or the subject matter; it is Kanye West himself. According to Forbes, his net worth is around $240 million, and his wife Kim Kardashion, is worth $350 million. During one line in the song “On God” he says, “That’s why I charge the prices that I charge… No I cannot let my family starve”. He is referring to the prices that he puts on his clothes in his Yeezy clothes line. Now, I understand that he still has to make money, but will bringing down the prices of his clothes really put his family into poverty? Will he starve with his $240 million? This is just one example, but Kanye does this “poor me” routine quite a few times during this album, and I don’t think he should be the one playing these cards.

Although I don’t generally agree with Kanye and his behavior, this album does host some great songs. It is very sonically pleasing, and provides a consistent theme throughout. 

Overall, I would give the album a 3/5.