“Use This Gospel” reunites the Clipse, although they sound confused about their place in gospel music. Real Friends (Featured Guests): There aren’t many to choose from, but the most electrifying features happen all on the same song. Still, with an album as humorless as this, a half-baked punchline is better than none at all. The one idea used up, the rest of the track is then devoted to lectures about how you should stay off Instagram on the Sabbath. First, he builds a whole song out of a single half-baked punchline. This is typical of West’s approach on Jesus Is King. Mic Drop (Noteworthy Lyrics): “Closed on Sunday/ You’re my Chick’Fil’A,” West raps on “Closed on Sunday.” He repeats the line over and over again, and even squeals “Chick’Fil’A!” at the end, in case you missed the joke. “I can’t be out here dancin’ with the stars/ No, I cannot let my family starve!” It’s a curious way to end a song praising God, and moments like this make the album feel less than sincere. “That’s why I charge the prices that I charge,” he shouts, perhaps referencing his expensive fashion line or Yeezy 350’s. In “On God,” West concludes the song by defending his choices as a businessman. Most of Jesus Is King is given over to praising God, but West occasionally loses the thread. The songs are short, in the tradition of ye and Kids See Ghosts, and the album only runs 27 minutes. New Day (Overall Mood or Sound): West follows through on his evangelical mission, building sparse hip-hop out of choirs, organs, and whispered hallelujahs. It’s an old formula, tried and tested, but there’s still a bit of magic in it.
It hearkens back to the chopped and screwed soul samples upon which West built his reputation. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Best Sample): “Follow God” is built around a sample of “Can You Lose by Following God,” released by Whole Truth in 1974. Instead, it just underscores the lack of forethought that went into the project. Perhaps this was meant to indicate a return to minimalism. Here, a blue LP sits in a blank white rectangle with the album’s title in yellow lettering. On Sight (Album Cover): Jesus Is King features the simplest album cover in Kanye West’s discography, simpler even than Yeezus’ plain CD with a strip of tape. The only question was what West’s version of gospel would sound like. Kanye West was born again and committed to gospel music. A project that once was called Yandhi was rechristened as Jesus Is King. West gave up cursing and asked the people working on the album to refrain from pre-marital sex. He supplemented these stories with escalating quotes about a newfound religiosity. Jesus Is King had release dates come and go without a new record, and each miss led to another round of breathless news coverage. Good Morning (Introduction): If there’s no such thing as bad press, then Kanye West has elevated the album rollout to an art form. West has taken turns as a civil rights activist and the Louis Vuitton Don, pushed artistic boundaries and torn up shopping malls, and transformed from devout Christian to “I Am a God” and back again. In the beginning, he was the reinvention of backpack rap, “the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest,” contained within “this guy called West.” Lots has changed since then. In 2004, West launched his solo career and sold himself to the public for the very first time. He started off as Jay-Z’s secret weapon, a budding super-producer pumping out hits like “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” “Takeover,” and “Encore,” prompting Jay-Z to interrupt The Black Album to shout, “Kanyeezy, you did it again, you a genius!” That was probably one of the last times West was called Kanyeezy, and one of the first times the g-word was tossed around. Over the years, Kanye West has been many things to many different people. This time, we sort through the best and worst of Yeezy country. It’s exact science by way of a few beers.
Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, a director’s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in the abstract. This article originally ran in 2016 and has been updated.