As a disclaimer I would like everyone to know now, I will not be addressing Kanye's political views in this review. To prevent droning on about artists' decisions away from the mic, I will have a separate article dedicated to exactly that.
So now for the review...
After 8 separate listens of Jesus Is King I can fairly say that I have experienced every emotion there is to experience expect for the emotion of being impressed.
Prior to the album's release I was afraid that the album would suffer from uninteresting and vapid lyrics and those lyrics would be shadowed by luxurious production and thematics. In short, I was correct, but overall it didn't disappoint as much as it could have.
I really wish that this was not called a "gospel album". This album is a Christian rap album with the elements of gospel in it, and I will explain my reasoning in the breakdown.
Every Hour
In the first track "Every Hour" the Sunday Service was impressive, but was so short lived that once you were into the song, it was over...fine...consider it an intro, but as a full song it would have been a wonderful gospel song on the album.Selah
Selah has a triumphant build up that's enjoyable. This track may be the strongest lyrical showing on the album from Kanye, and honestly this isn't that impressive. Kanye does refer to some verses about deliverance and tying it to his personal deliverance with Christ, but the issue is there is no nuance. There is no connection to what Christ has done for him, or how he has come to this part of the journey. There was an opportunity to share parts of his journey that causes the references verses to fit, but he does nothing with it.Follow God
I have seen that a lot of people love this track, and not to take a complete dump on it, the production and sample is fantastic, and the flow is great, but the lyrics...nah fam.Outside of the repeated reference to his dad saying that Kanye isn't being Christlike, this song is more selfish and self-centered than "gospel". This song is where I began to find the negative trend that Kanye is using God more as the scapegoat to criticism and less to reflect on who he was, and who he is.
Closed on Sunday
Vague, uninspired sounding, shallow, and poorly done. The only reason why anyone will remember this song is because of the funny Chick-fil-A reference, but nothing about this song screams "talent" or "creativity".On God
Pierre is dope. The wierd hip hop electro synth beat is engaging and strong, it nearly sounds like something that could have been on Graduation. This actually may be the most secular song on the album, and it's one of the most enjoyable. This song highlights my complaint about calling this album "gospel". The lyrics are about paying high taxes and patting himself on the back for being a great artist. There's only a couple lines referencing Christ and once again...nothing about what Christ means to Kanye. In just about every Gospel song you find there is are two elements that connects you to the artist... A testimony and passion. The passion Kanye has for himself was stronger in this track than his passion for Christ. Lastly, this song is mixed poorly.Everything We Need
Ty Dolla $ign provides a nice intro to this track...and then Kanye comes in, he kills the vibe of the song, and I believe Kanye knows this as well, because his verses are extremely short, and the song cuts back to the wonderful vocals of Ty. Once again this song is mostly about Kanye, his spends most of verse two, patting himself on the back. How am I supposed to know what/who is everything you need when you've spent most of the song speaking about yourself? This was a waste of some good vocals from Ty Dolla. The instrumental to this track is nice though.Water
I love the choir!!! If I don't give Kanye credit for anything this entire album, he put together a great collective of Gospel voices. This song for the most part is beautiful... until Kanye comes in. The deadpan delivery and the random adlibs should have been replaced with vocals of the Sunday Service choir. This song has so much potential to be great, and it's wasted.God Is
Remove Kanye and his terrible singing and you have a beautiful Gospel song that would be sung at churches around the country. There's nothing wrong with creating and facilitating a sound to portray your story without being the vocals behind it. Look at Kirk Franklin... It would have been really nice if the approach to this song was like "DRAM sings Special" on Chance the Rapper's "Coloring Book". But as is...it's not that great.Hands On
It sounds pretty decent. I really admire how the beat is somber and stripped away so the focus is the lyrical content, and the verse starts out pretty decent, I really admire his acknowledgement of working for the devil all his life, but right after that he makes me mad. If you've been working for the devil your entire life, why are you so upset that Christians are skeptical of your intents? And once again, why are you making this song about you? There's nothing we can connect Kanye, Christ, and his journey to becoming more serious about his walk...until Fred Hammond comes in, honestly I wish this was a Fred Hammond song without the voice effects, he portrays the message what Kanye is trying to rap in a more clear and emotional manner.Use this Gospel
This song here has 2 things...1) The best singing performance from Kanye
2) The best line in the entire album
I actually had a hard time enjoying this track at first because it's mixed sooooo poorly. There's times where the Clipse is much louder than the music, and the beat seems to cut out in No Malice's verse. The essence of Gospel are in the lyrics as Kanye professes his need for Christ on the journey to heaven, but that's cut short by Pusha T being Pusha T...bruh, this song is about the Gospel...the same Gospel you failed to mention at all. No Malice speaks on his past of street life with conviction and it comes off as a passionate confession. Then he delivers the best line in the entire album
"A lot of damaged souls, I done damaged those
And in my arrogance, took a camera pose"
The perfect way to sum up the damage No Malice has down to his community with his street dealings, recognizing that in those moments he took pride and reveled in it. Ending the verse referencing that he has changed his life to Christ, and even held on to this brother when he was beginning to lose his faith. It was great...but still not great enough to absolve this album of it's issues. Kenny G did amazing though, just thought to mention that.
Jesus Is Lord
The horns on this track are triumphant, and beautiful.Kanye's singing isn't bad on this track, but you know what would have been nice ... The choir he put together, and a longer runtime. This does flow right back into the beginning of the album very well, but as a stand alone track it's wasted potential.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I have quite a few problems with this album, but there are still elements I enjoy. I really like the production direction and the choir. Seriously, give me a gospel album produced by Kanye and sung by the Sunday Service choir and I'm sold! The beats on the project are also good enough to draw in listeners from any walk of life, and keep your interest no matter the content.What doesn't work on this album is Kanye himself. The rapping on this album is mediocre at best, and the lyrical content is just bad. The main reason why people love "Follow God" is because it's the only song where Kanye is rapping well, he sounds comfortable, and confident. The lyrics on the other hand...not moving.
It's not that I'm expecting peak lyricism from Kanye West, but most of the lyrics here are either disconnected, out of place, or repetitive. There's no sense of nuance or insight the entire album. He professes his love for Christ, but gives little understanding about how Jesus impacted him. There is no progression on this album, there's no storytelling, and there's barely any connectivity to the listeners.
This album suffers from the "The Big Day" issue. I'm experiencing someone else's experience exclusively from the outside, and there's nothing Kanye does to bring me in.
I have no doubt that Kanye's love for Christ is real, but this album seems like his passion for Christ was an after thought. The album sounds rushed, the mixing is terrible and there's inaudible vocals and plenty of songs. "Water" is a primary example. This album could have benefited a lot from another take in the studio, or even better, contributions from better Christian artist.
If this production was provided to Andy Mineo, Lacrae, Swoope, Dream Junkies, or even The Walls Group you may have the best Christian Rap/Gospel album around. Even with their contributions exclusively as writers, I'm sure Kanye would have faired a lot better on this one.
It's not that this album is terrible, because my expectations were met, but the issue was my expectations were met because they weren't that high to begin with.
Kanye should take a step back and evaluate who is in his corner when it comes to writing, he should allow himself to be open to not being the center of his work, and continue to create great atmospheric beats for others to flourish on. Also, a longer run time may help bring together his concepts and flesh out ideas.
Beats: 8/10
Lyrics: 4/10
Originality: 5/10
Conceptuality: 5/10
Overall: 5/10
Favorite tracks: "Every Hour", "Follow God", "Use this Gospel"
Least favorite tracks: "Closed on Sunday" , "Water", "Everything We Need"
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